This month I will be posting a three part series of blogs all about Money and Your Relationship with it.
You’ll want to keep an eye out for these blogs as they will guide you through:
• Discovering your money story
• Saying YES to being financially independent
• How to achieve your income goals for your business
So let’s begin with your money story…
Have you wondered about what your money story is?
Most of us don’t think about this until we hit a problem around money. Perhaps we find ourselves falling out with family over our inheritance or maybe become aware that no matter how hard we try we always end up with no money in our accounts.
If you have had experiences like these in the past then it is likely that your money story (and your beliefs about money) are subtly impacting on you in the background without you even noticing.
Our relationship with money can tell us a lot about our relationship with life. Just take a moment to think about this and consider how you behave with money.
Do you like to hold on to your money and store it up for a rainy day? If so, consider if you hold back in other areas of your life, are you are cautious and careful? Do you withhold when it comes to pleasure?
Or do you find yourself spending money like water? If this is you, consider whether you are prone to excess in other areas of your life, are you impulsive and lack self control? Do you give in to immediate gratification of your needs?
You can see from this simple exercise that by getting to know our behaviour with money we can gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and how we unconsciously behave in our lives.
It is our unconscious beliefs about money that underpin our behaviour with money and this can limit us unless we make these beliefs conscious.
Take a moment to notice if you connect with any of these common limiting beliefs about money;
I always lose money
I don’t deserve wealth
Money causes me pain
Having money is a bad thing
Having money means I am a [fill in the blank] person
If you recognise any of these beliefs, then stop and think about how these limiting beliefs are currently impacting on your ability to receive money. How does this stop you from becoming wealthy and abundant?
Asking yourself questions like these will help you to become more aware of your limiting beliefs and start making your beliefs conscious….then you can have the opportunity to choose whether you want to continue believing this belief or whether you want to let go of this belief altogether and open to new (more life giving!) belief about money.
Of course, to really shake ourselves free of limiting beliefs around money, it helps to travel to the deepest origins of these beliefs – our childhoods.
Okay, so try not to sigh! I know I am being a typical therapist, mentioning the word ‘childhood’, but our childhood experiences in our families do contribute to the formation of our beliefs about money.
We learn messages from our parents about money. For instance; can money be trusted, is there enough, is it good or bad, can we receive it, be generous with it and much more. We watch and learn as our parents navigate handling money and wealth.
Read also: Let’s Talk Money and Your Business
If we experience periods of poverty in our childhoods where there isn’t enough money to cover basic necessities, or if we see our parents lose wealth through financial problems with their businesses or the loss (or lack) of jobs – this all affects our beliefs about money. Including what we can expect to enjoy and be open to receiving when it comes to wealth.
Is it worth working through your money story? I believe it is.
Freeing up how you think, feel and behave with money will not only lead you to experience less pain around money but to also enjoy far greater wealth and abundance in all areas of your life.
Keep an eye out for my next blog post which will show you how you can say YES to financial independence!
