When I was a kid I was constantly told, "We can not afford that; we can only get this; ask your dad if you can have that; you must save your money for a rainy day; start saving now for retirement." Do not get me wrong, I understand the intention of some of these messages and that they may even hold value for some people but I also have learned that these statements can lead to potential financial paralysis.
By hearing those statements over and over again, I developed what could have been my Money Destiny. That Money Destiny led me to believe I would never have enough money, that I must always save and never spend, and that I was not financially safe. These messages repeated themselves in my mind every time I needed to make a money decision or anytime I thought about money. Soon thereafter I found myself resenting the "mean green" and at times wanting to rebel against it. Thank goodness I realized one day that should I continue down this same Money Destiny road, I was destined to have just enough (not plenty) or none at all for that matter or worry about money constantly, and stay in the middleclass.
When I noticed how I was making decisions that would keep me in the same place and never propel me forward financially, I knew it was time to bust my old patterns, break debilitating money-habits, and create a new money system, a new Money Destiny. Doing this was going to take some mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical work, oh yeah, and financial work as well! It meant I was going to have to stop listening to what I had been told all my years growing up as a child as well as stop playing the "tape recording" of these messages over in my mind. It also meant I was going to have to buck this old system every time it flashed before my eyes! My intention in sharing this article with you is to help you break down your conditioned mindset and build it up with a new one that actually works with you and not against you. This is a mindset that YOU are going to create, nobody else will be creating it for you. Is not that exciting?
So what does mastering money look like? Mastering your money literally boils down to one thing: your mindset. Have you ever noticed that when your bills are paid off for the month and you have some extra "bread" in savings, you are just bouncing around the planet like you are rich (even if you are not)? However, on the contrary, have you noticed that when you do not have enough to make ends meet and you're struggling to figure out where the next dollar will come from to pay your rent or mortgage, you never seem to see the light ? And, have you ever noticed that you actually decided, either consciously or subconsciously, which of those scenarios would play out in your life?
What I would like for you to do is sit for a moment and put yourself into both situations. First, visualize yourself in the moment when you have no money, nothing in the bank, in fact you may be in the negative. You're not going to be paid for another week and all of your bills are due yesterday. What is the first feeling that you notice? Desperation, anger, frustration, helplessness? Take a quick note of that. Now, go to the visual of having money in the bank, all bills paid off and in essence you feel free. You have extra money to do what you would like and everything seems to be going right in the world. Again, take note of the first feeling that pops up for you when sitting in this visualization.
Let's take an even further step. Picture that you are in control of both scenarios. You actually design or choose which will happen in your life. And, you actually choose the same scene over and over again. Which do you choose? Do you choose the visualization with lots of money and financial freedom or do you choose the daunting visual? I venture to guess you wish to choose the one of Money Mastery.
The concept of Money Mastery has to do with having a destination when it comes to money. Some people actually are destined to be rich, middle class or poor. For most of us, we witnessed how our parents behaved with money, listened to things they said and then modeled after them. If our parents were rich, we figured as adults that we, too, had the right to be rich. If our parents were poor, we grew up thinking we did not deserve to have more money so we followed in the footsteps of our poor parents.
I am here to tell you that you do not have to follow in anyone's footsteps when it comes to mastering money except your own. Today, you get to decide your new Money Destiny in just three steps.
Step One: Change Your Money Talk-
As I stated earlier, mastering money has to do with your mind so if you have been saying repeatedly, "I do not have enough money" or "I need more money" then I ventured to guess you have not had enough money for quite some time. So, I challenge you to begin saying (even if you do not believe it in the moment, trust me, you will learn to believe the following statements wholeheartedly), "I have plenty of money," or "I am grateful for the money I have, "or" Money is a precious gift. " These are simple statements yet extremely meaningfulful. These affirmations are packed with power! And here's why: when we hear ourselves say something, we generally believe what we say-whether it is good or bad-we believe it! So, if you are constantly saying, "Money is a precious gift and I am grateful for it," somehow your mind hires that statements and translates it into action. Before you know it you are taking action to have more money in your life or better yet, money is finding its way to you and you did not even lift a finger!
Do you see where I am going with this new verbiage? Positive thoughts become positive feelings which lead to positive actions that grant you positive results.
Step Two: Change Your Money Feelings-
If you feel bad about money all the time you will not get money in return or worse yet, you will spend it like water because you want to get rid of the bad feeling. Makes sense, right? Therefore, it is imperative to change your Money Feelings.
Here's an exercise: Take out a one-dollar bill. Look at it, in fact, examine it. Notice what you like about the one-dollar bill. Is it the color, the images printed on the bill or maybe it is what is stated on the bill. I want you to find at least two things you like about the dollar. Now, sit there for a moment and FEEL what you like about it. It may help you close your eyes and just be in the feeling, be in the moment. Now, think about what you can get for just one dollar. Maybe an apple, a banana, an orange. Maybe a pack of gum or two packs of gum even? You can give a tip to somebody after buying a coffee or you can get change for your one-dollar bill and put money in the meter to prevent getting an expensive ticket. Do you see how far that one dollar went? Did this give you a new feeling and new perspective about that bill? For what appeared to be a small bill it certainly turned into big things, did not it?
The idea here is to consistently associate positive feelings with money in order to get more of it. Let me give you another example. I used to get angry every month when I had to pay the bills. I would say to myself, "I get so angry working so hard for my money only to turn around and give it over to somebody else." Then one day it dawned on me that I should be grateful that I have the money to pay the bills in the first place! Suddenly I reframed my thinking to state, "I make plenty of money to pay my bills every month." And believe-it-or-not, I no longer resent that time of the month when I have to pay bills and and more money has been coming my way.
Step Three: Change your Money Behavior-
If when you get your paycheck and you turn right around and spend it then I am going to challenge you to pause for a moment and not take the same action. In fact, I am going to ask you to replace that action with a new action: Paying yourself first. What I suggest to my clients is that they take at minimum 10% of their paycheck and pay themselves first by putting it in a savings account, retirement account or money market account. What is better is if you can automate this so you never even see that 10%. These days, most banks or employers offer an automated savings plan wherever they take whichever percentage you desire and they put it into whatever account you want. This is a great way to begin paying yourself.
Now if you are the type who never spends a dime, I ask you the question, "What exactly are you saving for?" Do not get me wrong, I am not encouraging you to save your money, but I am encouraging you get really connected to what exactly you are saving for. If you are saving in case of an emergency rather than freedom, excitement, purpose, joy, or love, realize what will manifest is an emergency. My challenge to you then is to change the reason for your saving.
When we stop and really think about the phrase, "Money Talks" we realize just how truthful that is. What's important to note is that we have the power to dictate the conversation with and about money so that it is either a rich conversation full of financial freedom and joy or it is a poor conversation wrought with desperation, frustration and debt. Here, you have been given three powerful steps to Money Mastery. My question to you: Which conversation will you now be having?