FEAR.
What do you think of when you read the word? Does a specific incident in your life come to mind? Are you afraid of spiders? Snakes? Zombies? Whatever dude on the left is running from?
What about money?
Don’t answer too quickly. First, stop and think about how you handle your finances. You may think you are not afraid, but your financial decisions are saying something totally different.
-
- Do you avoid reviewing your accounts because you don’t want to know what your balance is?
- Have you avoided opening a checking account or applying for a credit card because you are unsure if you can manage them correctly?
- Do you “forget” about accounts because you don’t know what to do with your money?
Think about it. Could you be afraid of your own money? How could you know? Many times the fear of money can manifest itself as avoidance, procrastination and/or lack of focus.
Examples:
-
- You have no idea how much is in your account, but you keep spending and procrastinate on reconciling it.
- You avoid creating a budget or plan for your money.
- You do not know your total debt amount.
All the above are signs of fear. Getting past that fear means taking on the responsibility of managing your money, and saying “No” to procrastinating and avoiding your financial situation. That can be harder than it sounds, but if we don’t, we run the risk of sabotaging our own lives and missing out on current and future opportunities. This can manifest as being turned down for a loan, paying higher interest rates, higher debt payments and even loss of employment. Money issues also seep into your personal life causing stress, more fear, and anxiety plus effect our personal relationships. There is a reason money is named so often as the cause for arguments, divorce and even deaths.
How do we get past the fear?
Number one is we have to change the way we think about money and our relationship with it. Money is a tool, and like any other tool, you have to learn to use it properly to get the most out of it. One of my favorite examples of this is a car. Driving you will see cars of all price levels on the road, but they all serve the same purpose, to get a driver to their destination. No matter how expensive or inexpensive a car is, if it is driven carelessly and not properly maintained, the driver is at risk of not getting to where he or she says they want to go. To avoid that, we learn how to maintain the vehicle.
A similar logic applies to our money. Everyone is at different levels in their finances, but the goal is still the same, to make the most of the money we have, while purchasing the things we need and want. In order to accomplish this we must learn how to correctly use our money, plus be willing to unlearn money mindsets that no longer support our goals, and become comfortable learning new things that will. We all have picked up incorrect information along our financial journey. Some information, was true at one financial level, but is no longer applicable at higher levels. You may have to go against your “default” to reset to a new way of viewing money. This can be a difficult lesson to learn, but I believe you can do it. It isn’t impossible and it isn’t too late.
The key has always been you. Do you want to do it?
Are YOU ready to stop being afraid of money?
Until Next Time♥…
Connect with Me… Facebook – Email – YouTube
.
For speaking, group or personal financial coaching inquiries, click here.
.
Like what you see? Try Canva for free.
.