What thoughts do you have about money? Do you believe you have enough for what you need? Do you think you always need more? Are you worried about money in the future? Is it a huge stress? Have you ever sat down and really thought about your thoughts and beliefs about money? Our beliefs generally come from our past experiences and how we grew up. Look at how your parents believed about money. You learned from them about the value of money, saving, spending, how they used it, and whether it was a positive or negative thing. We also learned qualities of generosity or stinginess. And from those experiences, we generate our own attitudes about it. Now look at your life right now, ask yourself what are my positive and negative thoughts about money? How much do you have, earn, spend, save and why? What are your thoughts about the future and money and why do you think that?
I see so often today how so many of our belief's about money include "the more money we have the happier we will be." But is that really true? Now I'm not going to deny that for me, I have found that money does allow for more freedom and can be used in beneficial ways, but that's just my thinking around it. Right?
My husband and I have spent our whole adult life working so we could buy a house that has some space, a car of our choice that actually works, a vacation here and there, and other fun things. And I'm sure my belief has been that once I have those things I will be happy. But cars get old and wear out and houses need repair and fixing often. And honestly I'm not any happier with more money than I was with less money. It doesn't create my happiness.
I have been able to watch close family members and their thoughts about money and where it has taken them. I have watched someone I know who was obsessed about having more and more money and bigger and bigger houses, fancier cars, exotic vacations etc. It was their whole focus. Working constantly suddenly wasn't enough so it drove this person to steal, lie, cheat and be in big trouble with the law. And then it all came crashing down. They lost everything, and I mean everything. And you know what some of them learned? All that stuff actually was causing them more stress because their belief drove them to never be content. Peace of conscience became more important than money.
I've seen the other side. I have watched a family member who worries and stresses about money ruining them and their children. They think money is bad, evil, wrong, and that having anything nice is not good. They have spent their lives scrapping and saving and worrying that money might entitle their children, or somehow make them evil. Having anything really nice is out of the question. And this also causes stress.
Then I talked to one of my clients the other day. I asked him some of these questions and he told me that he believed he had some really healthy ways of looking at money. He said one of the thoughts that drives this university student is that, "Money is easy, and I can always figure out a way to make more if I need it." Now let's look at that. How might that thought drive his life? It comes from a feeling of confidence. That thought doesn't create stress, it drives your actions from confidence. And you know what? Because he believes this, he will do the things to make this true. And he will always be able to figure out a way to make money.
My husband's belief about money is, "Money is a tool. Money can't buy health, true friendship, a good marriage, it can't make us happy, it can't make us sad, it's just a tool to be used. The most important things in life cannot be bought with money." And because of that belief he has kept perspective with money. He also believes that money is a stewardship from God. So he is generous and tries to help the people around him. And so money isn't hard in his life. It all comes down to our thoughts and beliefs!
I hope this helps you think and evaluate how you think about money. Those beliefs will drive your financial life and will have a huge influence on how you use it and look at it. So I encourage you to think about your beliefs about money.
If you have questions or would like to talk to me about money or anything else, please go to directyourlifecoaching.com and we can do a free, no obligation mini-session. It might change your life! So let's go make some money!