Yesterday, I saw a TikTok that went viral and shows a woman stating that “If you don’t have money, life is just hard“. She was crying and saying how she has to pick whether she has to eat or pay bills and how difficult it is to be born into poverty.
If someone tells you that money can’t buy you happiness, they’re lying. Money provides you with the tool to buy the essentials you need just to survive. As human beings, contentment or happiness can be achieved when our basic needs are met. While over time, money does not equate to being happy, Money does provide you with freedom and opportunities.
Money affects much more than just a person’s bank account; it has impact on emotions, relationships, health, and overall well-being. Understanding your emotional responses to money helps you make more solid, logical decisions about personal finances.
Identifying how your money decisions are influenced by others, and how negative habits can be changed for the better, has powerful benefit for your whole life.
How mindset affects your relationship with money
In order to make a change, you first have to believe that it is possible for you to make a change in your life financially and that YOU ARE WORTHY OF BEING SUCCESSFUL WITH MONEY.
There are a lot of factors that affect how we view money: trauma, privilege, mental health. It’s important to recognize this and it’s essential not to let it deter you from reaching your financial goals.
You may have a lot of financial goals and it could be paying off debt or student loans, getting 6 figure investment portfolios, buying a house, saving enough for an emergency fund but WITHOUT the right mindset, these goals will be difficult to accomplish.
Improving your mindset is not a one and done type thing. It’s not something that you can fix overnight too. You have to constantly work on it on a daily basis and keep it a habit.
Here are some steps to have the right mindset when it comes to money
1. Decide you are worth to be successful with money
Building wealth does not start with opening an investing account or depositing your emergency fund in a high yield savings account. It all starts with a simple decision. The decision to be financially successful. I remember being a broke nurse who lived paycheck to paycheck despite making $70,000/year. I didn’t have any retirement money and the thought of learning about investing never crossed my mind. I thought I was doing great financially by being able to afford luxury bags and expensive car until I realized that I have been living in debt- while purchasing items that depreciate over time. One day, I decided that I can’t live like this anymore. I am going to be wealthy. I will retire early and be able to spend more time with my family.
Deciding you are going to be wealthy (with full conviction) is an incredible boost to your mindset. This is because with this decision, you are telling yourself you can do it and you are WORTH IT. If you don’t believe that you are capable of building wealth, you are setting yourself up for failure.
2. Determine your Why
Once you make that decision to be wealthy, determine WHY you’re doing this. What is your reason for wanting to be successful financially. This is where your motivation will come from and will help you figure out your sense of purpose.
Living a purpose driven life can be tied to being happy.
Why do you want to pay off your student loans? Why do you want to build wealth?
Knowing what your why will be your ultimate motivator especially on the days or during the seasons when things are not going exactly as you planned.
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3. Focus on what matters to YOU
Comparison is the thief of joy. People are on different stages in their financial journey. Don’t compare yours with other. There are also standards in the society that we get caught up with. Think of why you’re doing this again. Whatever your financial goals are, let that guide you. Don’t let the standards of other people affect you in your OWN financial journey. .
4. Get comfortable with Fear
It’s easy to question yourself some days. Anxiety and fear are normal when you want to accomplish something big. You will have fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of change and more. There will be a lot of “what ifs”. It will be very overwhelming some days, and this is when you express gratitude for what you have accomplished so far. When you are grateful, you focus on what you have~ not what you are missing.
Again, this all goes back to your purpose and your why. Get that motivation back up when the world is kicking you down.
Also remember that for every fear you have, you can take an action to counter that fear. For example, you have the fear of working 40+ hours weeks for 40+ years as a nurse only to get a minimum money when you retire. You can focus on making small investments every month to work on your future retirement to work against that fear.
Another great way to help with your mindset is affirmations. It helps you put yourself in a state of mind where you are frequently stating what you believe to be true and this keeps you focused.
Here are my favorite money affirmations:
- I am open to receiving all wealth life brings to me.
- I’m not poor, I’m just low wealth right now. That is changing.
- I’m getting out of my own way when it comes to money.
- I am worthy of being successful and deserve money
- Today, I am committed to making my financial success dreams come true
Of course you have to pair your affirmations with actions to be successful and to be able to reach your financial goals. So many people get caught up in the planning phase that they don’t take actionable steps to reach that goal.
In conclusion
Having the right money mindset can make all the difference when it comes to achieving your life and financial goals. It will require focus, nurturing and constantly reminding yourself of your whys. It’s all about setting the right intentions and keeping your goals top of mind.
You are worthy and capable of improving your finances to improve your quality of life.
