The Psychology of Money and How to Overcome Your Financial Fears
Money is emotionally charged, we have entrenched attitudes, habits, beliefs, behaviours and emotions around money which can lead to financial fears and anxiety around money. A lack of financial education and literacy can contribute to this, as well as your money history, past financial experiences, cultural backgrounds and beliefs that you’ve picked up from your childhood in particular from your parents or grandparents.
These money beliefs are deep rooted in our subconscious and given 90% of the time we are operating from our subconscious, it’s important to become conscious of these beliefs and transform those that are not serving us.
Here are some ways to become aware of your money blocks and how to overcome them:
Uncover your subconscious thoughts and beliefs about money, this will give you insights into what is influencing your financial behaviour
The way you can do this is to go back and list out all of your memories around money from your earliest childhood memory through until now. Ask yourself what your relationship with money is like? What’s working well? What’s challenging for you right now? For my journaling questions about this, you can download my money beliefs and stories worksheet here.
Improve your financial literacy and educate yourself about investing
Part of the reason you may have limiting beliefs and not a very good relationship with money is because you haven’t spent the time understanding and learning about money and investing. It’s like any other skill, the more we learn about it, intentionally focus on it and implement what we’ve learnt, the better we get.
I recommend identifying the area of your finances that you would like to learn about first and then diving into it. This might be around managing money, debt reduction, investing in shares, buying property, investing in crypto currencies or improving your money mindset. Whatever interests you the most, start there as you’ll be more likely to stick to it. Blogs (including this one), podcasts and books are a great way to start, however if you’d like an immersive experience to expedite your knowledge check out my course Financial Freedom Fundamentals.
Practice gratitude and focus on the abundance all around you
Practising gratitude and focussing on the abundance of what you already have will not only increase your happiness but allow you to see opportunities as they arise.
Here is some food for thought. According to the Credit Suisse 2022 Global Wealth Report, the median wealth per adult in Australia was USD $256,366, this puts Australians in the top 10% of global wealth holders. The median wealth per adult in the United States was USD$93.271 and USD$140,299 in the United Kingdom. Noting this is the midpoint of the distribution of wealth.
Learning to be grateful for the abundance we already have whilst striving for our goals is the key.
Be mindful and intentional about money
Sometimes we end up on autopilot and don’t realise that we have money leaks where money is flowing to things we don’t value. This relates to spending as well as earning. Knowing the value of the money received from those extra hours (in real terms) can help you decide if you value that more than spending time with loved ones or doing something for yourself.
Set financial goals
If you don’t have a goal, you don’t have anything to measure your progress against and it’s easy to get caught up in instant gratification. Make sure your financial goals are a little bit of a stretch but not so much of a stretch that they feel unreachable.
Focus on these five things for the next 6-12 months and you will transform your relationship with money.
If you’re ready to have a paradigm shift around abundance, upgrade your money beliefs and create true wealth and passive income, sign up to my newsletter to transform your relationship with money and have access to financial education.
