This post is part of a mini-series about money mindset and follows on from posts explaining what money mindset is and signs your mindset may need shifting. In this post I am going to share some simple ways you can start to improve your money mindset and therefore your relationship with money.
AWARENESS
Start with awareness and identify your relationship with money. Track your spending for a few weeks and ask yourself these questions:
- What are your money habits?
- Are they helping or hindering you?
- How do you view money?
I like to do an exercise with clients called “If Money Came to Tea” where we imagine money is a real person. Think about how you would describe them? What do they look like? What do they sound like? Are you comfortable in their company? If not, why not? With greater awareness of your money mindset, you can now start taking action.
SELF-LIMITING BELIEFS
Identify and let go of self-limiting beliefs.
I’m not good with numbers
I’m crap with money
I’ll never get out of debt.
Replace them with positive statements. Practise speaking more positively about money. Laura Jane Williams (author) shares some ways in which she’s started here.
FLIP YOUR THINKING
Change that “I can’t afford it” statement to “How can I afford it?” or “What can I afford?”
FORGIVE YOURSELF
Forgive your past money mistakes. We weren’t born knowing this stuff and a lot of it we learned by osmosis. A lot of our beliefs, habits and attitudes around money are picked up in our childhood and our past and are left unquestioned. Forgive yourself for these are not true or set in stone and these feelings do not serve our highest good.
CELEBRATE
Celebrate your successes and practise gratitude. When I have given talks recently, I have talked about the power of thought and skateboarding penguins. What the F do skateboarding penguins have to do with money? Well, if I said to you, don’t think about a skateboarding penguin. Whatever you do, do not think about a skateboarding penguin! Chances are, you’re thinking of a skateboarding penguin.The same applies to red cars, how many times do you all of a sudden start seeing red cars everywhere? If we focus on the negative and the things we think we’re not doing right, we will see more of those. However, if we look for the successes, celebrate them and practise gratitude for what we do have, our thoughts shift. In turn allowing our feelings and behaviours to shift. I love the notion of ‘onlyness’ coined by Nilofer Merchant and this can be applied to all sorts of situations. For example, “I’ve only got £X to spend,” flip it to, “Wow, I get to spend £X.” “I’ve only got this job,” flip it to “I’m lucky and grateful to have this job which allows me to do X”
ACCOUNTABILITY
Get some accountability- enlist the help of a friend or financial coach. It’s not easy to make changes as anyone who has tried to make one knows (giving up smoking or cutting down on junk food anyone?!) so having someone there to support and cheerlead is so important. I also have a free Facebook group that you can join for help and support.
NEEDS, WANTS, VALUES
Ask yourself questions related to your needs, wants and values. Take time to really define and identify your values- what’s important to you?
BREAK THE SILENCE
Break the silence, talk to your friends and family. Lloyds Bank have launched the M Word campaign there are some great tips here on how to start the conversation.
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
Believe in yourself, you can totally do this! One step at a time. Like they say, “What’s the best way to eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
The next post in this mini-series will share some positive impacts that clients have got from improving their money mindsets.
If you’re interested in finding out more about what a financial coach is then here is a post explaining just that and by all means send me an email here, I love to chat! I’m all for opening up money conversations and stopping the topic from being so taboo. I’ve had some great email conversations recently all about money mindset. It’s one of my favourite things to talk about. Otherwise, find me over on Instagram where I share more snippets and again, love to chat!