How To Change Your Money Mindset
Let’s talk about something not a lot of people tend to talk about – your money mindset. This topic has been on my heart for a while now and comes back up every time I’m making financial goals for the year. So I want to tell you a little bit about how my bad money mindset took over my life and how I overcame it. I’ll start with my story and give you all the tools you can also use to improve your money mindset.
My backstory
So almost exactly 2 years ago I closed my boutique storefront here in Atlanta. While it was the best decision I ever made because of the growth that came from it, I had no idea the lasting effect on my money mindset the experience would cause. I was in a high rent area with a ton of overhead. So while I was getting by just fine, the weight of handling such large finances right out of college was a lot for me to handle.
When 2020 came, Covid + my landlord (only concerned about their bottom line) looked like a tidal wave about to come and take everything I had worked so hard for in one swipe. While they did manage to pretty much do that, I knew I had to keep my head up and choose to see the positive side no matter what.
I jumped into new jobs and did all the side hustles to get by while figuring out what I wanted to do. After discovering how much I loved entrepreneurship, I knew I wouldn’t be content unless still exercising that part of my brain. I thought I could just put the tragic ending of my store situation behind me and move on. But as with most traumatic experiences, you usually don’t realize the impact the trauma had on you until later.
I gotten so used to living with a huge weight of debt on my shoulders that not having that actually felt strange.
I didn’t know how to operate without constant financial stress. While logically, it sounds bizarre that you could struggle with ACTUALLY making money. As humans, our brains are drawn towards familiarity. Even at the expense of your values.
I found myself creating that financial stress in my own life without even thinking about it. Because I was in this constant cycle of lacking money. And then feeling like I didn’t deserve it when I got it. It took MANY personal development books and a business coach to finally help me realize that and start making changes.
I have always struggled with how I feel about the topic of manifestation and whether I believed in it or not. It’s such a hot topic, especially within the personal development space. But some things about it conflict with what I believe to my core about my Christian faith. What turns me off about it all is how a lot of people teach that YOU have the power to manifest something or not, as if it is not God’s will.
I won’t go into all of my deep feelings about that right now (I’ll save that for another blog post). But there is one thing I do know to be true in this general topic. It is undeniable that energy and frequencies are real. And whether God is rewarding the grateful heart OR gave us the ability to attract positive things in our life by giving up control and resting in Him, the frequency you put out matters and directly affects your life in this material world.
Find True Financial Freedom.. By Not Focusing on Finances
My business coach at the time, Gem Munro, talked to me about changing my mindset around money. And helped me realize tangible ways to practice FEELING abundant so that I could start attracting abundance. Even when my logical brain was telling me “girlfriend, you know you are not crushing it.” She had me practice things like: having me write down all of the ways I’ve made money in the past to realize I can easily make a few thousand dollars quick if needed, journaling about my feelings to get them out of my head. And even making me take time off “working” to get outside and be reminded of all I’m blessed with around me.
It took a while to get used to doing these things and start rewriting the story my brain told itself daily. However, with persistence, I managed to change my unconscious brain around the topic of money and create a positive money mindset. And I cannot even describe how much my life and my personal financial life has changed since.
Are you constantly thinking of what you cannot afford? Every time you swipe your credit card to spend money, even for something necessary like food, you feel guilty and feel like you should be saving money instead? You may have a scarcity mindset when it comes to money and your personal finances. When we are constantly thinking of the LACK of money we have, it causes us to be protective over what we have. Think small, and avoid risks that may take us to better places. It is also just not a pleasant place to be in. Making you susceptible to comparison and not enjoying life as much.
Money is NOT happiness.
The more you buy and are able to do, the more you realize that. But the security that having a steady income brings is a peace in my life I hadn’t experienced until this year. And as an entrepreneur, I would have never gotten to that place without FIRST changing beliefs about money. And developing a healthy relationship with money.
It’s easy to tell yourself that once you start making this amount or that amount, you’ll prove to yourself that you don’t have to “worry” about money all the time. But what I’ve found is that the exact opposite is true.
Whether you grew up in a toxic money household, place too much happiness in money, OR (like me) got stuck in a scarcity mindset making it feel impossible to ever succeed, you can change that.
Changing your mindset to abundant, believing the best is yet to come, will empower you to take uncomfortable steps to grow. And allow you to feel grateful for what you have while also being generous with it.
I’ll leave you with some tools that have personally helped me!
Some tools that help me get back in an abundance mindset:
1. I wish I had discovered this app 2 years ago!
It’s called Stackin’. Just like you can have a therapist talk to you about different life perspectives and get honest advice, you can have a money coach that helps you to see things clearly when it comes to your finances. Unlike restrictive budgeting apps out there, Stackin’ will help you FEEL better about money while helping you create better money habits. So you can finally learn to save and spend without any guilt or shame.
2. Dave Ramsey’s book Total Money Makeover
Everyone should be required to read The Total Money Makeover in school for financial literacy. Such a good foundation for how to spend money wisely. And how to set yourself up to be financially successful.
3. I really love this journal and how it is formatted.
When I was struggling a lot with this topic and what I wanted to do with my life in general, I clung to this morning journal and wrote in it daily. It helped me learn how to express gratitude even when things were not going my way. And get into a great headspace before starting my work day!
4. Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Rich Dad Poor Dad is such a good picture of how different people view money, how their beliefs affect their financial decisions. And how having a healthy money mindset directly impacts your long term financial success.
5. Think and Grow Rich
6. Ed Mylett’s podcast
Ed Mylett has been one of my favorite leaders in the self-development space for awhile. He is so vulnerable and relatable while also teaching great tools for life. Such as abundance and getting rid of limiting beliefs.
My hope in writing these types of blog posts is that I may help just ONE person out there who is struggling with something I have gone through. So if this resonates with you and you want to chat deeper, please reach out to me! You can always DM me on Instagram or send me an email at [email protected] and we can chat.
I hope this is your best year yet!!
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