How’s your money mindset?
Do you feel rich, secure and financially set?
Or do you worry about having enough for the day-to-day or retirement? Maybe you’ve even been told that you HAVE enough but you can’t rest into that thought.
It’s not about the extravagant purchases or how much you spend on a daily basis…this is about how you FEEL about your financial circumstances.
Money can be a beautiful tool to solve problems and live with ease or it can be a constant source of stress, limitation and fear.
How you think about money determines the role that it plays in your life.
Don’t get me wrong, money matters. The numbers in your bank account are important – but they’re not the whole story.
Changing your experiences around money is a reflection of the way you think about money or your MONEY MINDSET.
MONEY MINDSET
Your money mindset is a reflection of your beliefs (usually subconscious) about money. It’s the way you approach earning, saving, spending and sharing in your life.
Your financial habits – good and bad – are rooted in your mindset. Your feelings of security or uncertainty, limitation or resourcefulness, victimhood or generosity are impacted by your beliefs about money.
All of the messaging from your entire life point you to one of two orientations about money: scarcity or abundance.
SCARCITY vs ABUNDANCE
Do you live in a state of abundance or do you live in a world of competition for scarce resources? It’s one way or the other.
A scarcity mindset looks something like this:
- scrambling to make a bit of money
- wondering or scheming how to make more money
- stressing over bills
- complaining about paying taxes
- resisting giving things away
- saving but never being able to afford the ‘nice’ things
- having a ‘broke’ mentality
- feeling like there’s never quite enough
- believing that you’re not good with money
So if you’re thinking “that’s not mindset, that’s just my life. I don’t have enough money” that’s exactly what a scarcity mindset would say.
But if we flip the coin, there’s abundance.
ABUNDANCE IS
A STATE OF MIND, MORE THAN
A REFLECTION OF WEALTH.
Judith Orloff
When you have an abundance mindset, things look very different.
- appreciation for what you have whether it’s pennies or a private jet
- generosity and sharing
- confidence in your ability to make and receive money
- feeling like there is enough
- feeling like there will always be more
- no worry over bills and expenses
- you find things to be grateful for
- a belief that you are in charge of your finances
- A feeling that you are enough just as you are.
Whether you have an abundant or scarcity mindset remember: you have the power to change your mindset.
THE ORIGIN OF OUR MINDSET
There are so many possible origins for your mindset around money, and often these have been cemented early in childhood.
The messaging within the environment we exist in as children can create deeply ingrained beliefs that are difficult to challenge.
Consider two different families: One who says “Money doesn’t grow on trees” and “we can’t afford that”, and another whose messaging is “It’s only money” and we’re lucky to have each other”.
Early lessons within your family culture serve to mold your feelings and thoughts around money.
Similarly, if your current environment is filled with friends who share a feeling of scarcity or lack of money, you’re doing yourself an immense disservice. We often choose what feels familiar and comfortable, so if you are used to a certain money mindset, chances are you’ve created a circle of people who believe what you do.
But it’s not about your family anymore, and it’s not about your friends. Changing your mindset starts and ends with you.
5 STRATEGIES TO HELP YOU CHANGE YOUR MONEY MINDSET
Because your mindset is created by you, you have the power to change it. Here are a few tools that can help:
1. UNCOVER YOUR PROGRAMMING
Understand the programming you have around your money mindset. Where did it come from? What is your history with money?
– What was the modeling from your family around money?
– What do you believe to be true about money?
– Do you have to work hard for money?
– Do you believe money is out of reach or that people who are wealthy are greedy?
– Do you believe that desiring money makes you a bad person?
– Do you have any money wounds? (a habit or action around money that hurts you such as excessive debt, overspending or never looking at your bank balance)
– Do you believe that desiring financial abundance is not spiritual or is counter-productive to spirituality?
– Do you carry guilt or shame around previous decisions or actions surrounding money?
2. CHOOSE EMPOWERMENT
Decide if you’d like to hold onto those beliefs. Ask yourself: “Is this really true?” “Do these beliefs serve me?” “How does this mindset hold me back?”. If these beliefs are not empowering or make you feel in control of your life, then it’s time to change them. For example, if we have believed that money is hard to make, shift that into a more empowering thought such as money is attracted easily and effortlessly to me. Opening up your mind to the possibility will also open up the door to opportunity.
3. PRACTICE GRATITUDE
Start to get really intentional about what you appreciate. Find little things to be grateful for and document these things. Moreso than anything else, your mindset of lack and scarcity will hold you back. Purposefully generate a feeling of abundance in your life. A journaling gratitude practice can be extremely powerful in helping you to notice those things in your life that you appreciate and once you do this, it becomes easier over time to find more things.
4. INTERRUPT THE PATTERNS
Be purposeful in the shift. We don’t have to be perfect. We just have to disrupt the pattern of negative thinking. So when you notice negativity creeping in, consciously pivot into gratitude. What do you appreciate in your life? What does gratitude look like for you? How many amazing things in your life can you bombard your mind with right now, and what does that do to your energy? How does that change your emotions?
5. CHANGE YOUR MONEY LANGUAGE
Change the language you use around money. Listen to that inner dialogue around money, investing and what you have or don’t have, and pay attention to the words you use. Develop an affirmation or mantra around money that is more reflective of the relationship with money that you want to encourage. For example, “I don’t have enough” can become “there’s always more where that came from”.
6. GENEROSITY
Give it away. A radical shift can occur when you donate to something that is important to you. Anytime you’re feeling the sense of ‘lack’ creeping back in, give some money away to a cause that you believe in. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount, but when you donate, you’re reinforcing that there IS enough to go around. There IS abundance.
At the end of the day, we are in the driver’s seat of our lives. We are far more capable of transforming our lives than we were ever led to believe, and it starts with rewiring our mindsets around money.
xo
PS: If you can’t see the issue, or struggle to develop a healthy relationship with money, we should talk.
Katrina Murphy is a Professional Intuitive Mindset and Confidence Coach in Ontario, Canada, serving clients across Canada and internationally. Katrina helps professionals to change the relationship that they have with themselves so they can reconnect both in their relationships and at work. She's been featured in various publications and is the creator of the Power-Passion-Purpose Framework.