The Anger-Money Connection
Because our life stories are fueled by our emotions , the path to prosperity requires recognizing the emotions that may be interfering with our progress, expressing them, and replacing them with new emotional habits.
In the past, I’ve examined at depth shame and aloneness, and for the last year, I’ve really been looking at anger and its effect on finances. Now, I’m ready to share what I’ve learned.
Anger is a complex emotion that finds many different avenues of expression. The obvious expression of anger is what we usually think of as rage. But the form of anger that is most often expressed through finances is passive aggressive behavior, which is often difficult to recognize and release.
However, I can assure you that underearning, debting, compulsive shopping, late bill paying, financial vagueness, and other behaviors frequently have anger as a motivating force. Continue reading
Breaking through Your Financial Set Point
Here’s a question I received recently: “How do I break through my financial set point? I seem to be stuck at my current earning level and no matter what I do, I can’t sustain a higher level for any length of time.”
Your financial set point is actually an income and/or net-worth limit that you have subconsciously established for yourself. Feeling stuck at this set point is a common dilemma that I’d lke to address here.
As a review: Our finances are a result of our thoughts, beliefs, emotions and behaviors, with the emotions acting as the creative force behind our life stories. So, when trying to alter a financial condition, it is necessary to examine the emotions behind the condition. (This is fully explained in Build Your Money Muscles.)
If you have trouble breaking through to a new financial level, one of the feelings you may be acting out through your money is constrained, which is related to a sense of being trapped — one of the five main money feelings. Continue reading
Five Keys to Prospering in the Emerging Economy
The many changes occurring in our economic foundation require a new focus and discipline for you to thrive and prosper. Here are five keys that I consider essential.
- Pay close attention to your finances. During difficult or transitional times knowing exactly where you stand financially and keeping up-to-date financial records are essential for strategizing and making rational financial decisions.
- Stay tuned to financial news. You will benefit from following stories and commentary about the financial sector and becoming more literate about the financial world. This requires knowing much more than just the movement of the stock market, which is a limited view of financial trends. Continue reading
The Strong Will Survive
The storm continues to batter the world financial systems, causing havoc for many. But you, as an individual, have significant control over your own destiny, even in these tough times.
First of all, you have choices. You can choose to wait until you get clobbered or take steps to behave differently. Instead of spending freely, this is the time to be frugal and actually save something, putting off the “I want” purchases until you have a better idea what’s happening in your life. Cash is king.
You can also choose to maintain a positive frame of mind. The situation that exists is not good or bad, it just is. The situation is neutral. You bring to the situation the emotions that determine whether it is good or bad for you.
We live in a dualistic world and for every up there’s a down, for every positive there’s a negative. Within each situation you can find light and dark. You can choose what you want to see. And those who can find the good, the light, and the positive can grow and flourish. Those who focus on the dark, the bad, and the negative will suffer in discomfort.
Facing the reality of what is going on allows you to examine alternatives and develop a plan of action. If you hide your head in the sand and give in to paralysis, you can’t adjust to these changing times.
We are going through a major paradigm shift and this level of change is always uncomfortable for those going through it. If you can look towards a positive future, pay attention to what’s happening for you in the moment, and do whatever you can to deal with the stress, you will survive and can potentially be one of the people who actually benefit, in the long run, from what is going on.
Don’t hide. Reach out to others and be authentic about what is going on for you. Invite a group of people to come together to discuss how they are dealing with the situation and to find solutions. There is strength in numbers. You can find power in community.
On Friday’s BlogTalkRadio.com program at noon EST, I’ll be interviewing Jim Bouchard, author of the Dynamic Components of Personal Power. Our topic: The Relationship between Personal Power and Prosperity. I hope you’ll call in or listen to the recording. http://BlogTalkRadio.com/JoanSotkin
One Step At a Time
Moving to a new financial position, no matter what your starting point, is an ongoing process that happens over an extended period of time. Although people often dream of winning the lottery, inheriting a lot of money, or somehow being transported into a new economic reality, that happens only rarely.Those who do come into money suddenly often deal with a wide range of problems as they adjust to their new position, with some never fully making the adjustment as their new-found fortune dwindles away.
Building healthy financial habits and wealth is best accomplished gradually so you hardly even notice the change. By making small changes in how you think, feel, and behave, you can comfortably ease into a new position.
The key: Do at least one thing every day that you haven’t done before. This can include activities such as:
- Reading a new financial publication or paying more attention to the stories in one you have read before.
- Learning something new about financial markets
- Paying more attention to your own finances by either keeping better records or, if you already keep good records, learning how to use the data strategically
- Improving the energy flow through your life by gradually eliminating clutter, toxic people, junk foods, complaining, and anything else that can negatively affect your energy.
- Replacing negative energy with positive people, food, exercise, and entertainment.
- Noticing your internal dialog and phasing out the critical parent in your head.
- Spending a few minutes each day either meditating or doing nothing
Your financial position can only change if you change it and you can insure your success by doing it one small step at a time.
Need more ideas for actions you can take to alter your finances? You’ll find plenty of helpful suggestions in Build Your Money Muscles. Read more about BYMM now.
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