I hope you will enjoy this week’s episode as part of my series on the 7 Pillars of Financial Wellbeing

“You become what you think about most of the time” - James Allen

Are your thoughts mainly on opportunity, prosperity and gratitude? Or do you focus on fear, lack and frustration? If your thoughts are on a high vibration, gratitude, optimism joy and so on, you are more attractive to money. Specifically, more likely to recognise opportunities and take action towards attaining them. If the opposite is true and you find yourself in a funk, worried about debt or how you can pay the rent this month, then those low vibrational states will continue to attract feelings of worry and lack, leading to their physical manifestation – thoughts become things.

On a more practical level you will not notice opportunities to improve your financial situation or lack the belief and confidence to take action. Maybe there is a promotion on offer at work or you want to apply for a higher paying job elsewhere. From a low energetic state you will likely either let the opportunity pass or not do yourself justice in an application or interview. Your subconscious will be limiting your ability to fully engage with the process.

It's useful to start by examining where our beliefs come from. For may they are formed in childhood before the age of 7. Overhearing our parents fight about money, negative influences on TV, our culture and religion all have a powerful impact on our developing young minds. Next time you watch a movie, notice whether the bad guy is rich. You’ll be amazed how often this plot line is used.

Think about the phrases you heard about money growing up. Chances are that most of them were negative: “Money doesn’t grow on trees”, “Money is the root of all evil”, or my Mum’s favourite “A fool and his money are soon parted”. This last one has influenced me decades later to shop around for bargains and avoid impulsive buys, irrespective of how much money I have at the time.

Thing is as an adult do you want your 7 year old self running your life? No matter how well intentioned your parents were, their financial situation is not the same as yours today. Chances are high that they inherited their beliefs from their parents and grandparents before that. Factor in shortages caused by World War 2 and even the Great Depression and its easy to trace where generational beliefs of worry and lack came from.

The first step is uncovering these limiting beliefs and bringing them into the light. You can do this with some self-reflection or with the help of a coach or therapist. Make a list of the things you learned about money growing up. For the ones which are negative, re-write them as a positive. For example, “Money is the root of all evil” could become “money is a source of freedom and joy”. Let’s dig deeper. Which of these statements is absolute truth? Both of them, neither of them? If neither is completely true, and neither completely false, why not choose the more empowering one? If you don’t accept it right now that money is a source of freedom and joy, that’s because you have spent decades believing the opposite.

It is going to take some time and repetition to accept the new belief. Techniques such as NLP, hypnotherapy and tapping can help uncover and install new beliefs. Many people use affirmations, where you repeat empowering statements, or use visualisation to reinforce new beliefs.

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Resources mentioned 

As a Man Thinketh - James Allen

Mindset - Carol Dweck