Money Mindset → How to think about money
UnDerstanding the Money Mindset
Takeaway: Your core beliefs about either abundance or lack, strongly influences how you think and make money. It is important to understand that the relationship between your beliefs and your thoughts is what creates this mindset which expresses itself in your attitude. In this post, I will explain how those beliefs are developed and how thinking from a lack mentality affects your abundance.
Table of Contents
Our Attitude to Money
The concept and idea of money enters our lives at a very early age. We hear our parents talk or complain about their work, tell us that we can’t have something because “we don’t have the money” or we compare our home to our friends' home, what we don’t have to what others have.
We are shaped by our environment, our experiences and our culture.
Many of our ideas around money crystallized in our youth when we really didn’t have an understanding or knew how to question things. We observed and we learned. This was our programming and we continue to stay beholden to it. For better or for worse.
As we mature, many of our original beliefs remain intact without even realizing it because the belief has become a natural habit of thought, which creates our current attitude.
Your attitude around money is important because it affects all aspects of life.
There are even measuring assessments developed to identify a person's money attitude. The first well-known assessment is the Money Attitude Scale (MAS) by Yamauchi and Templer (1982) and another measure of money attitudes include Furnham’s (1984) Money Beliefs and Behavior Scale. The measures take into account, cognitive, behavior and affective components. All significant areas that result from deep-seated beliefs.
A person’s attitude surrounding money predisposes them into how they spend money, lose money, give money, share money, earn money and even fear money.
I put a dollar in one of those change machines. Nothing changed. - George Carlin
Our attitude to money will determine how we behave and interact with it. Some people have a strong positive attitude that contributes to their growth and enrichment in life. For others holding a negative or limiting mindset, the interaction with money feels like a life-long struggle.
A struggle of never having enough money, having money and then losing it, earning money and then feeling like they are not worthy of it, and so the story goes.
So why is our attitude important, because we live in an economy where money matters. It is linked to our survival. Like it or not, it is important!
Lack Mentality
The beliefs that we developed early on often determine the basis of our trajectory with money in life. So, if you were taught at a young age that “life is a struggle”, “you can never get ahead” you may likely be holding on to this mentality. The “Lack Mentality”.
A lack mentality is when you automatically think from a place of scarcity. Have you ever found yourself often thinking..
It’s too much, I could never afford it. (Even though you may have the money). Or believing that you are less than? Are you afraid that there will not be enough of something and buy it just to hold on to it? Do you have a fear of things running out?
A lack mentality is a negative, fixed way of thinking.
Even if you weren’t told how to think this way as a youngster, just watching the grown-ups around you react negatively or be afraid about not having enough or hearing them voice their struggles and fight with others about money, can contribute to developing a lack mentality.
Those experiences, no matter how long ago, contribute to the programming in your brain about money and the programming is what runs your life today.
The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it in your back pocket! -Will Rogers
Think Like a Millionaire
If you want your money mindset to be bold, and ultimately your financial situation to improve, you need to start changing and improving what you believe and how you think about money. Why not look at developing the millionaire mindset and bust through any limiting belief?
I always knew I was going to be rich. I don’t think I ever doubted it for a minute. - Warren Buffet
Shifting your mindset is not the only piece that will move you toward reaching financial goals obviously. It is, however, a very important piece to the outcome. Especially since we think about and have an interaction with money in some aspect, every day of our lives. So how is your daily thinking with money?
What does “think like a millionaire” mean? Thinking like a millionaire in the best of ways is to have both a growth and abundance mindset. This mindset includes having goals, especially long-term goals, no matter how big or complicated it may seem, and not be deterred by other people’s negative opinions on your goals.
A person with this type of mindset, at the positive and healthy level, tends to see opportunities everywhere and has a belief, at their core, that they are worthy and there are no limits. There is an understanding and a belief that there is always enough.
There is also an actual relationship with money. Have you thought about what your “relationship” with money looks like? For instance, do you know where your money goes? Are you grateful for the money you do have? Are you afraid of losing money? Are you still holding on to past programming that interferes with the ability to enjoy and appreciate money?
Your relationship with money is as important as any other relationship in your life. In fact, “financial” issues can be a large contributor to instability in relationships.
Money Mindset Tips
In the book, As A Man Thinketh the author James Allen states, "Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions of his life."
Five Money Mindset Tips to get you on the path of having more abundance in your life.
Go deep and clear up your past.
Do deep inner work and notice how you were raised and how your money mentality that was developed as a youngster, is still being played out today. Notice where it came from and make a conscious decision to let it go.
Listen and question your own thoughts.
You get more of what you focus on. If you continue to think you will never have enough money, you won’t. Start changing your words of lack to words of gratitude. Even if you don’t see what you want, yet!
Get comfortable with your own worth first.
Know your own worth. If you don’t feel worthy, you will feel “less than” and look at your life as having less than. Start affirming, “I am worthy” whenever you start thinking negatively of yourself. Even if it feels uncomfortable. This is not a self-righteous statement but an affirming statement of your own acceptance and self-love.
focus on what is in front of you and in your life now.
Start noticing abundance around you each day and start sharing or giving more. Don’t wait to get what you’re striving for to be generous. Giving more could simply mean, giving your time to someone, giving a compliment to a stranger, giving a person a helping hand when needed. Live abundantly and be generous today. No matter how small that may be at the moment.
Change and replace OLD OUTDATED core beliefs.
Change the belief in yourself to success is possible and available for you. It’s much more powerful to have an unwavering belief in reaching your goal than a weak “that’s just the way it is” attitude. Lastly, get excited about what is possible with your new mindset!
NEXT STEPS…
So are you where you want to be financially? Do you know the deep subconscious belief you hold that is affecting you from increasing or maintaining money?
Investing in a Mindset coaching is an excellent way to get the one-one-one coaching to identify, specifically, the inner money mindset patterns and obtain personalized techniques to help you increase your worth. You will be amazed how this focused shift will contribute to improving how you amass wealth.
Jacqueline Connors, MA is a Psychotherapist and Mindset Coach who has worked in the private and public sector in leadership roles. She is trained in Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT) Neurolinguistics Programming (NLP), Hypnosis, Brain-Based Coaching and Lean Management. She has a unique blend of skill sets derived from psychology, business and neuroscience and an understanding of how to apply the best from each discipline into the coaching experience.
