What Money Mindsets Are You Leaving In 2020?
by Astrid Ferguson
Now that the first month of the year is gone, it’s time to sit and reflect on our dinero (money) mindset. Money can be one of those sticky subjects we dance around if the following sayings sound familiar:
“Money is the root of all evil.”
“Money is the devil’s work.”
“Only manipulative and scammy people have money.”
“People sell their souls for money.”
The truth—money is a tool. That’s it! It’s just a tool in our toolbox to help us build the life we truly want and deserve. We are doing all the building. It’s no secret, we all want things. We want to be able to provide for our families, build foundations that will help our local communities, bootstrap our businesses, or just have our little piece of paradise on an island somewhere. I get it! We want what we want!
However, the relationship we have with money plays a major role in the lifestyle we choose to live. If we only view money as bad we won’t be open to receiving it, let alone charging someone for services we provide. We easily fall into rabbit holes of comparison, shaming our quality of life and others whose lifestyles we deeply desire or repulse. I know you’re probably asking yourself, so what can I do about it?
First, I challenge you to shift your perspective of viewing money as bad to viewing it as neither good nor bad. View money for what it is—a tool. Your values define your life. Money just gives you the ability to do it on a grander or smaller scale. Some ways that you can shift negative money mindsets are by setting some positive money affirmations. Below are a few I shared on my Instagram. Repeat these to yourself, write them down, and then say them aloud.
Second, get comfortable talking about money. Learn how to make your money work for you. Talk about different investment options or businesses that you would like to support. Use your money as an extension of your values. In this episode with my sister on Call Your Sister Podcast, we discuss money mindsets that we are leaving in 2020, the Robinhood and Game Stop stock news, and some black-owned businesses that we have or are supporting. The more you have these types of candid conversations with friends and family, the easier money talks flow. Try it! What’s the worst that could happen?
Third, once you’re comfortable with money conversations you can tackle things like selling, asking for money, negotiations, and investments. Listen, we all have choices to make and responsibilities to fulfill. You are the only person who knows what you want and how you want to live. The more time we spend tongue-tied on subjects like money, someone else is asking for it and living the lifestyle we deserve to have. So we all have choices to make. We can either let go of stories that no longer serve us, or we can hang onto them as crutches for not living the life we want. The choice is always ours my friend, so choose wisely.
If you feel/have felt any resistance while discussing money, I invite you to explore why by booking a free discovery call with me. Let’s tackle what is keeping you playing small, together. Remember to be kind to yourself and breathe. Everything is figureoutable as Marie Forleo says.
