Table of Contents
Overcoming a negative money mindset is crucial for improving financial well-being and achieving greater success with money. If you’ve ever heard of renowned financial educator Suze Orman, you can begin to understand the importance of overcoming a negative money mindset. Before Suze Orman became a successful financial personality; she grew up in a working-class family and struggled with money in her early adult life, accumulating debt and living paycheck to paycheck. However, she became determined to break this cycle and take control of her finances. By being able to change the way she thought about money, she adopted better habits that ultimately led her to become a successful financial advisor, bestselling author and TV personality.
“In all realms of life it takes courage to stretch your limits, express your power, and fulfill your potential… it’s no different in the financial realm.”
-Suze Orman
Your Negative Money Mindset is ingrained
Many of our beliefs about money are deeply ingrained and stem from our upbringing, personal values, and past experiences. These beliefs can either support or hinder our financial situations and for those struggling with money, a negative money mindset often lies at the root of the problem. The good news is that it’s entirely possible to change this mindset, but it requires awareness and a willingness to challenge our existing beliefs.
Negative beliefs about money come in various forms, such as “Money is hard to come by,” “I never have enough money,” or “I’ll never be able to afford the things I want.” These beliefs create a scarcity mindset that perpetuates feelings of lack and limitation. For instance, if you constantly believe you’re short of money, you’re likely to find yourself running out of money before your next paycheck. This mindset shapes your reality, and your reality, in turn, reinforces your mindset, creating a self-perpetuating cycle.
Change your belief, change your life
However, using the example above, by adopting a new mindset that you always have enough money, you can significantly shift your thoughts, actions, and ultimately, your financial reality. Imagine how different your life would be if you truly believed you always had enough money. This simple shift in mindset can lead to profound changes in your financial habits and outcomes.
The Toggle Exercise
One effective exercise to test the power of your mindset is the toggle exercise. Take a few deep breaths and think of something that brings you genuine happiness, then switch to something that makes you feel sad or upset. Repeat this process a few times and observe how your emotions and mindset change with each shift. This exercise demonstrates that we have the ability to change our emotions and mood simply by altering our thoughts. Similarly, we can apply this principle to our money mindset by consciously shifting our thoughts and beliefs about money to ones that serve us better.
Negative beliefs about money only hold power over us if we allow them to control our lives. The key is to recognize that we have the ability to change these beliefs and reshape our mindset. While it may seem simplistic, changing your mindset opens up new opportunities and allows you to align your actions with your desired financial mindset.
Conclusion
Through awareness, reframing, and rewriting, you can take concrete steps toward developing a positive money mindset. After you have established a more positive money mindset taking the necessary actions to improve your finances will become much easier. You will no longer be fighting a negative belief, but instead are working “with the grain” towards your new money mindset identity. The actions become natural because they reinforce the new beliefs and habits you desire to form. This mindset shapes your reality, and your reality, in turn, reinforces your mindset, creating a self-perpetuating cycle in a positive direction.
By realigning your money mindset to work for you rather than against you, you can transform your financial reality and create the life you want!