How Do You Feel About The F-Word?
How does money make you feel?
It might seem like a weird question to be asking, and maybe no one has ever asked you that before. For many, they may not h
How Do You Feel About The F-Word? ave even discussed the taboo f-word—finances—with their spouse or partner.
Yet, we are willing to talk about our sex lives with a therapist, our political views with friends (and strangers), and we even talk about really tough stuff like what we want our funerals to look like… but, it feels weird to go there with money and finances.
In the last post, I asked you an emotional question, too: what are your top-three happiest memories?
And now I’m asking you to do a deep dive straight into your feelings. But this is important foundational work and for a good reason. Take some time and think about it: how does money make you feel?
Ok, this guy is the coolest guy ever!
Financial Psychologist, Brad Klontz published amazing work that studied the human brain as it responded to our money behaviours.
Klontz noticed that many of us believe our negative financial behaviours are a result of us having
Poor willpower
Being stupid, or
Being lazy.
Well, guess what… here’s some good news: we are not stupid or lazy! Instead, Klontz discovered the way we deal with money is rooted in our psychology and is often a reaction to money patterns we experienced growing up.
By examining your feelings around money, you will be able to see how that early financial foundation, shaped by your upbringing, has impacted you.
Your current money behaviours have developed out of this groundwork. To truly build a positive relationship with money, we have to start from the ground up.
So, let’s do that together. Let’s rebuild this thing.
Make some time and space in your life to really respond to these questions. If you have a partner, ask them to answer these, too.
How do you feel about money?
What are some of your earliest money-related memories and experiences?
Was money a frequent source of arguments? Was the topic of finances avoided?
Once you have responded, take some time to analyze your answers. And, if you’re doing this exercise with someone else, take some time to share. Now that we have made time to think about the foundation that our money relationship has been built upon, we can move forward—from a place of knowledge—and create a sturdy structure.
And hey, if you want to read more Klontz I highly recommend checking out his site here.
Do you have any must-read financial authors that have helped form a more positive relationship with money? Share with a comment below!
Thank you
Shaun
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