Often when it comes to growing our wealth we tend to think of skills that we will need to learn in order to accomplish that goal but what if I told you that what you think about money also affects how much money you have?

This isn’t some pie in the sky manifest your way to wealth. Instead I am talking specifically about how our thoughts lead to our emotions which lead to our actions which lead to our results. So if you have a thought around money that brings up a negative emotion around money the actions that you take will be affected by that. Maybe you feel shame or guilt around money or maybe you think having more money is greedy, whatever the thought (and often these are thoughts playing out in our subconscious) shifting your money mindset can have a considerable impact on the amount of money that you have in the future. 

Here are my top 3 money mindset shifts that are definitely worth making in order to change your money story in 2023.
 

1.Not all debt is bad

There is a narrative out in the financial coaching world that all debt is bad! I don’t agree with this for two reasons - one a lot of us have debt and the idea that all debt is bad can actually trap us in a shame cycle that makes us feel bad for past money decisions. When we get trapped in this cycle we then find it harder to get out of it. This is because often we don’t want to talk about money and we feel shame that we didn’t know better and that can actually hold us back from doing better. We don’t want to admit to our mistakes and acknowledge that we may have to learn a new way of thinking and dealing with money.

The second reason I don’t agree with this thought is that I’ve actually leveraged my debt to create wealth so I believe that some debt is actually beneficial when you’re starting off on your journey to wealth building especially if you’re paying less than 7% interest on it. Let’s face it not all of us are cash rich from day dot so being intentional and purposeful about how we can leverage debt to help us get into a better financial position is a real skill and one that I have had to learn over the years. 

Now this isn’t me giving you carte blanche to just go and run up lots of consumer debt, this is more about using debt to build your credit score and invest in things that will help you in the future such as learning new skills, property, investments etc. 

2.People with money are selfish

Question: How many times have you dreamed of owning your dream car or home but then judged someone as selfish for having theirs? 

Here’s the thing: if you perceive those people in a negative way, you're going to perceive yourself in a negative light if you have money. And that's going to prevent you from keeping it and from growing it.

We have to learn to treat money as our friend and not the enemy. Many of us may have grown up thinking that the love of money is the root of all evil, but that’s not true. We can love money, it’s when we become obsessed and treat it as the most important thing over everything else that it becomes a problem. But again money is not the problem here it is the mindset and values of the person with the money. 

Money is just a tool and once you’re able to untangle the emotional meanings you attach to it then you will really start to see a shift in your money. 

3.I can’t afford to invest right now

Whether it’s investing in ourselves, the stock market or property taking the leap into investing can feel daunting especially if we think that we can’t afford it yet. 

The hard truth is that you will never be able to afford it if you don’t make investing a necessity in your life. I come across a lot of women who tell me that they don’t have the money to save or invest but often that’s not quite true, it’s just that they haven’t shifted their mindset to believe that investing is crucial to their long term success and wealth building plan.

A simple fix for turning this ‘I can’t afford’ mentality around is that every single time you hear yourself saying, or thinking, “I can’t afford X”, substitute it with “How can I afford X?”. It’s a small change, but potentially a powerful one.

There is often a way to afford something small. A budget tweak. A lifestyle change. A sacrifice (or postponement) of something else you want. When it comes to the bigger stuff, then it’s a case of drawing up a long-term plan. Maybe you need to earn more, or save more, or develop a side hustle. In theory, you can afford a lot of what you want. It’s just a case of working out the how.

Interested in creating your wealth roadmap for 2023? Email me at [email protected] to see how I can help you.