Mindset is a huge topic of interest and importance to every person who embarks on a journey to personal and professional development. If you think you can’t – you are right… if you think you can – you are still right…. I think someone important said that…
Your mindset is based on a lifetime (and many from past lives) of beliefs that we are often not even conscious of. What is your money story? Where did it start? I had this conversation with my kids recently – oh my I can’t believe I have crafted such a warped money story for them… and I am conscious of it. Most parents have no idea how they are affecting their children and crafting their perceptions from conception.
Here is my money story….
I was raised in a middle class family where everyone worked REALLY hard. I was the oldest grandchild and spent lots of time with my grandparents who were children of the depression. My grandfather was a petty criminal during his childhood because his family could not afford basic food sometimes so he and his buddy, Fritzy, stole it. My grandmother grew up on a farm and they went to town once a week to sell eggs. They made everything that they needed from what they grew or raised on their farm… so she didn’t know they were poor until she went to high school and met girls that bought clothes in a store… (yep from that same tiny community I mentioned before). My mom worked swing shift at a local manufacturing facility and my dad was a union welder going where ever the work was.
So my perceptions were that money was a reward for working really hard and it was a fleeting commodity… Also that sometimes you had to give up quality of life (working swing shift or traveling all over the country and never seeing your family) in order to provide a stable financial foundation.
As a result of the beliefs my family created around money, I learned how to make money. I was really good at working hard and making lots of money… but I was really shitty at keeping it. I didn’t gamble; I don’t shop all the time; I don’t have extravagant habits – so where did my money go? Yep – the car need work that wasn’t under warranty and the boiler in my office building died… there goes that 20K I saved…. oh ya and the husband’s money story factors in… you can’t pay yourself if you owe anyone anything…
Seriously – it took me a ton of mindset work to rewrite that story… It was emotionally evocative and somewhat painful, but I am so happy I made the effort to change my mindset and create a belief system that serves me rather than works against me and undermines my desires and goals.
Changing your money story starts with a decision to do it and an introspective journey into where your story comes from.
BRAVA! ” I made the effort to change my mindset and create a belief system that serves me rather than works against me and undermines my desires and goals. ” Appreciating the suggestion to rewrite my money story!
Ooh… Such a true message… Can’t wait to hear about what the mindset work looked like in the next post! 🙂
We’ve recently been talking about money stories, and our childhood and adult experiences with money, in my mastermind group – and as we all talked about our experiences, we each discovered some surprises, along with some common ground.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the overlap between your money story and your spouse/partner’s story – especially if one of you becomes mindful of changing the story and the other doesn’t.
Thanks for a great post, Jami!
Hi Jami, Thanks for sharing your money story. Part of mine is similar to yours in that I was taught you have to work hard to be successful; anything worth having is worth working hard for. It’s taken me awhile to get over that and I’m still not totally healed. Money mindset is huge and something that is important for all of us to understand and acknowledge. Congrats to you on rewriting your money story!