What’s Your Relationship With Money?

Empowered or Automatic? 

So – how did you learn about money? How did you learn how to make money? How to spend money? How to save money? How to invest money? What did you learn about having money or not having money? From whom did you learn these things?

Most importantly, has what you’ve learned about money – both at a conscious and subconscious level – been working for you?

Do you have the amount of money you desire? Do you feel confident and purposeful with your money? Is your income at the level you desire? Are you financially free – or following a plan to be financially free in ten years or less? If you lost your current source of income – are you confident that you’d not only survive but even thrive?

I realise I’m asking a lot of questions – and I’m doing so for a reason. So – let’s dig a little deeper with these questions.

How often do you take an action with money (spend it, save it, earn it, invest it) because you think you “should” do such and such, you think you “have to” do such and such, that to not do “such and such” would be irresponsible, and/or because if you do or don’t do “such and such” with your money, you’re afraid of what will happen as a result?

Far more often than we realise, our relationship with and actions around money are influenced and even “programmed”, at a conscious and/or at a subconscious level, by things we have heard, seen, and/or experienced in the past. This “programming” begins at a young age and is influenced by our parents, our teachers, our siblings, our classmates, television, churches, etc. These influences become the foundation for the thoughts we have around money, work, abundance, poverty, and ourselves.

The “Millionaire Mind” master coach and trainer, T. Harv Eker, describes the influence these “programmed” thoughts have when he describes “The Process of Manifestation” in his amazing “Millionaire Mind Weekend” workshops.

This Process of Manifestation works as follows:
You have a THOUGHT – it may be conscious or subconscious. This thought (or thoughts) results in you FEELING a certain way. The combination of this thought and feeling results in you taking a certain ACTION (including the “action” of not taking action!) It is this action that, ultimately, produces your RESULTS in terms of money, abundance and all areas of your life.

In a nutshell, the “Process of Manifestation” looks like this:
T > F > A > R

If you are not AWARE of the thoughts and feelings you have about money (how to make it, spend it, save it, manage it, etc.) and you are not AWARE of how those thoughts and feelings are influencing your actions and results – then your current relationship with money is one that is both “automatic” and “disempowering”.
It is only by becoming AWARE of the thoughts we have – especially those all-powerful subconscious thoughts that are part of our “conditioning” and “programming” – that we have the opportunity to create our own empowered relationship with money. Even if some of our “programming” and “automatic” behavior around money produces the results we desire, the fact that we do not have awareness automatically (no pun intended!) disempowers us.

And – if your “programming” (especially at the subconscious level) is not producing the results you desire, then the first step in creating an empowering relationship with money is that of AWARENESS!

Consider a common “money message” for many people, i.e., “It’s only money.” If this is a thought you have (conscious or subconscious), what type of feeling might it produce for you – especially in terms of money? How, then, would this thought and feeling influence your actions? How will those actions influence your results?

A few years ago, I realised that this was still a subconscious thought I had when it came to money. Imagine the challenges and scarcity this thought could produce as an entrepreneur! If my relationship with money is one of “it’s only money and it’s not important” – can you see how I (or anyone) might spend money carelessly or excessively? Can you see how it might lead to a pattern of not making as much money in my business as was needed or possible? How might a thought like “it’s only money” influence your feelings, actions and results?

Now, consider a different type of thought or “learning” you may have had about money. Have you ever been told that you “shouldn’t pay off your mortgage early because it’s your best tax deduction”?

In my experience (both my personal and that of hundreds of people I’ve coached), far more than we realise, we have an “automatic” and “disempowering” relationship with money – one that has us take actions without full awareness of the thoughts and feelings that lead to those actions. And – if we continue to have “automatic” and “disempowered” thoughts and feelings which influence our actions, we will continue to have the same “disempowering” results – automatically!

So – I ask you again – is your relationships with money one that is “automatic” or “empowered”? And – in the ways it may be “automatic” – are you open and willing to become aware and reclaim your power – so that your thoughts, feelings and actions will support and produce the results you desire?

It all begins with awareness – after that, the choice (and power) is yours.