Don’t Keep Money Energy a Secret

Money Energy Law #6:

Talk positively about money. Ensure the energy force of money is not life's best-kept secret.

Imagine what you can learn and the opportunities that would present themselves if money was a natural, comfortable part of conversations. But there’s a caveat! Those conversations need to be in a positive light. Unfortunately, we are prone (as with our family members, friends, and business colleagues) to discuss financial concerns as a point of contention. In many cases, money brings up personal baggage from life experiences, failures, judgment, and comparisons which make people feel very uncomfortable. Not only that, but these negative associations are also unhealthy, increase your stress, and may significantly reduce your ability to generate Money Energy.

Initiating the right conversation is only the beginning.

When you build dialogue around money in a more positive light, the more you can open doors for yourself and for others to do the same. Money in many circles remains a taboo subject for a lot of people—and surprisingly, it’s sometimes harder for us to talk about money with those closest to us. But talking about money helps improve one’s financial literacy in one or more of the following ways:

• Improves understanding of financial concepts, strategies, and best practices

• Increases awareness and shows an active interest in improving financial well-being

• Helps dispel common misconceptions and myths about money

• Improves decision-making by gaining insights from others

• Builds confidence in managing your money and your relationship with money

• Creates a sense of accountability toward your financial goals

• Encourages better financial habits such as budgeting and planning

Think about the necessities of life such as oxygen, food, and water. I would say the next crucial element to your survival and quality of life is money. It’s part of our premise and belief that money is a universal energy that strongly impacts every area of life. Improving your financial well-being can be achieved by amplifying the flow of Money Energy. Just like a nutritional diet and exercise, it starts with integrating healthy financial and living habits. Combining a positive mindset and inspirational engagement when discussing money matters helps to power up all four of your personal life energy batteries (nutrition, physical, mental, and money).

Money energy is a vital life force.

While it's essential to be sensitive to personal feelings or even failings, we should strive to remove the taboo that surrounds talking about money. Because, while it remains, it prevents us from experiencing more happiness and health in our lives. It is, therefore, critical for you to understand what money is and your relationship to it. This understanding alone will be a significant factor in charging your Money Energy battery. 

Decide today how you will think about wealth, what your relationship with money means, and how you will talk about money confidently. A positive attitude around the topic will help build positive financial well-being, potentially contribute to longevity, and create a more desirable quality of life. 

Learning to Look at Money Differently

I have an old acquaintance. Her name is Sarah and she asked me if I might offer a second opinion on her family’s financial condition. Sarah is employed part-time at a bookstore. Her husband, Benjamin, is a sales representative for an equipment manufacturer and is relatively successful. Both are considered social and involved in many activities with friends and the community. 

Sarah has a cautious nature and tends to live a balanced and content life. Maintaining and preserving her current lifestyle and building their community life are key drivers in her world. She defines living comfortably in terms of stability. 

Before initiating any conversations about Sarah’s money and investments, I inquired about her life goals and what she and her husband Benjamin felt were important to them. There’s a visualization methodology I often like to implement in such situations and so I asked Sarah to envision her life with Benjamin and literally draw a picture of that image to gain clarity, focus, and emotionally connect with her desires. Once completed, we started to talk about what would it take to finance the lifestyle pictured on that canvas…which of course triggered the discussion of money.

Facing Your Financial Fears

While Benjamin is a risk-taker, Sarah is much more cautious and works hard to safeguard the family’s stable lifestyle. One of her larger fears was derived from recent turmoil in the financial markets, which shook Sarah to the point of many sleepless nights. She asked if I would review their investment portfolio and offer advice on the steps that she could take to protect her and her family from further financial losses. Sarah has a financial advisor that she trusts, but she will not feel comfortable if her advisor’s recommendation is to increase their investments because being afraid of additional losses is just too great.

Investors such as Sarah will generally not set ambitious goals and will not want to leave their comfort zone if that leads to stress. From a financial planning perspective, they will want steady growth, resulting in a comfortable retirement. One of the behavioral risks for her is confirmation bias—that’s the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one’s beliefs and “hunches.” 

Overcoming Behavioral Risks

So, for Sarah, she may be sabotaging her conversations about money with easily obtainable information that reinforces those fears rather than seeking out positive support and dialogue that express Money Energy opportunities. She may be experiencing a combination of confirmation bias, the tendency to seek out information or evidence that supports her opinions, and availability heuristic, which is making judgments based on readily available information or memories. Both can lead to distorted thinking and reinforce preexisting beliefs and assumptions.

Her challenge will be how to not fall back on expressing those negative fears and, instead, build healthy habits and discussions around money that reinforce the stability and life she envisions with her life partner.

Do you have similar struggles as Sarah when it comes to having positively charged conversations about money with others? Are you focused on the negative aspects of your financial well-being or can you seek out opportunities to talk about money in a more uplifting manner? Seek out the positive and it will amplify your Money Energy potential.

Stay tuned every week as we continue to reveal all 40 Laws of Money Energy.

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