Discover Your MoneyMind and Improve Your Financial Life

Discover your MoneyMind^® is a step I believe is paramount to building a solid foundation with regards to your financial situation.

Your MoneyMind is your emotional relationship with money. Each of us has a bias around money based on our core values, upbringing, and beliefs. Your MoneyMind is what drives your ability to save more, make more, and to stop stressing about money. Be sure to have a positive relationship with money!

All too often we take on other people’s beliefs about money regardless of whether those beliefs are true or not. Amy Morin, LCSW, states  in "3 Important Ways Your Childhood Shaped Who You Are" that our core beliefs about ourselves, others, and the world mostly came from our childhood—parents, siblings, teachers, etc.—and these beliefs can turn into self-fulfilling prophecies if they are not overcome. Professional help can be necessary to overcome untrue and detrimental beliefs.

My father grew up very poor. He would tell me that money is the root of all evil and that wealthy people became wealthy by taking advantage of others. Guess what? My subconscious believed that wealthy people were not good people. I also believe that I am a good person and wish to continue being a good person. Therefore, my subconscious mind would not want to be wealthy as I did not want to live richly at the expense of others. This was a limiting belief, inherited from my father, that had to be banished.

Take a moment to think about how your parents felt about money… Did they have a positive or negative relationship with money? What were some of the stories they told you surrounding money? How do those stories affect your perception of money?

How do you improve your MoneyMind?

• BE AWARE - Be aware of what your biases around money are and WHY you have specific beliefs. United Capital has developed a fun tool with the help of the Department of Behavioral Science at the University of Kansas to help clients better understand their bias around money and make smarter financial decisions. CLICK HERE if you wish to take the simple 7 question quiz and learn more about your MoneyMind!
• CHALLENGE - Challenge your negative beliefs. Take those negative beliefs and make them positive. This will clear the blocks you have placed on yourself as well as any perceived limitations or limiting beliefs. For example, if your negative thoughts are, “I am terrible with money.” Write that down. Now ask yourself, “Why do I think I am terrible with money?” Is that the truth 100% of the time? No. Next, you must find contradictory evidence proving that is not the case. Write down the evidence and remind yourself of the truth whenever you think the negative thought. This will help to retrain your subconscious mind. For example, “I’m not terrible with money because I pay my bills on time every month.”
• PRACTICE - Your brain has developed neuro pathways and created habits and patterns. Habits and patterns cannot be changed with knowledge alone. Improving your MoneyMind takes practice.

In the research article Dynamic Brains and the Changing Rules of Neuroplasticity: Implications for Learning and Recovery, Voss, Thomas, Cisneros-Franco, and de Villiers-Sidani (2017) define neuroplasticity as “a general umbrella term that refers to the brain’s ability to modify, change, and adapt both structure and function throughout life and in response to experience.” Read books, listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos, and surround yourself with people who have positive dispositions around money. Do something on a daily basis that will help improve your MoneyMind and your financial situation will begin to improve! 

References and Further Reading

Neuroplasticity: the Art of Brain Training. Retrieved from https://www.caba.org.uk/help-a...

Voss, P., Thomas, M., Cisneros-Franco, J., & de Villers-Sidani, É. (2017). Dynamic Brains and the Changing Rules of Neuroplasticity: Implications for Learning and Recovery. Frontiers In Psychology, 8. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01657

Disclosure: Investing involves risk and clients should carefully consider their own investment objectives and never rely on any single chart, graph or marketing piece to make decisions. The information contained herein is intended for information only, is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, and should not be considered investment advice. Please contact your financial adviser with questions about your specific needs and circumstances. MoneyMind® is a registered trademark of United Capital Financial Advisers, LLC. All rights reserved.