Don’t Say This: “I’m Bad With Money”
Watch my full YouTube video on this topic here!
Have you ever caught yourself saying (or thinking) “I’m bad with money?” Or has someone even accused you of being bad with money in the past, and their unkind words became part of your personal money narrative?
The way you think about money is crucial to get right if you ever hope to unlock your inner millionaire and experience financial abundance in your life. Here are four ways to help break out of this unhelpful money narrative! You can also watch my full YouTube video here!
1. Really examine the phrase “I’m bad with money.” What does that even mean? Did you make a big financial mistake in the past that’s still haunting you? Did you lose money on a bad investment? Did you run up mountains of credit card debt? Do you have some spending habits that aren’t helping you towards financial freedom? Or do you simply not have many money management skills right this minute, and want to learn new ones? The sweeping statement “I’m bad with money” is overly-simplistic and unfair to you, so stop saying (and thinking) this! And don’t let anyone else say this to you, either, as it’s quite unkind and hurtful.
2. Replace it with a new statement, such as “Every mistake is a learning opportunity. I can use what I’ve learned to make better financial choices in the future.” You can also say, “I’m getting better with my money management skills every day! I continue to learn new things and use what I learn to make the best choices I can going forward.” You can also focus on making an identity shift, something you can learn more about by reading James Clear’s wonderful book Atomic Habits. Start telling yourself, “I am someone who is great with money and has fantastic finance skills!” Making a positive identity shift like this will help you start to build better money habits going forward.
3. Start developing a growth mindset. The term “growth mindset,” coined by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, basically means believing that you can develop many new skills and abilities with some effort, learning, and persistence. Check out her book Mindset here! Sure it might take some work and courage to try (and fail) at new things, but your potential is virtually limitless once you’ve decided to adopt a growth mindset! Growth mindset is the opposite of a fixed mindset, or a belief that you’re born with a certain amount of intelligence, talent, and skill sets, and that it’s not really possible to develop much beyond that. Can you see why having a growth mindset is so important, especially around money? It’s always possible to learn new skills no matter where you’re starting from.
4. Be kind to yourself. Practicing forgiveness towards yourself is extremely important, especially if money has been a sore subject for you. Very few people learn how to manage their money until they’re suddenly out there earning a living and figuring it out on the go. It’s normal and expected to make some financial mistakes along the way, some of them possibly even spectacular! What defines you, however, isn’t the mistake itself but how you choose to learn from it and move forward. Like Ray Dalio says, “Pain plus reflection equals progress.” Our mistakes can be our very best teachers, painful as they are at the time!