Brandon Soder
Have you ever told yourself, “Money doesn’t grow on trees?”
Stop.
Jen Sincero, success coach and author of the book “You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth,” these kinds of unhelpful thought patterns, many of them common beliefs that we “unconsciously accept as truth,” can hold you back from building wealth.
She writes that these thought patterns can be culturally or socially induced, or a product of deep unconscious emotions that manifest themselves where you least expect them. You may be in denial about how much money you have, or how much you want to make, or you may be deluding yourself into thinking you’re reaching your monthly budget when you’re not.
“Awareness is the first key step in breaking the spell of your not-so-awesome financial ‘reality,'” writes Sincero. As a solution, Sincero recommends following the steps below to identify, question, and rework any negative or unhelpful thoughts you may be subconsciously harboring, which are standing in the way between you and making money:
- Become aware of your limiting thoughts and beliefs.
- Question and investigate them.
- Rewrite them.
- Say it out loud and proud.
For instance, Sincero spelled out how she would change two common, damaging money beliefs: “Money can’t buy happiness” and “I’d rather focus on having fun than making money.” She writes:
1. Unhelpful thought: ‘Money can’t buy happiness.’
Question: What makes me happy?
Answer: Hanging out with the people I love, grilled cheese sandwiches, being loved and loving others, drinking beer, having my own business etc.
Question: Does having money help me achieve any of these happy things?
Answer: Yes.
Rewritten thought: Money supports my happiness.
2. Unhelpful thought: ‘I’d rather focus on having fun than making money.’
Question: Is it fun when you make money?
Answer: Yes, when I make it it’s fun, but what I have to do to make it isn’t fun.
Question: Would it be worth your time, during your one and only life, to find or create an occupation that is fun?
Answer: Yes.
Rewritten thought: I make making money fun.
You can give her mental reframing strategy a shot yourself with some more common, unhelpful thoughts Sincero suggests:
- “You can’t be rich and spiritual.”
- “Money isn’t important. People are.”
- “You can’t make money by doing X (whatever you love to do).”
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