It’s a bright shiny New Year, and I bet you’ve heard many versions of “New Year, New You.” So—is this year the year to shift your relationship with money? Here are three steps to contemplate, so you decide if this is the year to make the shift.
The first step is to name the feeling that you are tired of experiencing.
Here are examples: you are tired of worrying that the money you make isn’t going to the right places. You’re tired of feeling guilt over what you spend sometimes, like taking vacations. You’re tired of feeling frustrated over not having enough for large home projects. You’re tired of stressing over balances (retirement account balances, debt balances). You feel anxiety when you think about sitting down and trying to figure it all out.
Worry, guilt, stress, anxiety. Yikes. If you feel these things relating to money, I imagine it is draining you. I find that people often get used to feeling these feelings, though. However, money frustrations can often morph to free floating anxiety.
And, sometimes people simply can’t kick this nagging feeling that they are “not good with money”. This feeling may go all the way back—to childhood. If so, I bet you are tired of this feeling!
So step one is naming what is not working. More specifically– name the feeling that you are tired of experiencing.
Step two is to assess your energy you could potentially devote to making a shift.
Do you have the energy to devote to this project? Making shifts does take time. And time is energy. Yes, you can hire a guide and get help (step three perhaps) but before then, you want to contemplate your energy. This may be the year that you need to devote to your health, or your children or some other area of life. Is this the time to consider making a shift in your relationship to money?
Step three is to begin by taking one action to show the universe that you are ready to make the shift.
Here are some possible actions:
- Read a money book (I will share three books I recommend in my next post.)
- Set up automatic payments (to retirement accounts or to credit cards or line of credits)
- Talk to your financial planner
- Start tracking your spending and income
- Work with a money coach (you knew I would throw that one in there.)
What action appeals? Which feels doable? What does your intuition tell you is a good place to start?
Again, the three steps to feeling better are name the feeling you want to change, assess your energy to make a shift, and start by taking one action.
I have guided many women on this journey to feeling better about their finances. It is a sacred journey, and yes, it has twists and turns at times. Our individual money stories would make quite a fascinating read! But most of all, my wish for you is that you feel better about money. As simple as this sounds, we all know it is huge. When we feel better about money, we breathe easier, think about money less, have more freedom, and begin the next stage of the journey around money- designing a life we truly love.
Mikelann is a money coach with over 20 years’ experience, helping women escape the money fog, feel more in control of their finances and love their financial life. If you are ready to leave money stress behind and design a life you love, please see www.seattlemoneycoach.com and read about this life changing work. Once there, grab her free eBook on how to stop worrying about money.
