7 Mistakes We Make With Money
Over the years, I've worked with many people around their relationship with money and I've been able to see some common mistakes people make with money:
1. Not being present with money in this moment
This is a mistake I made for years.
I’d always tell myself that things would be better tomorrow and I’d run away from looking at my finances in the present moment.
I could barely sit down and look at my bank account, create a budget, write a vision or even come up with a plan.
I was living on hope.
This is why the first 2 weeks in the Creating Money Magic Course are just focused on connecting with your spirit of money and mastering the tools to remain present with your finances in the present moment.
Because hope and saying, “Things will work themselves out” isn’t enough.
2. Praying or doing positive affirmations but never taking action
Listen, I’m all about the power of the Divine and connecting to Source on this journey.
In fact there was a time in my life when I’d host 10 hour chanting sessions to pray for a financial breakthrough.
I’d spend 15 minutes a day repeating positive affirmations as I stared in the mirror.
I did all that consistently for 2 years.
And you know what?
Nothing shifted; in fact I got more depressed.
Looking back I realise that I was waiting on a greater power to save me, when what I needed was to save myself.
The change happened when I started aligning my prayers with my actions and budget.
3. Trying to do it alone/ Never asking for help
We all need help at some point; the problem is admitting it and asking for that help.
There are many reasons why we don’t ask for help. When I was drowning in debt and struggling financially I refused to ask for help because I didn’t want to face my financial issues.
You see the minute we ask for help, we’re admitting we have a problem and we can’t do it alone and our ego gets bruised, especially if we’re perfectionists or we have a strong inner critic.
My finances and my business changed radically when I got a coach, signed up for online courses and got a tribe.
I can’t stress how critical a tribe with a similar vision has been to my success because everyone in the tribe acts as a sounding board and holds me accountable. These things are priceless when we’re working on changing our finances.
This is why I love the Wealthy Money Magicians group and the offline Wealthy Money circles.
4. Not making personal finances a priority
People often say to me – “I read your newsletters, see the work you do in the Creating Money Magic Course and the exercises you’re suggesting but things are so hectic right now, I’ll start working on my finances in a few months.”
A few months later some of those people will email me in a panic because their finances are in an even worse state.
And even in that position, they keep delaying on doing the work.
The truth is: you’re in a relationship with money.
Imagine money is a lover except you never prioritize your relationship and always delay on committing to it. How would that lover react?
It’s the same with money.
5. Believing that making more money leads to financial freedom
I want a higher income and am constantly working my butt off to make that happen.
But I remember there was a time in my life when I was making US$2,000 a week for 10 hours of work and I still couldn’t get out of debt.
In fact I was digging myself into deeper debt.
At the time I felt like I never had enough money and I always felt frustrated, anxious and worried about money.
It felt like my wants, needs and desires far outweighed my income.
Looking back now, I wonder how I made so much money for 2 years (I was working 40 hours a month and making between US$5,000 and US$8000 a month!!) and still managed to remain heavily entrenched in debt.
This is the same reason why in a few years one third of lottery winners end up in worse financial situations than they were in before winning the lottery.
The universe delivered on my prayers for income but I couldn’t see it because my emotions about money were clouding everything.
Funny enough, when I became debt free, I was earning way less money, paying off my US$60,000 debt in South African Rands (I was earning way less even in Rands), building Wealthy Money, starting an investment portfolio and also in the process of buying my apartment in Cape Town.
The difference was that this time I was doing spirit of money meditations, inner child work, clearing vows from past lives and budgeting.
These are all thing I share in the Creating Money Magic eCourse.
And as cliché as it sounds – it really is about what you do with what you earn, that’s what makes all the difference.
6. Believing that cutting expenses leads to financial freedom
The first thing my family told me when I started Wealthy Money was, "don’t teach couponing or cutting expenses because you suck at it."
That’s the best advice I ever got.
Because I actually do suck at those things but I’ve also learned from experience that cutting expenses doesn’t lead to a better relationship with money.
One of the first things I did when I was in debt, was to cut expenses and force myself to cut down on basic needs.
It was a big disaster!
I ended up resenting money and feeling frustrated about money. Halfway through the month I’d have a mini rebellion, ignore my budget and spend all my money.
Why?
Because self-denial is never the answer and it doesn’t address some of the deeper emotional issues we have with money.
The thing that changed everything for me, is exactly what we focus on in the Money Magic course – aligning my expenditure to my financial vision.
7. Thinking that it’s just about the money
It’s very rarely about the money.
It’s almost always about everything except the actual hard cold cash.
If you’ve been doing the FREE Personal Finance Bootcamp, you’ve probably realized this by now and started to see that you have lots of other emotional issues that impact your relationship with money and our debt or lack of savings or investments is directly related to this.
We have family karma, childhood stories and belief systems that affect how we spend money, deep seated issues, vows we’ve taken around money etc.
We cover all this and more in the full Creating Money Magic eCourse.
What mistakes have you made about money?
Share in the comments section below.
