Written by: Ulrike Seminati, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
What exactly does money mean to you?
For me, money is a means to achieve and maintain freedom: the freedom to work in a job that I love, to live in a place that is comfortable and safe, and to travel the world (at least that is what it did until 2020!). Money also enables me to engage in projects that are close to my heart, namely to help young people in countries where access to education is not the norm yet.
We all have an intimate relationship with money, one way or the other – our own individual money paradigm if you will. For many of us, this comprises the desire to have more money, yet we might feel almost resentful at the same time, as we most likely have self-sabotaging beliefs about money or about being wealthy.
Like any relationship, our involvement with money can become dysfunctional and influence our hearts and minds in a counterproductive way.
Researchers refer to beliefs about money as money scripts. Like lines being read by an actor, money scripts are firmly held beliefs we recite to ourselves inwardly. They typically live in our subconsciousness and are passed on to us by our parents and grandparents. We establish them by observing how the people around us talk about money, by listening to their opinions – and biases – about the rich and the poor, and by watching their financial behaviors and patterns.
What is your association with money? And – if you want more of it – what would more money bring to you? How would it change your life?
Money is far more than a currency. For many of us, it is representative of the life we are dreaming of. And sometimes, what we believe about money is linked to the value we give ourselves.
Our belief pattern around money is probably more negative and limiting than beliefs we have in any other area of life. By increasing our awareness of our beliefs about money, we can make sense of our emotions and identify actions of financial self-sabotage in our past, which can help us to prevent similar patterns in the future.
Money is not the root of all evil; It is what we do with it. If we grew up believing that money is evil, that we need to hold on to our money at all costs, or that we don’t deserve to earn more of it, we generated negative beliefs about money that we most likely carried through to adulthood. Only by re-programming those negative associations, money and wealth will become fully accessible. Once we are mentally detached from money, it is free to start flowing to us.
There is one simple thing you can do to find out if you have negative beliefs about money: Speak out loud the following sentence: “I deserve to be rich.”
Are you able to say this sentence without even a hint of guilt or doubt? If so, congratulations! You have a healthy relationship with money. If you sense the slightest feeling of guilt or doubt, you have one or several beliefs about money that are standing in the way of you achieving your financial goals.
While there are certainly factors we can’t control if it comes to our financial situation.
However, there is one thing that distinguishes wealthy people from those who struggle: they never doubt that they deserve to be rich. They have rich thoughts, they consider themselves being rich as their natural state, and this way of thinking attracts more riches into their lives.
Having conscious positive thoughts about wealth precedes prosperity in our material world. Children who have grown up in rich families find it easier to become wealthy themselves. This is on the one hand due to a supportive network and on the other hand on the belief that they deserve to be wealthy without restrictions is natural and omnipresent to their mind.
This way of thinking is the key to our success. Embracing the idea of us being wealthy without feeling guilty, not worthy enough or fearful of losing our riches again is the key to change towards a prosperous life.
So, how can we shift our money mindset to positively influence the trajectory of our life?
1. Find out where you already feel rich.
Our emotions are a powerful inner driver that can help us to filter out promising opportunities to create a wealthy life. Rich people have created their riches first in their mind.
To enhance your chances to become rich, you need to feel rich. And believe it or not, you have sources to rely on within yourself right now to create this kind of feeling. Take a few minutes to reflect on the following question: If you had all the money you are dreaming of, what would you change?
Would you change your relationships?
Would you change your friends?
Would you change your favorite activity?
Would you change where you live?
Would you change what you laugh at?
If you answer “no” to one or more of these questions you have already identified an area (or more) of your life where you are already rich. Rich in the way you feel, no matter whether you have more money or not.
Creating awareness about these areas enables you to create a basis for a more positive mindset. A mindset that helps you to find your inner keys to opening subconscious doors to attract more riches in your life.
2. Identify your limiting beliefs.
When we are born, our mind is a clean slate. There are certain things our bodies are genetically programmed to be able to do almost from birth - the basics of movement, communication, and self-healing. However, when it comes to what we choose to believe about the world, our minds are up for grabs.
Children believe in Father Christmas and fairies as easily as they believe in grammar and money. Until we take control of our own minds, our beliefs about the world and ourselves come from the continual messages that we receive in the first few years of our lives.
What we are told again and again, particularly at moments of emotional intensity, has the most powerful effect on us:
If you believe you must work hard to make money, you will only look for jobs that involve a lot of effort.
If you believe that everyone is out to rip you off, you will subconsciously gravitate towards people who will do just that.
If you believe that you deserve great wealth, then your mind will look for opportunities that create that wealth.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Growing up, what did I hear and observe with regard to money?
What is the one thing my parents did with their money that I want to replicate?
What is the one thing my parents did with their money that I want to do differently?
By identifying these beliefs, you give yourself the chance to catch them “in action”. When you are hesitating to ask for a salary increase next time being aware of your belief pattern will diminish their power on you.
3. Replace your limiting beliefs with empowering ones.
For a week, write down on a notepad every belief that pops in your head, every day. This belief awareness exercise enables you to isolate any limiting belief that is likely holding you back in life. Once you have identified those limiting beliefs, then it is time to replace them by beliefs that will enable you to become rich and successful.
Positive beliefs can be:
I deserve money.
Money can come to me easily.
There is more than enough to go around.
It is okay for me to be wealthy.
You can use these new beliefs like mantras that you repeat to yourself every day. However, if you aim for long-lasting change, a more sustainable method is to work on and with your limiting beliefs in a coaching session, thus removing their limiting power and approaching your life goals with a new, productive mindset.
4. Act and plan as if you already had the money.
Like everything we create, we first imagine it in our heads. Before Edison created the light bulb, he imagined it in his mind. To have a rich mindset you need to act on and about money with confidence and the firm belief that you (will) have enough of it.
Our brain does not make a difference between what we imagine and what we live in the “real” world. If you have positive emotions when vividly visualizing a wealthy life, your brain stores this mind movie as an experience. You can support this mental exercise through concrete actions. Be careful not to count every penny and be generous in planning investments or purchases by having the confidence that the appropriate financial situation will arise.
5. Give money away.
Money has value only when it is used. If you want to bring movement and flow into your financial situation, you must first create movement. Regularly donate money to causes that matter to you and set good things in motion. In doing so, you create positive energy that will come back to you.
If you want to improve your present life situation and become wealthier, you have to understand your internal money paradigm and take action to change your mindset. There is no better moment to start than right now!
Ulrike Seminati, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Ulrike Seminati is a leadership and communication coach wholeheartedly dedicated to empowering leaders to trigger exactly the mindset shift they need to lead and communicate with charisma and authenticity. She recently launched her podcast CHARISMA HACKS, where you get mindset training, strategies, and tools to communicate with charisma on a weekly basis. Ulrike combines some of the most efficient self-development techniques with her corporate experience at all levels of hierarchy in her 1:1 coaching and corporate in-house training. She is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and conducts her programs in English, German or French.
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