The other day, I met a woman in her sixties named Jane, while I was lining up for a seminar, who told me that she hates anything to do with finances so she leaves it to her financial consultant. Then in her next breath she says that the consultant is useless and she “pays him for nothing.” However she felt that she would rather have a bad adviser than no one at all. When I told her that she could actually manage her own finances she told me that she did not understand shares and that her adviser’s judgement would be better than hers. Jane went to explain how her dislike for numbers stemmed from her school days (even though she was good at maths).
I found the conversation worrying but from her manner I knew that she would not listen to anything I had to offer. Jane’s mind was closed to the possibility of her understanding money. Her mindset was that ‘she did not like figures, finances were difficult and she did not want to understand it.” This belief can be traced back all the way to her school days when she hated maths. Does any of this sound familiar ?
The first step in understanding money is changing your mindset to believe that you can manage your money. Think about what mental blocks you have about understanding finances. When did you start to have this belief ? Was it from your days at school ? Everyone has the ability to understand money. All you have to do is be able to add up, subtract, multiply and divide. This can all be done on a calculator.
The biggest hurdle is yourself and your beliefs. So start with baby steps and believe that you are great at managing money. I find affirmations or mantras are great tools in helping you change your beliefs.
For instance, your internal dialogue might be “I am not good with money. I am not good with numbers.”
You can change that belief by saying “I am great at managing my money”. Whenever you have a negative thought about money swap it with your positive statement.
You will find that over time your mind will open up and you will feel confident enough to gain a better understanding of money. Please do not take my word for it. Try it for yourself and see what happens. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Another aspect of the conversation with Jane that concerned me was her statement regarding shares. I will be the first to admit that I do not understand shares and have no interest in it. That is why I invest in property as I love all aspects of property investment. So why invest in something that you do not understand and have no interest in ?
Anyone can learn to invest their money but they need to do their own research before they make the financial commitment. Read, ask questions and read some more. Once you feel as though you know all you need to know about
money then take the plunge and invest.
Imagine if you were going to go diving. Would you just jump off the boat and dive into the ocean without any equipment or training ? No, you would take some lessons, buy equipment, read about diving and speak to other divers. Only after all your research would you dive into the ocean.
You follow the same steps with investing. Read about it, speak to people who have done it successfully and go to some seminars. Be aware that your aim in attending seminars is to educate yourself. Not to buy property or shares from the people who are giving the seminars.
Going back to the diving analogy, how well do you think you would dive if someone else attended the courses and read the books ? The same goes for investing, you need to teach yourself about investing so that you can make the decisions.
Remember there is nothing wrong with making mistakes and everyone does it. The important thing is to learn from your experience and move on. The past is behind you and you have to look forward with the information you have learned. You can have whatever future you want, just believe in yourself and your own abilities.
Do you want to be like Jane who has left her financial future to a stranger she is not happy with ? Or would you prefer to be the person looking after your money. Who would you trust, a complete stranger or yourself ?
These are the questions you have to think about when you think about your money.
Good luck and remember that we all have the ability to look after our money, we just have to believe and trust ourselves.
Have a safe and wonderful day.
I found the conversation worrying but from her manner I knew that she would not listen to anything I had to offer. Jane’s mind was closed to the possibility of her understanding money. Her mindset was that ‘she did not like figures, finances were difficult and she did not want to understand it.” This belief can be traced back all the way to her school days when she hated maths. Does any of this sound familiar ?
The first step in understanding money is changing your mindset to believe that you can manage your money. Think about what mental blocks you have about understanding finances. When did you start to have this belief ? Was it from your days at school ? Everyone has the ability to understand money. All you have to do is be able to add up, subtract, multiply and divide. This can all be done on a calculator.
The biggest hurdle is yourself and your beliefs. So start with baby steps and believe that you are great at managing money. I find affirmations or mantras are great tools in helping you change your beliefs.
For instance, your internal dialogue might be “I am not good with money. I am not good with numbers.”
You can change that belief by saying “I am great at managing my money”. Whenever you have a negative thought about money swap it with your positive statement.
You will find that over time your mind will open up and you will feel confident enough to gain a better understanding of money. Please do not take my word for it. Try it for yourself and see what happens. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Another aspect of the conversation with Jane that concerned me was her statement regarding shares. I will be the first to admit that I do not understand shares and have no interest in it. That is why I invest in property as I love all aspects of property investment. So why invest in something that you do not understand and have no interest in ?
Anyone can learn to invest their money but they need to do their own research before they make the financial commitment. Read, ask questions and read some more. Once you feel as though you know all you need to know about
money then take the plunge and invest.
Imagine if you were going to go diving. Would you just jump off the boat and dive into the ocean without any equipment or training ? No, you would take some lessons, buy equipment, read about diving and speak to other divers. Only after all your research would you dive into the ocean.
You follow the same steps with investing. Read about it, speak to people who have done it successfully and go to some seminars. Be aware that your aim in attending seminars is to educate yourself. Not to buy property or shares from the people who are giving the seminars.
Going back to the diving analogy, how well do you think you would dive if someone else attended the courses and read the books ? The same goes for investing, you need to teach yourself about investing so that you can make the decisions.
Remember there is nothing wrong with making mistakes and everyone does it. The important thing is to learn from your experience and move on. The past is behind you and you have to look forward with the information you have learned. You can have whatever future you want, just believe in yourself and your own abilities.
Do you want to be like Jane who has left her financial future to a stranger she is not happy with ? Or would you prefer to be the person looking after your money. Who would you trust, a complete stranger or yourself ?
These are the questions you have to think about when you think about your money.
Good luck and remember that we all have the ability to look after our money, we just have to believe and trust ourselves.
Have a safe and wonderful day.
RSS Feed