Your relationship with money is so fundamental to acquiring wealth. It is equally important to acquire wealth the right way and enjoy your wealth.
So often there is a strong focus on making more money that turns out to be somewhat detrimental to one’s mental health and physical relationships.
We all know of at least one person who has prioritised money over relationships and family.
What is the point of acquiring so much money without having someone to share it with?
Today, we will be talking about such an important fundamental topic that will help us truly think about what money means to us, why it means what it means to us and techniques to improve our relationships with money.
I hope by the time you are done reading this post you are able to clearly identify if you have a healthy relationship with money and even more important that you are empowered with the tools to improve your relationship with money and start to enjoy money for what it truly is.
For this to happen in this post, we will be covering
- The fundamentals of a relationship
- What is money and why is it so important
- What a good and bad relationship with money looks like
- How the wealthy view money
- 8 steps to transforming your relationship with money
Let’s dive into it, shall we?
What Is A Relationship?
A relationship is how two or more people or things are connected. It is how two or more people or things feel and behave towards each other.
What Is Money?
The dictionary meaning of money is that it is a medium of exchange. It is a thing that allows you and me to obtain what we need to live.
If only it was that simple, we wouldn’t be talking about relationships with money…
When Then Does A Relationship With Money Mean?
A relationship with money is the way you and I think, feel, and behave towards money.
It is how you feel and act when money is involved. It is the love of money. It is the struggle with money. It is the greed, the frustration, the fair, and the conflict that money creates.
Our belief about money starts at a very young age and our relationship with money is formed in childhood not when we start having money.
This begs the question how does a child who doesn’t earn money form that relationship?
For a start, you don’t have to have money to form a relationship with money. A relationship with money can be formed by observing how people deal with money, how your parents treated money or desperately looked for it. How you were rewarded for good behaviour and so on.
As you grow, you start to hear people say
- “Money will make you happy”
- “No one respects people without money”
- “Money can buy happiness”
- “Your self-worth equals your net worth”
- “Rich people are greedy”
- “It’s very hard to make money”
- “Without money, you are nothing”
All of this implants in your mind and forms a stronger belief on what money is, can or cannot do.
What Does A Healthy Relationship With Money Look Like?
What then is the difference between a good and bad relationship with money?
The feelings and behaviour that money creates is key to understanding if you have a good or bad relationship with money.
A good relationship with money drives the right financial behaviour and a bad relationship with money does the exact opposite to your detriment.
A healthy relationship views money the right way.
Instead of ‘money is hard’ you say and think ‘money is easy’
Instead of ‘I won’t have money because of xyz’ you say ‘I can make a lot of money’
Instead of ‘I have to have a lot of money’ you say ‘I need money to spend on the things I value and enjoy”
Instead of saying “No one will love me without money” you say, “I will build a healthy relationship and work with my partner to make more money” After all two heads are better than one.
A healthy relationship thinks of money as natural, neutral, and fun. An unhealthy relationship does the exact opposite, it turns making money into a difficult chore and enjoying money into an uphill battle.
How The Wealthy View Money?
The way the wealthy view money is different from everyone else. Notice I said the wealthy, not millionaires – wealth lasts longer than millions. Many millionaires have a bad relationship with money so even if you are ‘rich’ it is still worth reviewing your relationship with money in detail.
The wealthy truly view money as a means to an end. This is why while the masses focus on hoarding their money, the wealthy are happy to let that money be put to good use to earn more money.
The masses believe money is directly connected to time, so they trade time for money. The wealthy trade value for money. They believe that by genuinely solving a problem and adding value they can create limitless money that is not constrained by time.
The wealthy can look at money objectively and divulge of emotions, especially negative emotions. They think of money within reason rather than by emotions. They let logic guide their financial decisions and only let emotion drive them to stick to the decisions.
The wealthy believe being rich is a right rather than a privilege or a game of luck. This automatically puts them on the front foot. With belief, you are over 50% there already.
You can read more about this in my post on why the rich get richer and the poor poorer.
How To Transform Your Relationship With Money
If you think of money as the wealthy do, then congratulations you are well on your way to amassing much wealth.
If you, don’t I encourage you to follow our 8 steps guide and start transforming your relationship with money today.
“Set Money Goals. Be Intentional with your money”