Tips to Ease Financial Anxiety

Money is often a subject that people worry about, and who can blame them? 

Money and finances can be tricky, demoralising and completely frustrating. No one wants to be destitute, hungry, or lacking resources. We all know that money is important. Both understanding it and talking about it.

So why then, do we have such a hard time talking about it? Whether you’ve fallen on hard financial times, feel unable to accomplish your money goals, or struggle with financial literacy. It is because it is such an emotionally filled subject. And with that emotion comes fear. But you are used to hard things, being a mum, running a business. So, just because “money” is hard, it doesn’t mean we get to avoid it.

I am a firm believer that every single financial decision we make is backed by an emotion.

MONEY = FEELINGS

That way, you can feel confident to take positive actions to further improve your financial life. Remember, the hardest part about creating any habit – is starting it. If we can realise that talking about money isn’t about our understanding of spreadsheets, maths problems or even our tax returns, that it is actually talking about our feelings, then we are on the right path to starting.

Credit Card Debt

If money is tight and you resort to using a credit card to supplement or top up your life – how do you ever expect to get ahead if you ae paying between 15%-20% in interest.

Keeping up with the Joneses

I’ve been banging on about this a lot lately. Money talks and wealth whispers – don’t go broke trying to look rich. Often we are anxious or stressed when we aren’t aligned to our morals and values. The same goes for our spending – make sure you are spending on what is important to “you and your family”. Don’t go comparing yourself to others.

Rising interest rates

The term “mortgage stress” is definitely a buzz word in the media. And it is real. Last month’s 50 basis points 0.50% cash rate hike was the single biggest individual rise we have seen in over 20 years.

Fear and Negative Thoughts about the future

A lot of people have a negative relationship with money and their future financial security. They can believe that they may lose everything they have (eg their job that pays well) or that they won’t have enough money to have a financially secure retirement. When we break the cycle of negative thoughts we can also break the limiting beliefs we have and increase our money confidence.

The best thing money can buy is the freedom from worrying about money.

As you may have heard me say in other workshops – people tend to believe that Budgets are designed to restrict your spending. I believe differently – I believe that they empower your financial decisions. There is much more positive energy from deciding where to send your money instead of worrying where it went.

1. Know you are not alone – one thing that is important to me is to get people sharing and talking – I can guarantee there isn’t much I haven’t seen or heard in my business – I can safely tell you – you are not alone – so don’t be afraid to share the burden you are feeling. There should be no such thing as financial shame
2. Take time out – like anything else that stresses as – if we stay in the moment with our heads spinning around and around – there is every chance we will find ourselves delving deeper into stress. Walk away and take time out. Come back to thinking about it with a clear head
3. Ask for help – our anxiety increases when we feel we will never overcome a challenge
4. Avoid worst case thinking – remember just because we aren’t great at “one thing” doesn’t mean we are a failure at life. Keep things in perspective
5. Create a positive habit – feel those endorphins multiply. And don’t forget to celebrate your successes

AFFIRMATIONS

The basic idea of an affirmation is that they are powerful, positive thoughts that you repeat to yourself over and over again, until they become a reality. As we know the fear and negativity around money can be cumbersome and disheartening. Affirmations for money, are ones that are specifically designed to help you change your thoughts about money, and open your mind to think more positively about it.

Here are some affirmations to use as tools to shape your money reality.

At the end of the day I want you to truly believe that you have the power to create the success and build the wealth you desire. If you’d like to learn more about how to feel confident to take positive actions to further improve your financial life, then I’d love to help you. Simply get in touch at [email protected] or click here.