As a financial recovery counselor, I have many times encountered a "spiritual" person who wants nothing to do with money. These people see themselves as above this worldly medium. I believe that a lot of this comes from the fact that so many of us see the spiritual world as divorced from the material world. It is as if money "taints" the spiritual realm, and many fervently wish that money had nothing to do with their lives. Ironically, I’ve found that many people who ignore personal finance actually spend more time thinking about money then those who have it under control! I believe that by reclaiming your life financially, you free yourself up to continue on your path to reaching your full potential. Many times, I meet incredible people who are not reaching their potential due to financial reasons. I think of the artist who was so obsessed over her financial woes that her creativity ran dry. I think of the consultant who disliked his job but felt he couldn’t take another job he liked more that paid less, because his expenses and financial obligations had spun out of control. Choosing to keep finances in your blind spot limits your options and possibilities. Oftentimes, I find that people do not want to look deeply at this issue for fear of what they will find. I submit that to know and be conscious is always better then to remain unconscious. It is clarity that will give you the answers! So what to do? First, you must decide that this is an issue you want to work on. Once you make that decision, you must find a guide. Certainly, you can work with someone, but you can also delve into a number of books on the subject. I highly recommend a recent book called It’s Your Money: Achieving Financial Well-Being, by Karen McCall. It delves into the emotional side of finance as well as the practical. You can also turn to the classic How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt, and Live Prosperously by Jerrold Mundis. This is still one of the best books for learning how to get out of debt and stay out. And if you are a woman who is overwhelmed at the idea of approaching these issues, I’d recommend Barbara Stanny’s book Prince Charming Isn’t Coming: How Women Get Smart About Money. What other immediate steps can you take on this journey? I’d recommend starting with looking at your relationship to debt. Do you suspect that debt is an issue for you? If you are like many, you’ve given away some of your energy to creditors. It’s time to take it back. Debt hampers you and closes off possibilities. I remember a client who desperately wanted to go on a retreat but couldn’t afford to because he was paying so much in monthly debt payments. Can you imagine taking your credit cards out of your wallet? Can you envision a life where you don’t have debt? Remember the first rule of holes: when you are in a hole, stop digging! There is another area to take an immediate look at if you truly want to start down the path to financial peace: savings. Start saving. I realize that it sounds simple, but many of us know that it is not. Think of savings as a state of mind. The amount of money you put away each month doesn’t matter. It is about forming the habit and giving yourself the peace and security that comes from knowing you can withstand all of life’s little surprises. Besides, if you don’t save regularly, it is almost impossible not to incur more debt. How will you withstand the next "surprise"? And remember: when you daily strive to put in place new skills that will bring you out of debt and lead you toward an abundant life full of savings and possibilities, you are that much closer to reaching your full potential. To balance this path, you must also address the flip side: the emotional components of personal finance. I always remind people that money is a paradox: it touches almost everything in our lives, yet it is never just about the money! (Many of our personal issues and conflicts are mirrored in the way we handle our finances.) So much financial behavior is based on unconscious beliefs, attitudes, and assumptions, yet how many of us are dedicated to becoming more conscious? How do we remain fully conscious beings and not take a hard look at this precious resource that is running through our lives? We must strive to be conscious in all ways, including financially, if we hope to achieve great things. I recommend that if you want to start looking at your underlying belief systems around finance, you write about money in your journal — or start a journal about your journey toward financial peace. Let me give you three questions to start you off writing: 1) How did your family handle money when you were growing up? 2) Where there differences between the ways your parents handled money? 3) Do you think that any of this affects how you deal with money as an adult? If so, how? These questions should definitely get you started thinking about your beliefs about money and where they come from. Again, I encourage you to embrace personal-finance work as a marvelous opportunity for personal growth. You will find that your attitudes and beliefs about money affect other parts of your life as well. As with all personal-growth paths, you will encounter resistance, anger, confusion, success, and setbacks. Such is the way of personal growth! As with all paths, there are peaks and valleys, successes and setbacks, but they’re worth it! Becoming financially conscious and addressing your financial behaviors, as well as the attitudes underneath these behaviors, will simply change your life. I would encourage you to embark on your path to financial peace today. Your future, with all its possibilities, awaits you. Don’t let money hold you back from reaching your true potential. Mikelann Valterra, M.A., a financial counselor in private practice, works with people on self-defeating money behaviors. Issues range from overspending and chronic debt to under-earning and sudden wealth concerns. She may be reached at her Seattle office at (206) 634-0861. |
Money and personal growth? What on Earth could those two have in common? A lot. To continue on our individual paths toward spiritual and personal growth, we must eventually deal with personal finance. So many of us neglect the money side of life; however, if we do not address our financial lives, our personal growth and spiritual lives eventually become affected. We begin to experience blockages of our own making that can hinder the very things we wish to accomplish. I strongly believe that undertaking the path to financial health and financial peace will actually aid us in our spiritual and psychological journeys. In fact, working on personal finance itself is a form of intense personal growth.