Personal finance has become an interest of mine to the point where it’s a hobby. I’m obsessed with learning about investing, passive income, and ways to secure the future. When it comes to finances and ways to improve your money skills, there is a lot of information out there. There’s also so many opinions on what you need to do in order to get out of debt, save for retirement, and upgrade your life.
After I graduated college, I realized that I had no idea what I was doing when it came to personal finance. I was never taught how to manage money, and I felt so out of control. To be honest, I didn’t even know much about retirement savings… yeah, that’s how bad it was.
Feeling devastated, I took it upon myself to teach myself how to not just manage money, but to thrive. I checked out countless books from the library on personal finance, and listened to certain podcasts and shows. I’ve been doing this for the past five years since graduation…
Until I stopped listening to financial gurus altogether.
You might be thinking… Charis… what gives? Won’t this cause you to backtrack? My answer is, actually… no. In fact, after I learned what I needed to learn, reading all these books and listening to radio shows actually caused me to lose progress. And it wasn’t until I stopped that my family and I started making big strides again.
If you listen to the language of a lot of financial gurus, you’ll find many negative connotations. And what you focus on increases.
On a certain radio show I used to listen to, callers would ask questions such as how to get out of debt. While the advice is amazing, (and I still loosely follow this advice.) I realized the verbiage behind the money advice was negative.
- “You can’t afford that.”
- “You’re too broke to go on vacation or take a break.”
- “Work hard to get ahead of this out-of-control inflation.”
- “You need to get out of debt, like yesterday.”
- “Act like your pants are on fire and get angry about your situation to improve.”
- “You should be working three jobs and sixty hours a week to pay that off.”
And so on. When you read these phrases, how do they make you feel? If you’re anything like me, you feel a bit like this emoji: 🥴 As I stated before, what you focus on increases. So, if you’re internalizing these words that say you’re broke and everything is too expensive, that’s what will compound. And if you focus on debt, you’re going to attract similar outcomes into your life.
What is the antidote to all of this old, toxic programming involving money?
Realize that every negative money belief is man-made and was invented by someone. The saying that money doesn’t grow on trees, or to save for a rainy day isn’t the absolute truth. It’s a societal construct.
This may sound hard to believe right now but bear with me. Growing up, you may have watched people surrounding you constantly worry about money or not having enough. And most people go through their lives not even realizing it but regurgitating this information… living by it. Spreading it. Manifesting it over and over.
Once you realize that these toxic money beliefs are man-made constructs, you start noticing them everywhere. You’ll notice them in the news, from the mouths of people around you, and yes… from financial gurus.
Another thing you’ll begin to realize is that if someone could invent these toxic money beliefs, you can create your own set of beliefs that will benefit you and your family for generations to come.
I’ve stopped listening to financial gurus, and replaced it with listening to my own intuition and my own inner wisdom. It doesn’t even take much effort, but I receive information from my intuition about what I need to know. Here is some information I’ve received from my intuition lately:
- “Money is like the tides. It washes away, then comes right back.”
- “Any money I invest will come back to me tenfold.”
- “My household income will always exponentially surpass inflation.”
- “I’m capable of living a reality wilder than my wildest dreams.”
- “My success is inevitable.”
- “I co-create my dream future with the help of God.”
I’ll ask you the same question as before- how do those new phrases make you feel? Maybe you don’t believe them right now. That’s okay, it just means it will take time. But how would you rather feel and believe… the prior phrases, or these new ones? I’m certain that most people would rather believe they can create their own future!
I’ve stopped listening to financial gurus and am more abundant than ever. It starts with being more conscious of the media and info you consume. Become choosy and picky about whose advice you follow, no matter how many followers this guru has. Being conscious of what you say in conversation is important as well, as words really do matter. And most importantly, listen to your intuition as she will guide you to everything you’re capable of manifesting.