The way we talk about money and treat money has an energetic value. Negative words attract negative actions and we continue to repeat the cycle by complaining about the negative actions with negative words.
Saying ‘I spend too much money’ is only going to reiterate to yourself that you do, and will always spend too much money. At times it’s almost like by saying that you always spend too much money, you’re subconsciously giving yourself permission for the money you are spending, and then you continue to overspend in order to live up to the status you’ve given yourself of spending too much money.
See how these cycles continue?
The best way to break this cycle is to change the way you speak.
Phrases that start with ‘I can’t’, ‘I won’t’ and ‘I don’t’ are all negative. Rather than saying ‘I can’t afford that’ you can replace it with ‘I choose not to spend my money on that’. Can you see how you can shift the power in this? You’ve taken control of the situation, and you’ve taken something that is completely negative, and turned it into a positive choice you’ve made.
One of the most common ways we fall in our money mindset, especially for those who love to shop, is by getting stuck in the ‘on sale’ mindset. This is the mindset whereby you only ever purchase something when it’s on sale. This usually leads to you buying things just because they’re on sale, and not necessarily because you want/need them.
Treat money with respect. Not paying attention to it, being frivolous, and being negative towards money is going to ensure a negative money mindset sticks around. Only buying things when they are on sale means you are saying you a) don’t value the item the value it holds, b) you don’t acknowledge that it’s okay to purchase something full price, and most importantly c) you don’t value yourself enough to purchase an item that isn’t on sale.
It’s also been shown that people who purchase only ‘on sale’ items, actually end up spending more money in the long run, and I can completely attest to that. I had far too many clothes, far too many items in my home, all because I thought the purchase was a ‘bargain’.
As soon as I started buying what I needed, and quality versions of it, I found I took better care of the things in my home and felt more confident in myself.
This energy work is real. I know to some it can be a lot to wrap your head around, but just try it and see what difference it can make.
So far we have looked at our own words and the phrases we use, but I want to take a moment to think about the people we surround ourselves with.
There’s a belief that you’re the average of the five people you spend the most amount of time with.
Who do you surround yourself with?
How do you feel about the idea of being the average of these five people?
I’m not saying you need to ditch your friends, not at all. But having an understanding of who they are and the impact they can have on you and your money mindset is incredibly beneficial.
Do you friends always say ‘I’m always broke? or ‘I can’t afford it’.
Do you have friends who are exhausting to be around? Who make everything into a big drama and you feel incredibly drained after being around them?
Remember how we said everything in the universe has energy? What kind of energy are these friends of yours transferring to you?
As I said, I don’t mean for you to distance yourself from your friends. I just want you to be aware and this way you can avoid taking on their energy and going down the same spiral of focusing on the negative things in life.
Okay, back to the powerful words we use. For this exercise, I want you to think about the common phrases you use when talking about money, and I want you to write a more positive spin on it, incorporating gratitude.
You can do this for any aspect of your life. Instead of saying ‘I have to do the laundry’ you can say ‘I get to do the laundry’. I mean, it’s hard to get excited about laundry, but it reiterates a mindset of gratitude.
Likewise, rather than saying ‘I have to pay my mortgage’ you can say ‘I get to pay my mortgage, for a home that is comfortable and my safe place’.
Fill out the page in your workbook with your old and new phrases. If you’d like to make note of more, you can just print the page a few more times. Also, if you’d like to extend it to other areas of your life in order to really practice your gratitude then go ahead.
There’s always room for more gratitude.