Swiping right might find you a date but it won’t fill your bank account.
Truth is, relationships are important to us. Just as humans pursue relationships with friends, children, a partner or spouse, we also pursue a relationship with money. Yes, how we feel about and manage our money defines our relationship with it.
What would happen if we treated our money with the same care and attention we apply to the most important relationships in our lives? Do you think we’d have better money-related outcomes? Sure we would.
One major mindset shift is to realize we have a relationship with money.
Yep, that’s right, a “relationship.“ It may be positive or it may be negative but we HAVE a relationship with money.
I know that sounds a little odd, but it’s true.
We pursue money like we pursue relationships.
We nurture money like we nurture relationships.
We ask of our money – to do things for us – as we do in relationships. We have strong emotions about money.
Money can control us.
It can inhibit us.
We fear it. Worship it.
We can be jealous when someone has more money than we do.
We show off our money as a status symbol.
So, yeah, we have a relationship with money.
This relationship with money isn’t static. Sometimes it’s really good and is simple and easy. Other times, it requires so much work and you can just feel defeated. There’s also a history you have to contend with too.
As in all relationships, there’s a give and take. It’s not all give. It’s not all take. It’s about finding a healthy balance.
Ask too much from your money – like buying you true love or ensuring a joyful existence – and you’re likely to be sorely disappointed.
Ask too little and you’ll end up disengaged, disconnected, and living a less than optimal life.
Gathering money just to sit in an account, never to be used to live your best life is a travesty.
Our relationship with money affects every area of our life.
Money is a multiplier, it amplifies who we are.
We know how much a healthy personal relationship impacts our life. The same is true of a healthy money relationship. It’s a thread that affects everything. If we have a healthy relationship with money, it allows our best self to burst forth and do good in the world.
And no matter how we try, we cannot separate our money from who we are.
But, just because we can’t separate our money from who we are, this doesn’t mean our money defines us. We breathe life into our money, not the other way around.
In short, money isn’t a thing to be managed; it’s a relationship to be nurtured.
How are you nurturing yours? Spend time figuring out your relationship with money.
If you struggle in this area (like many women because you haven’t received healthy messages about money) check out our Money Like Never Before course. Click here for a free lesson to get you on your way to developing a healthy relationship with money.
