Negative money beliefs can significantly impact your financial behaviour and overall financial health. These beliefs are often deeply ingrained in us and can come from various sources, including our childhood, cultural influences and our personal experiences. Here at TJintowealth we will take a look into the top 6 most common negative money beliefs and their potential impacts.
Money is the root of all evil
Impact: This belief can lead to a subconscious resistance to accumulating money, sometimes making it difficult for you to save or invest money. This belief may also lead to you feeling guilty about earning or having loads of money which in turn makes you avoid seeking out those lucrative financial opportunities.
Reason: This belief mainly comes from our cultural influences. Since the beginning of time, money has been linked to evil, because most of the major negative world events (wars etc..) have used plenty of money and have been over money or the natural resources that lead to money! Those leading these negative events have had lots of money and even more available to them by misusing the trust of others. So the simple assumption has become, that if you have loads of money
Rich people are greedy
Impact: This belief can create a negative association between you and money, leading to self-sabotage when it comes to financial growth. It can also make you unknowingly foster resentment towards those who are successful, this can then hinder your networking and learning opportunities.
Reason: The reasons for this belief are quite similar to the ones for Money is the root of all evil. We have seen some rich people abuse their position and money to the loss and pain of others and rather than be seen as one of those rich people we choose to stay broke.
I’m not good with money
Impact: Believing that you lack financial skills can prevent you from taking control of your finances. This can result in you making poor financial decisions and avoiding financial planning which is one of the keys to becoming rich. Taking the aforementioned effects into account, this all leads to a sense of helplessness when it comes to money.
Reason: Most, if not all of the world’s education systems do not teach personal finance and how to handle money. Everyone is taught to add, subtract, divide, multiply and work out the degrees of angles in circles and squares but we are not taught about financial mathematics like Apr’s or compound interest. This lack of financial knowledge leads to initial bad financial decisions which then compounds your belief.
Money doesn’t grow on trees
Impact: While this belief can instil a sense of financial responsibility in you, it can also create an overly frugal mindset. you might be afraid to spend money on necessary or enjoyable activities, or even invest in financial deals. This can lead to a lack of balance in financial planning.
Reason: Again this is a cultural influence, used by many to curb spending and as a reason for why a particular item cannot be had. The irony is, that money was originally a banknote which was written on paper and as we all know, paper comes from trees!
I have to work hard to make money
Impact: While hard work is important, this belief can lead to burnout and neglecting smarter financial strategies, like investing and passive income generation. It can also create a cycle of overworking and under-earning.
Reason: We are taught from an early age that we should work for money, that is, we should exchange our time for money. All through school we are asked to choose a career or a way that we will make money using mainly our physical talents working for others. Again this is a cultural influence that we have mostly all adopted.
I don’t deserve to be wealthy
Impact: This belief can result in your self-sabotage and an inability to pursue or accept the opportunities that come your way which could lead to financial success. It can also be linked to low self-esteem and a lack of confidence when it comes to financial matters.
Reason: As we grow up and try to find our way in the world, we can start to realize that the beliefs we hold about ourselves are more often than not given to us in true faith by others who may not have known better. If this belief of I am not worthy is something that resonates with you I would suggest that outside influences have determined your beliefs here and this can come from parents, teachers, family members and the wider society in general.
Having read through the above you can now understand why so many people are broke and remain that way for life. Most of the beliefs we have around money are culturally led, and the hardest thing for people or even you to do is to stand alone or even go against popular culture. This being so it’s no wonder that so many people never attempt to, or break out of poverty. In future blogs, we will look at reversing the aforementioned beliefs, but for now, Awareness Is the first step. Your job now is to recognize and acknowledge your negative beliefs. Reflect on where they come from and how they have influenced your financial decisions.
Why not take some time to evaluate the money beliefs you have?
We look forward to inspiring you to change them here with us at TJintowealth
