I have some bad news. Whatever your current beliefs are about money will determine how much money you have. I will let you think about that for just a minute.
It is completely independent of how much money you earn.
What your current beliefs are about money will determine how much money you have.
Have. Not earn.
Have. Not spend.
This universal truth really perplexed me, but looking back I can see exactly how it played out in our experience with money.
During residency my thoughts about money were that there was “just enough”. And we always had just enough and nothing more.
In fellowship, the final year of my husbands medical training, he accepted a job that had a very generous monthly stipend that was to be paid out each month until the time he started the actual job some 8 months later.
Our thoughts about money at this point were “we have worked so hard, for so long, we deserve to enjoy this money”.
So what did we do with that stipend?
We spent it. There was a nice vacation for the family, eating out, and relaxing all of our line items on the budget and then we obligated ourselves to two new car payments.
My husband has an extremely generous heart, he still does, and as soon as we had money he wanted to buy me everything that he wished he could have before.
The new influx of cash came in and just as quickly it went out again. We were enjoying what money could buy after years of “just enough” for basic needs, and yet again here we were with “just enough”.
Whatever we believe to be true is what we will find.
After fellowship our household income multiplied by 10 essentially overnight. I still felt like we had “just enough”. And somedays I even felt like we were just as poor as during residency.
It sounds ridiculous now, but it was true.
Why?
We liked what money could buy and what we could do with it. Whether it was tangible things, experiences, investing it, or giving it away it was almost as if we couldn’t bear the feeling of “having money”.
And we always had “just enough”.
As long as you believe that you always have “just enough” that is all you will ever have.
Regardless of how much money you earn, your feelings about money will drive your behaviors in such a way that you will find evidence for your thought every time.
So what do I believe about money now?
Stay tuned.
If discovering your beliefs about money is something you need to do (and it probably is) why not sign up for my one on one coaching program. I love money and we have a lot to talk about.
