In my first episode for the money mindset series, I covered the first money mindset and emotional shift you need to make in order to have a great relationship with money. So now, for today we’re going to talk about the second shift.
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My Story
This shift became my money mantra about 9 or 10 years ago. So, in case you don’t know, I graduated in 2010, graduated into the great recession. And I couldn’t find a job. I didn’t know diddly-squat about money. But that has since turned into a career as an award-winning financial blogger who works with financial brands, and I also do coaching and consulting with small business owners.
Now, that’s the short version of the story. But at that time, 10 years ago, I didn’t know anything about money. And part of the reason I didn’t know anything about money was that I was terrified of money. Also, I was terrified of money is that the economy was in a dumpster fire and I was broke. And another part of the reason that I was terrified is that math and I had been at war since I was eight years old.
So one of the things that I tell my clients all the time, and I tell my students, and I tell my social media followers, is money is more psychology than it is math. The math that we use when it comes to money is actually really basic. And I’m saying this specifically for those of you who identify as creatives, and right-brained thinkers, and, “You’re never gonna get this because it’s too many numbers.” I used to tell myself all the same crap. And that’s why I’m telling you this.
My Financial Come To Jesus Moment and Money Mantra
So, in that time, I had what I call a financial come to Jesus, which was basically like, “Yo, you need money to live.” Food costs money. A roof over your head costs money. There’s also the added benefit that I have immigrant parents. My family is from Cuba, and my family over there does not have access to the same opportunities that I have here in the United States, and I was very much raised with that mentality.
So I had that going for me in terms of, “Okay, yeah, everything’s in a dumpster fire right now. And I’m really scared, but this is still the land of freaking opportunity, or so I’ve been told my whole damn life. And in order for me to get that opportunity, clearly it sounds like I gotta figure out money, right?”
What I Did After Believing My Money Mantra
So, that was the thought process that was going on in my head at the time. And lo and behold, not long after that, I googled how to make money writing because I couldn’t find a job, and I knew I could write, and I was writing for these things called content mills. Basically, you would write a bunch of articles and then you would make money off of the ad revenue. Or maybe they’d pay you like 10 bucks for an article if it was an assignment.
So I signed up for one of those, and I realized that a lot of the assignments that they had available at the time were for personal finance. So it was stuff like budgeting, getting out of debt, all of this stuff I didn’t know. And I decided to take the assignments.
And I say that story when I’m speaking or when I’m teaching, and a lot of people ask, “Weren’t you scared?” Of course, I was scared, I was freaking terrified. But at the same time, I’m thought, “Well, if I could get paid to learn, and all I have to do is research, like, at least I have an incentive to go learn about money. Even if it’s 5 or 10 bucks, it’s 5 or 10 bucks.” So there was that opportunity thinking. But it was still scary.
And the reason that it was scary was that I didn’t trust myself to handle money, and I know many people feel that way as well. Maybe you just don’t trust yourself to handle money. Or you don’t trust yourself to make decisions in your personal finances.
If you are in this mindset and if this sounds like you, I want this to become your money mantra. And that mantra is, “I am capable of figuring this out.” Okay?
What You Need To Do
So if you want a successful relationship with money, you need to believe that you are capable of figuring it out. You are capable. I say this during all of my speeches. There is no difference between me and the people in the audience. Maybe I’ve had a little bit more time to work on this stuff. Or maybe I’ve done a little bit more research. But other than that there literally is no difference.
I started in the same place as everybody else. I was broke and with no money. Also, I didn’t know a damn thing about money. I had to tell myself, and I had to really rev that up in myself, “You are capable of figuring this out. You are capable.” And I had to tell myself this all the time.
And it’s still a mantra that I go back to quite often. One of the things that you’ll realize is that money is not one of those things where once you’ve figured it out, nothing bad happens anymore. It doesn’t work that way at all. There’s always going to be stuff coming up. It’s something you’re going to have to work on consistently. There’s going to be new challenges, setbacks, and mistakes made.
But even in those moments, you still have to tell yourself, “I am capable. I am capable of figuring this out.” So make that your money mantra. It’s going to get you very far in your financial life.