We all hold some ideology about money and for many it stems from a source of fear, anxiety, or even disgust. Our financial beliefs influence how we spend, save, or manage our money. If you have experienced any form of financial trauma you will understand the ripple effect it has in many areas of your life. If we grew up with limiting beliefs about money it can hinder our potential for success, or emotional wellbeing and even relationships. The good news is there are evidenced-based ways to clear money trauma or limiting beliefs that you may have inherited around money from your family of origin for good.
To identify your money beliefs that are causing you difficulties and distress it important to pin point what has happened to you in your life and what you heard or witnessed. There are small T traumas that include negative comments that heard growing up and big T traumas that stem from financial betrayal or poverty. It’s important to look at both types of trauma to get to the root of one’s faulty financial belief system. Here are my top three causes of limiting beliefs associated with finances.
Worthiness
If you have lost a lot of money in the past and have experience financial hardship, it may cause you to belief you don’t deserve money. This belief can lead to people earning way below their potential. You may believe “I am not good with money” which prevents you from learning how to get it and hold on to it. If you don’t feel worthy of more money you can become a money avoider and take on the belief that you are powerless when it comes to money. At the end of the spectrum of money avoidance is financial irresponsibility that leads to compulsive buying, over-spending and problem gambling. Feelings of unworthiness repel any chances of financial abundance coming your way.
Fear
If you have associations with fear when it comes to money you will intrinsically believe there will never be enough. Fear and anxiety will cause you to work overtime, neglect relationships, and fail to enjoy the benefits of your labour. It may appear that even when you pour all your time and effort into your work there just never seems to be enough to go around. You may become a hoarder or become so frugal that you neglect to buy essentials. You may become risk adverse and fail to neglect in building your wealth by making investments that could benefit you. These fears are usually visceral and could merely stem from repeatedly hearing parents arguing about finances in childhood. Maybe they complained that there was enough money no matter how hard they worked creating a scarcity mentality in your home environment.
Moral Value
When you assign a moral value to money your beliefs are always based on a false premise. The word track you tell yourself could be that “money is the root of all evil”, “ money doesn’t grow on trees” or that “you need money to make money”. Let’s take a look at the belief that “Have to Work Hard for Money” for example. The school system instils a very strong “work hard so you can get a job” ethic. We all know of the kid, however, that didn’t work so hard at school and created significant financial success in spite of this belief. If you continue to abide by these beliefs, you will unfortunately act accordingly. Accepting these beliefs blindly is something many of us do until we get the awareness that as deliberate creators it is not useful for us to hold onto them.
Financial abundance begins with your mindset and should not be hindered in any way by your past experiences or beliefs. EMDR therapy is a very effective way of clearing the small T and big T traumas sitting in your nervous system so you can live up to your financial potential.
If you would like to clear your limiting financial beliefs you can contact me here.