It seems impossible doesn’t it? The idea that you would never – ever – worry about money again . . . for the rest of your life??!!
Especially since you’re already wondering if tonight, yet again, you won’t be able to sleep. You’ll lay down, exhausted and ready for bed, and then suddenly become gripped with fear over a bill you just realized was coming due tomorrow and your bank account has already been drained of its resources and it’s only the middle of the month.
You tell yourself that it will all resolve itself and that you need sleep in order to function. But it doesn’t work. You toss and turn.
You beat yourself up and wonder where you’ll come up with the additional funds to pay the bills. You look at your spouse and can’t help but resent them a little . . . how can they sleep knowing things have been so tight lately.
You wonder how you got here. You feel like a loser.
This isn’t a topic you can share with your anyone because you’re ashamed and feel like you should have known better.
Meanwhile . . . down the street, your friend Sharon is also having a sleepless night. In some ways you can’t imagine that she ever worries about money. After all she was born into a rich family, has a trust fund and never seems to lack for anything.
But she’s up. And it’s not the first time she’s lost sleep when it comes to money. Tonight Sharon is wondering if a lost opportunity will cost her a bulk of her investment. She worries that she could end up like her cousin and lose it all. And the truth is she doesn’t really have any marketable skills – she feels completely unemployable.
Sharon tells herself that she really doesn’t have the right to worry.
She has a nice nest-egg and it’s not like she’s going to be destitute tomorrow.
In some ways she feels foolish – especially when she sees some of her friends struggling. She can’t tell anyone because all they would do is roll their eyes and say she’s being dramatic. She feels alone and worse yet – isn’t sure how she can stop the constant cycle of worry that keeps her up at night.
In a perfect world Sharon would text you or you might text Sharon and you’d both discover the one common truth we all share – no matter who you are or how much money you have, we all worry about money.
Whether you’re worrying about how you’re spending money, not having enough or how you might lose it all, money is the number one preoccupation for so many.
And I would venture to guess that even more than not having it or potentially losing it all, the constant worry about money is actually having a greater negative impact on your life.
You’re probably already aware of this on some level, but when you worry about money you’re robbing yourself of the valuable life energy you need in order to improve your quality of life.
The hours spent beating yourself up about the past and future-casting, steals valuable cognitive and emotional resources that leave you feeling depleted, restless and irritable. For some, it can also lead to negative behavioral issues such as drinking too much or taking risks you normally might not take.
But here’s the hard truth – worrying does nothing to help you actually solve the problem you’re experiencing when it comes to money.
Logically you may know that, but still you spend hours missing out on life in the present moment because of worry.
I want to help you release worry and take greater action.
While there’s a ton of advice out there on how to stop worrying about money, the one thing I’ll always return to is that what’s beneath all of your money issues are really greater issues of self-worth.
Think about it for a moment . . . the first thing you typically do when you start a cycle of worry is go into the typical “what if” statements.
You know the ones:
“What if I go bankrupt? What if I lose my house? What if I lose it all? What if I can’t get another job?” And on and on.
What inevitably comes up after you cycle through all the “what if” scenarios, is a deep feeling of disappointment and worthlessness.
In many ways, the worry serves to mask our feelings and insecurities about how we feel about ourselves and our ability to handle money.
Once we understand that our worry is actually there to cover up the dysfunction and the hard-to-face beliefs we have about our own self-worth, we can begin to release our need to worry and instead come up with solutions to the problems at hand.
In fact, instead of staying up worrying, we could choose to see our financial troubles as a wake-up call designed to help us take greater care of ourselves.
Imagine that instead of waking up in the middle of the night playing out every possible nightmare or trying to brainstorm – you’re able to shift your thoughts and recognize that the real driver of the conversation is your self-worth.
Immediately you’re able to shift from a false story to one that allows you to see that even if the worst were to happen, there is always a way out.
Because when you understand that you are worthy of having the things you want and life working out, you’re able to make better choices to build the kind of future you’re hoping to have.
Instead of always feeling like the hapless victim to your money situation, you’re able to take better control over how you spend, what you invest in and the manner in which you pick yourself back up from a fall.
This week, I want you to begin to notice some of the false stories you tell yourself about your money situation – including the negative things you say about yourself and your relationship with money. The first step is always awareness and seeing how your self-worth is truly behind each of your cycles of worry, which can be a powerful antidote to your current situation.
I also want you to join me for my FREE 3-Part Workshop Series: Stop Worrying and Start Living. From April 22-24, 2019, I’ll be showing up live and sharing the next steps you can take to continue releasing your constant worry so you can begin to live your freedom!
No matter what your current financial situation, this workshop series can help you find the financial ease you desire, healing your relationship with money once and for all.
