Written by: Ryan Daniels, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
It’s often more fun to talk about strategies of managing money rather than how we might be limiting ourselves with our mindset. We neglect what could be one of the most powerful opportunities we have for growth both personally and financially because it requires self-reflection. It’s much easier to look for reasons why we are not reaching our full potential externally than to humble ourselves and evaluate if we might be the reason.
Our money mindset is powerful. What you believe about money shapes the opportunities and the world around you. It affects you both in the present and how you feel about your future. Your money mindset has been developed over many years and was largely influenced by your parents and those closest to you from an early age. What you believe about money and how you manage it are based on the plan you developed – your money blueprint.
The good news is if you don’t like where you are currently with money you can change your money blueprint and live the life you imagine. In a few simple steps you can re-write a money blueprint that provides you with new opportunities and a positive relationship with money so you can create the future you desire.
Steps to Re-write Your Money Blueprint
1. Acknowledge Your Current Beliefs – Be honest with your beliefs about money. Do you believe money is the root of all evil? Do you believe it’s limited? Do you believe it’s wrong to want to be wealthy? These are just a few of the common limiting beliefs about money and why many people struggle to reach new levels of success. It also impacts how well or not so well you manage money. Our mind is powerful and will only provide us with what we are willing to accept. If you think you only deserve $40,000 per year than your mind will make sure that is all you achieve. It’s no wonder that most people that win the lottery are broke within three years because they don’t have a millionaire mindset.
2. Write Your Desired Money Blueprint – Describe your perfect money blueprint. If money was not a factor in your decisions, how would you feel? What would your life look like? Where would you go? What would you do? Imagine not making decisions based on your income and instead based on your heart’s desires. What impact could you have on your family, community or the world? Don’t limit yourself, let your mind run wild and dream big! You can use a vision board or add pictures to your money blueprint to help bring clarity to your vision.
It's important at this point we address what money is and is not. In step 1 you acknowledged your beliefs about money. Most of those beliefs were taught to you by your parents or people close to you from an early age. Money is just a tool. It is not good or bad, it is indifferent and can be used in many ways. Just like a hammer can be used by a skilled carpenter to build a house for the homeless, the hammer could be used by a criminal to smash a display and steal jewelry from the store. It’s the same hammer, just different motivations and use of the tool. So, remember, MONEY IS JUST A TOOL.
3. Train Your Brain – Now that you wrote your desired money blueprint you must train your brain to think like the person you want to become. Two ways to train your brain with the right thinking so that you can take the right actions is to replace negative thoughts about money with positive thoughts. Using affirmations and a personal declaration statement details the type of person you want to become and the positive relationship you want to have with money. These are stated in the present as if you already are that person and have already achieved those things you desire. Your brain does not know the difference and will go to work to make those desires a reality. For the best results say your affirmations and personal declaration statement multiple times per day.
We might not be living the life we desire or have the greatest relationship with money, but using these three steps we can create our dream life! Our mind is powerful and we must change from viewing money and opportunities with a glass half empty mindset and instead as half full with opportunities to fill the cup. Once you change your mindset you can change your life. Opportunities will come to you and you can take action to reach new levels of success.
There is no magic wand or perfect investment strategy. It’s far too common to look outside of ourselves for the answer to our money problems instead of reflecting inwardly and creating a money blueprint that leads to an abundance of opportunity and money. If we change our mindset, we can change our lives and impact the lives of our family, community and world for the better.
For more information on creating your money blueprint, affirmations and personal declaration statement download a FREE workbook at: www.RFinances.com/moneymindset
Ryan Daniels, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Ryan Daniels is a licensed financial advisor and owner of RFinances. As a U.S. Army Veteran, Ryan and his team continue to serve by partnering with businesses, churches and community groups to host workshops to teach people the basics of money. They also provide 1 on 1 financial coaching to help people build a simple to follow financial plan that fits their life. Ryan is the author of "Money Basics and Fundamentals (Build A Plan That Fits Your Life!)" and host of the "Say Hi to Money" podcast.
