People are programmed to get into debt and to stay into debt. After all, this is an “instant” society that wants everything now. Everyone is programmed to believe that credit is the best way to get their American Dream. It is a fact of life that most people spend more than they currently have to obtain their piece of the American Dream. At this point it might be useful to point out that most people are headed towards living from paycheck-to-paycheck. But, you should strongly consider that our government is already living from paycheck-to-paycheck and it is not working out to good for them. Although, the government operates at a continuous deficit the government has the ability to just raise their debt level and just print more money. What we often don’t consider is that we are unable to keep spending more than we have. There is another way, a better way.
I recommend personal financial education that will teach people how to handle their finances. Many people don’t know what they don’t know. While basic money management skills are a necessary step towards financial health, it won’t necessarily result in good financial habits. Many people say that knowledge is power but that is an incorrect statement. Knowledge is not power, knowledge is empowering! For many of us know what to do but it doesn’t mean that we will act on it.
So what is it that keeps us from living an abundant, successful and prosperous lifestyle?
For many people it is the negative thoughts, feelings and beliefs that they have around money. It is the self-sabotaging negative thoughts that have seeped into their unconscious minds over time. It is the negative money mindset that they have developed because of what they have learned from their parents, family, friends and the environment that they live in. Most people don’t realize it but they have developed poor financial habits that need to be changed. To put it simply, there are two areas that need to be addressed before you can change your money mindset. First of all, you need to identify how you feel about money. What do you think about money and why?
Next, you need to make a conscious decision to change the negative thoughts and feelings that you have about money. Seek out and absorb all the positive things that you can find regarding money. Hang around people who have a positive mindset and not a negative mindset. For example: One of the negative things that people say about money is that “Money is the root of all evil.” This is incorrectly quoted from the Bible which states that “The love of money is the root of all evil.” If you receive and accept the negative and incorrect statement about money then you could subconsciously think you should hate money because it is evil. Money is not evil. It is simply a tool to be used by people.
Second, you need to evaluate your money habits and get the necessary education you need to improve your money management skills. The key to changing your money mindset is aggressively pursuing change in the following ways: through education, consistent action and implementing everything you learn.