If money was a person…

Happy 2014 to you, I’m so glad you’re here again with me.

I thought I’d take a break and let you settle into 2014. Can you believe it’s February already? Time keeps moving swiftly along, and time really is the only thing we can’t get back. So don’t waste any more time.

One of the most valuable things a coach or teacher provides is saving you time. Many moons ago I read self help books and tried figuring things out on my own. That took ages and let’s face it, some things you just can’t figure out on your own because your thinking around it remains the same.

One of the reasons I write this blog is to share mental tools that if you implement will give you what Oprah calls “a-ha moments”. Get you thinking about things in a different way so that you can implement a new behaviour in your life. New mental tool + new behaviour = change. It’s a simple equation.

Today’s post is about money. Here’s a simple but very insightful visualisation exercise you can do by yourself, to get to the bottom of what you really believe about money.

Imagine that money is a person. What does that person look like to you? Really get into the details of describing him or her. Is it a man or a woman? How old is he or she? What does he or she look like? Tall, short, healthy, unhealthy? What does he do for a living? Where does she live? What kind of house or apartment? What kind of clothes does he wear? Is he or she married, with kids or without? What’s the relationship with his partner like? What’s the relationship with her kids like (if infact she does have kids). What are his hobbies? What are her friends like? Is he a pleasant person? What’s her personality like? Approachable or distant? Laid back or uptight?

You get the idea. They key is to describe everything in detail, as though you are describing a character in a movie. After you’ve done that, the next question is the kicker. Would you spend time with this person? Is this person a friend of yours?

When I did this exercise a few years ago I described a gentleman who looked nothing like anyone I spent time with. In short – what I really thought about money was that it was this far away thing that I had seen but was never close to.

Now my definition of money is vastly different. It evolved over time and became a woman who was in fact someone I considered a good friend. The description evolved yet again over time. And now money to me is a clear blue stream that I love to swim in.

I’ve done this exercise with clients and they’ve been surprised at what their descriptions reveal to them. For many people money is something they can never quite get close to. The next step is to change that description of money and turn it into someone you would consider a friend.

So:

  1. Have an honest conversation with yourself about money
  2. No point pretending it doesn’t matter – it does!
  3. Get to the heart of what you really think about money and turn it around.