Earlier this year, after the pandemic began having its impact on people, I wrote a blog that was part 1 of this continuation post.
In it, I primarily addressed income and revenue and asked you to get familiar with how you earn your money and how much comes in from all sources. Your current income may provide opportunities or create challenges, and both aspects should be looked at critically.
If you examined your situation then, kudos to you for doing so! That’s a great place to start. If you didn’t answer some of the questions in the previous blog, or your work/income situation has since changed, go back and check-in again with your current earning experience.
I’m on to part 2 which I had promised to write, and I want you to join in the fun.
Let’s begin with a quote from the previous blog.
“Financial preparedness is smart. Although we like the idea, it’s often a “get to it later” ideal.
I’m going to challenge you (and myself) to change that paradigm.
In this self-isolation period we are in, we have time to contemplate our finances and see what we should do to feel more secure, protected, and abundant.”
I know that some of you may be busier than ever right now and that statement above may not reflect your circumstances.
Here are two things you might consider:
- Make spending time on (with) your money a priority anyway, because it may be the key to working less or more effectively
- Set a near future commitment date to begin your new money relationship which will involve spending time with your finances.
As we move on from the revenue side of the equation, here are a few ideas to move you toward your goals, building and strengthening your relationship with money.
1. Remember Mindset First – There is little to no point in sitting down to address money issues while telling yourself negative stories about you and your money, and how you two don’t get along.
Here’s the thing, there are realities to the decisions you have previously made. If there is a legitimate path to reversing prior actions or receiving retribution for something, then take care of the matter.
If there is not, and what’s done is done, DO NOT create a negative story about it that precludes you from moving ahead with your abundant life.
If you can create a negative story, you can also create a “higher value” story, so put your energy there. It’s easier said than done but quite doable.
An example of such a story is: “I invest poorly and never see the rewards, I better not try again.”
The fact that you haven’t seen gains from your investments may be accurate, but the idea that you’d better not try again is a concocted conclusion to the story based on your limited perception of what’s possible or even what’s transpired.
A replacement thought and statement could be: “I can learn from what I’ve done in the past and make better investment decisions now to create more wealth.”
If you can’t quite make the leap from negativity to positivity, go for neutrality. That will quell the emotional blocks that build up fear, doubt, and inactivity.
Set an intention for your relationship with money. What will you give in terms of time and energy and what are your hopes and expectations from it?
2. Secure Your Ability – When my son was younger, he often had an unusual request. He would ask me repeatedly about something he wanted, searching for one answer. And, it wasn’t “yes you can have it”.
This happened with small things at first, then it was the phone and later a car. He would ask for the item for a birthday or Christmas (far in advance). While he never expected an immediate yes, he always wanted to know if it was a possibility (even if very slight).
He called it “ability.” He wanted to know if he might have the ability to have a phone in the future. If he thought he had the ability, he was satisfied and could rest easy, even though it might not happen.
Now (most of the time) he has to create his own ability and so do we. How can we best do that with money? What could give you that sense of ability for the future?
One of the money moves that help in this area is establishing or maintaining good credit. Credit scores move up and down with more volatility than they once did and they rise and fall for different reasons.
If you are living in the past with respect to how credit works, the rules have changed, if you are on the younger side, you actually start out with a solid credit score, which you want to build (not destroy).
The topic is vast and beyond the scope of this blog, but one quick piece of advice is to get the free Credit Karma app on your phone. It keeps you connected to actions that affect your credit, allows you to easily clean up errors, and serves as a reminder that there are small actions you can take to build up your ability.
3. Set up Protection – There are many financial areas to work on at any point in time. Sometimes, while setting up budgets, savings, etc. we may overlook the value of protecting yourself from great loss.
Knowing that unexpected, costly events are covered is crucially important to your financial security. This is not a particularly exciting conversation, but the uncertainty that you live with if this goes unaddressed can be excruciating.
The most obvious way to protect yourself is through insurance. Health, life, property, auto, and other relevant insurance protection is extremely important, and having a broker you trust saves you money and more peace of mind.
In addition to insurance, create a system to ensure that required dues, licenses, and taxes are paid on time. There is nothing like finding out your drivers’ license has expired when at the rental car counter in another city.
You will feel more abundant when you are not facing preventable dilemmas that occur from not taking adequate precautions.
This is enough to take in for the moment. Please take the time to contemplate these ideas. I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas. Part 3 will be coming soon!
