Have you ever heard someone say, “That ship has already sailed?” Have you ever said, “That ship has already sailed,” regarding getting on the path to financial wellness and financial freedom? Well, the good news is you are the ship!

There is one person in control of navigating your life and that is you. Once you harness the energy of that powerful fact, your life begins to shift and your money situation begins to shift. How we think about money has a direct impact on how money shows up in our lives.

We have all heard numerous “rags to riches stories.” You may create your own story in your head of how those people got “lucky” or just seemed to get all the breaks. Yet, the secret to these stories is the people believed they could overcome their situations and choose their own lives. If it isn’t you who is creating your life, then who is?

I am not saying we just blink and wish for our financial circumstances to change for the better and they will. I am saying if you live in a poverty mindset, it is hard for wealth to have an opening to enter your life. Your thoughts precede your actions and your results.

Reframe Your Morning

So, if you wake up in the morning and say, “Ugh, another day of going to a job that I don’t like and that doesn’t pay me enough,” you are actually reinforcing that view in your mind. You are saying to yourself that you don’t have a choice to redirect your life. You do have a choice.

Even if you choose to stay in that particular job you can shift your thoughts about the job and how you can redefine it in your mind. Maybe you can change your role at work or ask for a raise. Maybe you decide it’s time to look for a new job. The key is, that you understand you have the ability to choose your life.

A thought shift to, “I have valuable skills and will do something today to explore my job opportunities,” changes the money paradigm in your head. Your thoughts will set the tone of your day. In the morning, right when I get up, I practice gratitude. First, I say thank you for this day and then I go from there. There are so many things to be thankful for and what we focus on expands. Practice gratitude regularly and you will be astounded by how gratitude responds.

What We Focus On Grows

If we choose to focus on the negative, we get more of the negative. If we choose to focus on the positive and the gratitude, we become receptive to attracting more of the same into our lives. We all live but how we choose to live our lives is up to us.

Laura, one of the women who recently participated in my MoneyMaestra Women, Money, and Relationships workshop, and is working on transforming her relationship with money, wanted to share her mantra. Laura wrote these words, “I give myself love and grace as I learn about money,” on cards and placed them around her home. It is such a beautiful reminder of self-love, as Laura learns to better her relationship with money.

When Laura enrolled in the workshop, she was proactively living her mantra. Taking steps in the direction of your dreams gets you on the path to financial wellness and financial freedom.

Knowledge Is Key

Learning is one of the keys to shifting your relationship with money. As you are learning, you are proactively growing your money skills. Also, as you learn you will be teaching yourself new ways of relating to money.

When you start to make the shift in your head, that you are in control of your money situation, the fear and stress associated with money matters will start to fade. Once the fear and stress begin to fade, you begin to get more clarity, which further reduces the fear and stress and so the empowering cycle continues.

Oftentimes, we fear the unknown but when we learn how money functions and start practicing a positive money mindset, money is no longer an unknown or a fuzzy concept. There are so many books and websites focusing on money matters. One of the websites I enjoy and often check is www.nerdwallet.com.

Even though I am a money coach and teach workshops and give presentations about money, I still am in a continual state of learning about money. I have a desire to expand my knowledge, continue to grow, and direct the course of my life.

Remember it is your life, and you can always change the direction of your sails but first, you must be aware of any self-defeating words you are telling yourself and self-defeating behaviors you are demonstrating. Just the initial awareness is a step in the right direction. If you are unaware, you are working against yourself without consciously realizing it.

Awareness can be so eye-opening. From this new viewpoint, you will start to actively do things to improve your relationship with money and how it is showing up in your life.

Questions For Thought

What are you grateful for today? What words are you telling yourself that are not serving you and how can you reframe those words? Remember you are the ship.

Warmly,

Susan Howell, The MoneyMaestra