Eliminating financial indecision

As a Financial Life Coach, I am often surprised how challenging it is for women to verbalize what they want from their money. Is it because we have so many options? Fifty years ago, our options and paths were fairly linear: go to school, get a job, work for a few years, get married, have a couple kids, quit job to maintain the home and family unit. Today, there is no clear path. We have so many options to explore.  Here are a few possible options:

• Maybe I will start an online business that doesn’t require a degree?
• Maybe I will take a gap year to travel at any point in my path?
• Maybe I will have children without a partner?

One thing for certain is all choices require money.

Helping my clients discover “what is” rather than “what if” has proven a helpful exercise. When we explore what is true today, we have a starting point for “what could be” true in the future.

Here are two areas where you can discover what is true today:

Calculate your Net Worth. Net Worth is a list of what you own with its associated monetary value minus what you owe. It’s simple math. I suggest an excel spreadsheet so you can update it regularly as you gain more assets (what you own) or decrease your liabilities (what you owe). It’s important to note, your Net Worth does not equal your Self Worth. Your Net Worth is a data point, a number to monitor. You are one hundred percent worthy regardless of your Net Worth number.

Discover your underlying Money Belief. What do you believe about money? When you read that question, what comes up for you? Often it’s a single word like hard, inequitable or fleeting. Rarely, is it a positive word like fun or easy. It might be a sentence like “I am not good with money.” Or “I don’t understand money.” Or “I don’t deserve money.” Or “I don’t have enough money.” There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to your personal money belief; however, it is important to acknowledge and question is it true? Why do I believe this? How do you know? A few minutes journaling or doodling can often expose what you believe and why you believe it. You might be surprised to discover you took on someone else’s belief and haven’t ever given yourself the time and space to create your own money beliefs.

Once you have your Net Worth number and your prominent Money Belief identified, you can then start exploring what I want financially and what do I want to believe. For example, you might decide I want to increase my Net Worth by 10 percent within two years by believing, “I am capable of earning and saving money.” Another example could be, I want to pay off all my credit card debt in one year by believing, “I want to get ahead and credit card debt doesn’t help me.” Your financial goals and beliefs will be as unique as you are.

I encourage you to make this process as easy and simple as possible by believing this is an easy and simple exercise. Don’t overcomplicate it.

Keep your answers simple and believable. Don’t take too much time weighing or fretting over making the “right” goal or belief. Then break down the financial goal into smaller, monthly goals. It’s important to track your goal either with a chart or a monthly calendar entry. Give it a try. You won’t get what you want until you identify it, get specific, believe you can do it and make a plan to achieve it.

For a deeper dive into your money awareness consider learning the Mindful Money Method, a 9-step holistic approach to math + mindset + soul-driven desires. By learning the proven process and practical skills that have helped hundreds of women improve their relationship with money forever.