I’ve had clients who had never experienced stress before in their lives say that after going through a financial crisis that they now instantly register stress in their bodies.  I know for me, my stress usually registers as tightness in my neck or throat area. When we get these sensations we think that our circumstances are causing our stressful feelings.

One of my clients thought that looking at her numbers and spending plan was causing her stress.  Or that the need to please me (her coach) and “do her financial work in the right way.”  Was causing her stress.

I had another client who had over $75,000 in debt at one point (I’m happy to report that he and his wife have completed gotten rid of their debt through our work together!).  He thought that the debt was causing his stress.  Yes, financial circumstances TRIGGER our emotions – but we are constantly called to remember that they are not the CAUSE of our feelings and emotions.

We are actually the source or cause our feelings and emotions based on our interpretations of our life situations.  Ironically though we often believe our interpretations to be “the truth.”  We think our interpretations are merely describing or reflecting our reality.  But this is practically never the case.  We interpret things a certain way because of our past experiences.

My client experienced a huge breakthrough when she realized that the source of her pressure was not me (her coach), or her spending plan, or the desire to increase her income, but that the she was the source of the pressure.  She realized that she frequently experienced pressure and the desire to do things right in many areas of her life beyond finances (which is frequently the case).  All of a sudden when she saw that she was the source she became aware that she also had the power to change it.  When she believed it “was out there” she had no power to change it.  By realizing that she was the cause of her emotional response, she was able to take responsibility, alter the way she interpreted her situation and move from overwhelm into appropriate financial action.

If you want to learn more about how you can move past the money emotions that hold you back from taking the financial action you know you need to take click here to sign up for my FREE webinar onWednesday  March 31st, “Personal Transformation Through Money: How to Consciously Achieve Your Money Goals And Create Financial Success in Your Life.”

We’ve been taught that creating wealth requires years of personal sacrifice:  to work long hours and not have time for ourselves, our relationships, and the things that matter most.  This paradigm, or map of reality, focuses on the end result at the expense of our quality of life. Wealth is separate from our selves, something “out there” for us to strive to grasp and own.

I invite you to experience a paradigm shift, where you engage in the world of money while creating both financial wealth and a quality of richness in your being and relationships.

A New Definition of Wealth

Your efforts to gain wealth can be an authentic and holistic process — an exploration and discovery of your true self.  I call this “True Wealth.”

True Wealth can be attained through:

1. Setting aside time for yourself and to nurture your spirit
2. Creating connecting relationships
3. Taking effective financial action

Picture these as three individual circles.  Each circle interlocks with the others.  In the center, where all three circles join, lies True Wealth.  By standing in this center, you will set aside time for self and your spirit, create rich and connecting relationships with others, and take effective financial action in the world.

The Secret to Creating Richness of Being

We can create a richness of being by connecting with spirit.  Spirit is the unseen part of us that fuels our sense of aliveness, allowing us to feel the depth and fullness of life.  By carving out personal time for ourselves, slowing down and listening deeply through all our senses, we can connect with spirit. By doing this we live our life in a more rewarding way and are more easily able to follow our unique blue print for creating wealth and powerful change.

Building Financial Success Through Connection With Spirit

People have many different names and definitions for what they think of as “spirit”.  Whatever we call it, think of spirit as the source that can transform our lives. Wayne Dyer says “Within the dormant acorn seed lies an infinity of forests.” Think of spirit as the “Miracle Grow” for your small acorn seed dreams.  By paying attention to and nurturing our selves our connection with spirit will become stronger, and we will come to know our unique blueprint for financial and personal success.

How Spirit Can Affect Your Financial Success

Often the way we handle our money is similar to the way we approach our lives -and the way we approach our lives is an indication of how we treat ourselves and how well we connect with spirit.  Some people are controlling and frugal with money, and tend to approach life in a similar way.  They have difficulty trusting and tend to over-think and over-plan each aspect of their lives.  Not surprisingly, they may try to control how their partner spends money.  They likely have a difficult time relaxing and exploring their own creativity.  For them, and for all of us, in order to create a different picture, we need to become aware of how we handle our money, our relationships and our lives.  By doing this we will begin to notice how, when and if we feel a connection with spirit.

Simple Action Steps You Can Take Now:

Click here to sign up for my FREE webinar on March 30th, “Personal Transformation Through Money: How to Consciously Achieve Your Money Goals And Create Financial Success in Your Life.”

You can also write out your responses to the following questions:

1. How do you handle your money?  Do you worry, cling, avoid or take unnecessary risks?  How well do you take care of your own financial needs?

2. How do you interact with your partner when it comes to money?

3. How you do you get in touch with spirit, or creativity and inspiration?

4. How are your responses to these 3 questions similar?

Set up a bank account for your fixed expenses and variable expenses.

Set up two checking accounts at your bank:  one for your fixed monthly expenses for things like your mortgage, health insurance, phone bill, car insurance, debt payments that your paying on (car loans, student loans), utilities and your savings.  Set up the other checking account for your variable expenses: things like groceries, gasoline, dining out, recreation, clothing, medical expenses, household purchases and miscellaneous.

Refer to your spending plan to calculate how much money needs to go into your bank accounts each month.  Make it a priority to put money into your fixed checking account first and your variable checking account second.  By having two separate accounts for your fixed and variable expenses you’ll never spend money that was intended for a necessary living expense like your mortgage on a fun unnecessary expense like dining out.  This system also works well for self-employed professionals–all you do is transfer money into the appropriate fixed or variable bank account as it comes in. 

Create a spending plan based on your spending history. Look at your spending for the previous month or the past couple of months by going through your bank statements, check registers and credit card statements. Divide your spending into these four broad categories: 1) fixed expenses, 2) variable expenses, 3) debt payments (don’t include your mortgage in debt payments–instead record it under your fixed expenses. You will, however, want to record your car loan under debt payments) and 4) savings. You might not have any money going towards savings right now, but you’ll still want to retain this category to serve as a reminder of your savings goals.

Create a spending plan based on your spending history, using your four broad categories. Itemize your individual expenses below each broad category. For example, under the category of fixed expenses you’ll list: mortgage, health insurance, phone bill, car insurance, utilities, etc. Record all your expenses on the left side of a piece of paper and on the right side list your income, your partner’s income and any income from other sources, and then get a total for all your income sources.

Make sure you work your numbers until your expenses equal your income so that your income minus your expenses equals zero. If you end up with an extra $200 after you’ve subtracted your expenses from your income, don’t just leave it as an extra $200. Assign the $200 to a spending category like savings. In order for your spending plan to really work you’ll need to refer to it once a week or at the very least, twice a month. Mark out any expenses that have been paid and calculate how much money you have remaining to make sure you have enough money to make it through to the end of the month. Your spending plan should have coffee stains on it and be well worn by the end of each month!