The Things People Say About Money

And What to do About It — So Your Voice is Heard

Sherry Parks  

I remember it as clearly as if it happened yesterday. I was right in the midst of my accounting career and was working my way up the ladder. At that point, I had already received several pay increases and promotions.

 I was out shopping with my mom and I don’t remember exactly what we were talking about, but I do remember my mom’s words. She came out with this zinger:

​“If you can’t live on $25k per year, then something is wrong with you”. Let me tell you, this wasn’t in the 70’s or 80’s.  This was in the 2000’s. A time when the average annual income was between $45 and $50k.

 I chose to ignore her statement. I was already making more than double that amount and I wasn’t prepared to share that with my mother. In fact, I was a little bit afraid of telling her.

​What would she expect of me? What would she think of me? What would her judgments of me and my lifestyle become?

 This is one conversation that has never left me. Not because it was a big emotional scene. Not because I received specific judgment on me personally. I think it was because I needed to remember that moment.

I’ve already shared that I made a decision as a teenager that I wasn’t going to live in constant struggle with money. You can read more about that here. I was clear that $25k per year wasn’t enough.

 I was determined to feel good about money and that meant that more would have to flow into as well as back out of my life in order for me to have ease with money.

And that decision moved me to a place where what my mom’s personal belief about money didn’t matter. I was secure in my belief that money could and would be easy for me.

 But here’s the thing, we all have family or even friends who say things about money that could potentially keep us stuck.

​Fear of judgement.

Fear of loss of loved ones.

Fear that we won’t fit in anymore.

Fear that we will leave them behind.

 When we hold onto those fears, we do stay stuck. When we listen to what they say and buy into their beliefs, those things can hold us back and keep us from truly experiencing what we want for our money and our lives. Today, I’m sharing a few of my favorite tips for helping you to lean into your own beliefs and create the life you want.

 Get really clear. Before you can even start creating the money and life you want, you have to get really clear on WHAT you want. It can’t just be something like: “I want enough money to pay my bills”. It has to be so clear that a 3rd grader can understand it.

Something more like: “I need $3k per month to pay my bills, I also need $1k per month for giving and saving and I need $500 per month for my personal enjoyment.”

 This is 100% clarity about how much money you want flowing into your life. Anything less than that allows rooms for others to influence you.

 Decide. I know I’m always using this one, but honestly, decision has been the biggest factor in changing my money path. Once I decided, there was no other choice but to create what I wanted.

 You need to decide what you are going to stand for and put up with in your money life. Are you going to allow others to dictate the amount of money you have? Are you going to allow others to judge you for wanting more?

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://medium.com/thrive-global/the-things-people-say-about-money-1370963a2fbb