FACING FINANCIAL FEARS
In business, fear can cause you to hold back from making any big or small decisions. And that can hold your business back from opportunity.
In investing, fear of making the wrong decision once again holds you back from opportunity. Add to that the amount of risk you’re willing to take or not take. We fear what we don’t know, and too many of us don’t know much about investing. There’s an old saying in the trading pits: Make the trade, manage the risk. Facing Financial Fears.
In your personal life, fear of many things holds you back from making all kinds of decisions. But you know me, I like to talk about money. And we all have a healthy fear/love of money. I don’t have enough (maybe), I only need a little more and I’ll be fine (not true), I don’t know what to do with the money I have (most people don’t), or once I win the lottery I’ll be set for life (Financial experts estimate that up to 70% of lottery winners go broke, and roughly 33% file for bankruptcy. This financial ruin typically occurs quickly, with most winners losing their entire fortunes within three to five years).
The Bible defines fear in two distinct ways: an unhealthy emotion to be overcome, and a healthy reverence for God.
Now, the part about a healthy reverence for God speaks for itself. Although, I don’t fear God because I work for Him, and I know Him. He has guided me throughout my process of working to provide financial literacy to those that need it most. Those that can’t afford a mistake, or a “life happens” moment that causes financial stress, or worse, ruin.
Let’s focus on the “unhealthy emotion to be overcome” part. You see, there is commonality in all the fears listed above: We don’t seek to overcome these fears! What we need to do is learn more about what we fear and why.
It’s easy when you’re swimming in the ocean and you see a shark fin close by, but why is it not so easy when it comes to making financial decisions. I keep it simple with sharks: I just don’t go in the water and keep the odds greatly in my favor that I will never get eaten by one. But then I’m giving up the pleasure of all the things I could be enjoying in that water.
We make similar decisions with money: we withhold spending on our business, or investing in our future, or are overly concerned about our personal financial situation. We freeze! But how does one overcome this fear? Well, here’s a suggestion: go learn about what you fear. Our fear of AI, or investing, has more to do with lack of knowledge than anything else. We take the easy way out and learn from social media or the nightly news. This is why I love Shark Week on tv, because I can just watch (easy), learn about sharks and can conclude what I have already cemented in my mind: just stay out of the water. I know it’s an unhealthy emotion, and taking the easy way out doesn’t help me get over my fear, it enhances it.
What has puzzled me since writing my book (plug time), is that money has such control over us and still that doesn’t drive us to learn more about it. I mean, for generations we haven’t made the effort to learn how money controls us and how we can get that control back. Why: It’s to hard, I’m not a numbers person, in my budget the numbers keep changing, and the killer: I don’t have the time. Let me get this straight, money is the one constant that’s with you from pre-birth to post-death, causes relationship issues, health issues, stress, and more, and you don’t have the time to learn about it? So, what happens is you live your financial life by default. You should know one of my favorite questions is: Do you live your life with intent, or by default? The answer is both, but the part of life you live by default controls you. A quote in my book states that “what you are not aware of controls you, what you are aware of, you control.” Facing Financial Fear – with Intent.
There are all kinds of books out there that tell you what to do with your money, or how to budget, but mine’s different in that it’s merely a conversation on what to expect in life financially, as you go through it. I even discuss how to prepare for those unexpected moments when “life happens”.
The book is a quick read, and the responses I’ve gotten range from it’s “life changing” to “even I learned something”.
But you have to make an effort, meaning you must go forward with intent, and decide it’s time to remove this fear that is an unhealthy emotion.
OUR MINDSET ON MONEY
It’s Easy to Control, So Why Don’t We?
Money controls most of us, and I’ve been wondering why we let this happen. This book dives into how we can gain control of our money and therefore enjoy more of what life really has to offer. It is not about what to do with each and every dollar we make as it is more about our relationship with it. Money affects us from birth to death and yet we’re taught that it’s taboo to talk about it.
And therein lies the rub, if you aren’t supposed to discuss it then how are you ever going to learn about it and take control? In these pages you’ll learn about the many financial challenges that you will face at some point in life, and you’ll be better off knowing what to expect and how you can then choose to deal with it.
In other words, how to take control. Facing Financial Fears.
There’s an old saying I believe in that states “If you want to understand what’s going on, then just follow the money.” Problem is, most of us can’t.
It’s not your fault, we’re not supposed to talk about it, and we’re not taught anything in school and rarely at home. As a financial advisor I learned that most spouses rarely talk about two things, money and sex. When I’m in front of groups I would say that I’m here to help you with one of those. But the reality is that if spouses aren’t talking about money, they certainly aren’t talking to their children about it.
