Money talks: How is your financial health?

Some people will skip right over this article.

Others will cringe and reluctantly click because even though society has conditioned us to not talk about money, it's incredibly important that we do.

This conversation is essential because, in it, we will unpack the what, where, and how around your conscious and unconscious beliefs about your financial health.

Where do my attitudes & values about financial health come from?

When I grew up, we never discussed money because it was something I didn't have to worry about until... later. Flash forward decades later and I am >> here << [aka later].

The first major investment I made was into my education. Yes, tuition hit me like a wrecking ball and I didn't handle it well.

I learned the hard way through accumulating credit card debt without understanding what it was really costing me, and I don't mean just in terms of dollars and cents.

When I talk about what living on credit really cost me, what I mean is that it cost me my peace of mind. It added unnecessary stress. Living within my means from day one would have encouraged healthy financial habits. It would have saved me from unnecessary stress and anxiety.

Better yet, it would have given me a more positive attitude toward my financial health, instead of a negative.

How do I feel about money?

This is the easiest question to answer. Why? Because there is no wrong answer.

As I mentioned before, money can be associated with negative things like greed and corruption. But as I dove into my attitude and beliefs around money, I realized that my perception had been based on my negative experiences.

Money was stressful because I felt like I never had enough of it. Money was dangerous because I'd seen it mismanaged, and it was nothing but a headache. Money gave me anxiety because I was uncertain about how it fit into my future.

So how do I feel about money now? I've realized money isn't inherently good or bad. It's the way in which we choose to use it that can make it seem like it had moral value. Financial health is a part of life.

And so it money. When it's managed responsibly, you'll avoid feeling anxiety and stress because of it. Money makes the world go round. When your financial health is in good standing, you'll realize there is more than enough to go around [more on scarcity mindset another time]. When we take good care of our financial health and manage our money, it provides opportunities to give back and empower others to have a healthy relationship with their finances as well.

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Unpack your understanding of financial health

There are three questions I want you to sit with, and answer for yourself:

1) What does financial health mean to me?

2) Where did those values come from?

3) How do I feel about money?

Thank you for staying with me until the end. Please click here to receive your own Financial Health Evaluation as a thank you and to start the process of setting yourself up for a healthy relationship with your finances.