Are you wealth healthy? Or are you on a money diet?
Recently I had the privilege, through the Dr. Phil show (as you know), to meet with a couple families, though in the midst of a money crisis. I realize there are a staggering amount of families in the same or similar situations. There are many more teetering on the edge.
So what do you do?
First I’d like to start out by saying budgets don’t work. I believe budgets are like people who go on “yo-yo diets” to lose weight. Yo-yo dieting starts out great but soon you’re at the end of your string. Same goes for money diets, they just don’t work.
People who successfully lose weight make real lifestyle changes. They go to the core of eating habits, learn nutrition, adopt exercise routines, and commit to a healthy lifestyle.
Just like losing weight there’s no magic pill and no quick fix for money problems. You have to go to the core of your money habits, learn the purpose of money, exercise your money muscles, and commit to a lifestyle where you control your money, not the other way around.
Let’s break this down…
What are your money habits?
How do you communicate with your money? Are you an impulsive spender? Is money a negative thought? Or is money something you fear?
You have to understand how you communicate with your money. If money is a scary thought you have to change your thinking. If you overspend you need to find out why. People often say things like; “Money is root of all evil”… the quote is actually “the love (or lust) of money is the root of all evil”. If you are thinking negatively about money chances are your bank account reflects that same negativity.
Learn the purpose of money.
Once you have begun to think about your conversation with money it’s time to understand it’s purpose, since we are using the “diet” reference what is your money’s nutritional value? How much do you need to sustain a wealth healthy lifestyle? What is your ideal nutritional balance with money? Just like an ideal body weight what is your ideal wealth weight for you personally?
Exercise Your Money!
Here’s the fun part. If you are thinking clearly about money you want to build up those Money Muscles! If you’ve got a problem with spending you need to be in resistance training. Once you get the hang of it you’re building your wealth muscles. When you’re paying down your debt and practicing healthy spending, doing what you can to earn more money, and investing, your wealth muscles are very strong and will get even stronger. Now you’re building your wealth.
There’s good debt and bad debt. Do you know the difference? There’s ways to make more money… everyone has a marketable skill. Have you thought about that? What could you do today to make more money? What is your Cash Machine?
Commit to the wealth healthy lifestyle.
Always be in wealth training. Be on the path to learning, generating, and creating healthy money habits and also understand your limits and or triggers for spending. Money is not supposed to run your life, it’s meant to accommodate and enrich your lifestyle. Commit to that thinking and you will be wealth healthy for life!
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and let’s talk out loud!
Loral
