Money is money
Right?
Well, that’s what a lot of people think ain’t it?
But that’s not true
You may have heard of this saying, “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer“
One of the reasons the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class struggles in debt is because the subject of money is taught at home, not in school. Most of us learn about money from our parents. So what can a poor parent tell their child about money? They simply say “Stay in school and study hard.” The child may graduate with excellent grades but with a poor person’s financial programming and mind-set. It was learned while the child was young.
Robert T. Kiyosaki, Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Robert Kiyosaki explains it rather well doesn’t he?
Ok my job is done
HAHAHA ok no not really
Today we will be looking deeper into our money beliefs and what makes up our financial programming, as well as a little extra at the end
So grab a cup of coffee and put on your learning cap~

What about the family?
We have to start with the foundation – our family
And it isn’t so much about whether the family is rich or not, don’t get me wrong
It is about the beliefs of the family regarding money
You see, when we are young, as a child, we observe our parents about everything
We learn everything from our parents as our core foundation
Whether it be relationship, career, and of course, money
How our parents think about money, how they act around money, will form our financial programming
So even if your family is rich, but if they live as if they are poor, what will you do in the future?
You will live like a poor person
If your family has a lack of finances, yet incur debts to act like a rich family, what will you be learning?
You will incur debts to act like a rich person
It is really that simple
And no, I’m not blaming the parents for everything because they were probably brought up in a similar way from their own parents too
There is a difference though, is when a man raised from a poor family manage to tweak his “poor” financial programming and achieved success and wealth now
A slight possibility for such people is that they do not want their kids to “grow up poor” and thus, spend lavishly on them easily
Which unfortunately, might be teaching the kids to spend more than what they can, and thus incur debts in the future due to “senseless spending”
How our parents talk about money, how they act around money etc will thus form the foundation of our money beliefs

How about positive affirmations?
Positive affirmations about money can be useful… if there are no negative ones holding you back first
There is a longer blog article about why positive affirmations don’t work
Negative beliefs about money (or anything) can be like chains around your ankles and positive affirmations are like an energy or power boost, wings if you like
But even if I give you 10 pairs of wings, can you break the chains holding you to the ground?
Maybe yes, maybe no
It depends on the thickness and strength of the chains, as well as the power of the wings right?
And yes it is entirely possible for both to simultaneously exist
Let’s say your parents plant a belief in you that “You must work a lot to make money”
This statement can be positive or negative depending on how you look at it
It can be good if you are the kind who just want to work and earn money
But it isn’t so good if you are into investments or have an entrepreneurial mindset
This is because there are jobs that require you to work smart, not work hard
So if you have the above belief in your mind and you are into investments, what might happen?
Instead of just getting some stocks and just waiting for the returns, you might have an itch to keep checking (because that can be defined as a form of work) which might increase your stress and anxiety
Which can also increase your chances of deciding to quickly sell instead of trusting and waiting for the returns in the long term
Or if you are an entrepreneur and instead of setting up systems to work smart, you take on everything to work hard
Taking away your time and potentially reducing your earnings instead

What is money?
Money is a tool to define the value of something, whether it be a product or a service
So if you work for a company, and get a fixed pay, you are paid for the month’s work, or at an hourly rate
You are getting paid for your time
If you go to a restaurant, you might be paying more for the food as compared to a coffeeshop because of the ambiance and service, and maybe partly due to the ingredients as well
But who defines the value?
Well, part of which is the owner of the product or service
And the other part is the one purchasing said product or service
How both parties perceive the product or service will determine the value and thus, the money involved
A person in the city might gasp at needing to pay $2 for a bottle of water, but the person in the desert will willingly pay $20 for the same bottle of water
There is of course another thing with supply and demand, but let’s not go there for now
Essentially if someone is in need of your product or service, they will perceive a greater value and thus more likely to pay a higher price for it
Going back to you, if you are “desperate” for a job, you might sell yourself short and thus take a job with a lower pay
Or if you are an entrepreneur but don’t feel confident about your product or service
Perhaps you have a lower perceived value of yourself
Thus, the value of your time, product or service, is less under such circumstances

What does it all mean?
Well, in a way, money isn’t real
It is just used to represent the value of something
Even if you have $100,000 in your bank account but don’t do anything with it, so what?
If you were to leave this planet, where does the money go?
It doesn’t do anything
Instead of attaching importance to the money itself, perhaps we can attach importance to something else
Such as experiences, the betterment of people in general, happiness etc
Money is just a tool to be used in that sense
People who are spiritual might say that money is a form of energy exchange
You use money to purchase or exchange for a plate of chicken rice, which required the chef to spend time and energy and ingredients to prepare
Hence why it can be said to be a form of energy exchange
In fact, something I share with some of my clients is that there is only 2 currencies in this world
Time and money
You spend time you can save money
You spend money you can save time
Regardless what you are getting, time or money will usually have to be spent
A lot of people attach a lot of meaning and importance to money, which unfortunately, is the root of some of their issues
Let that attachment go… and you might find yourself to be happier