Money beliefs and habits

When students come to me for help, the solution is not as simple as telling them to study. They are obviously not doing well, and the reason for them for not studying can come from a variety of reasons. It could be low self esteem, seeking attention from parents or peers, trying to fit in with his close group of friends and so on. Unless the root cause of the problem is dealt with, any methods of improving the grades is just symptomatic treatment and will seldom work for long, if it works at all. Hence, being a tutor is sort of like a doctor because you see the symptoms of bad results, and you try your best to decipher the symptoms and finding out the root causes.


It's the same for financial advice. If someone is not doing well in his personal finance, it's never as simple as save more and spend less. The symptoms show that the person is not good in his finances, but the root cause springs from his money beliefs. So unless the money beliefs are changed, any symptomatic treatment like budgeting, or separating wants from needs, or just spending less is not going to help much.


That is why Kyith's article here is such a fantastic write up. It's hard enough for people to talk openly about money, and it will be even harder for people to tell you their money beliefs enough for you to know what's wrong. Hence, to change a person's mindset about personal finance is going to be such a up hill journey. I guess the first part is at least to remove the barrier about money being a taboo subject. Once we share our own journey, it might open up the hearts of readers to talk about their own situation and how they handle their money problems, and things will fall into place from there. As a personal finance blogger, I think I have a part to play in this. I will share my journey, and how I navigate the various pitfalls and challenges of life, and hopefully readers will share theirs and we will grow as a community.

If you're interested in such money beliefs, you can try reading Secrets of the millionaire mind by T. Harv Eker. He will scold you and beat you up in his book (and I heard in his seminars too), but the job will get done. You will learn about money beliefs and how it's all linked to our money memory and most importantly, how to delink it and change within yourself. If you're sick, you eat medications to feel better. If you're sick financially, you should start by reading books to change your mindset and hopefully it'll translate to the right actions for the right change.