Mind over Money

A study of thousands of financially successful and unsuccessful individuals revealed that the difference between them derived more from the difference in their personal financial philosophy than from the work they did or the particular investments they made. So, what is a personal financial philosophy? The definition of philosophy is a love and pursuit of wisdom by intellectual investigation and moral self discipline. A personal financial philosophy then is our personal relationship to money and how we intend to use it to achieve the things or situations we desire, or that make us feel good.

From birth we have been preoccupied with acquiring wealth, from toys to houses, helping define our current financial philosophy. For example, you may have been raised with all the money and possessions one could want, or maybe you came from a single-parent home where money was tight and you had less than most of your peers. You may have injured someone using the power that money and wealth can give, or you may have been injured by someone using financial advantage in a ruthless or unprincipled way. All of these experiences have helped define your personal financial philosophy. Other common beliefs that may have helped shape your philosophy are: money is the root of all evil, money doesn’t grow on trees, he who has the GOLD makes the rules, it is easier for a Camel to fit through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven and so on.

Each of us has a unique financial philosophy either because we were given one by our parents or developed one through our personal life situations. Regardless of how our philosophy evolved, each of us has the personal responsibility to identify what our personal financial philosophy is, and then ask ourselves if our current philosophy is inline with our goals and desires. Gandhi stated, “A man is but a product of his thoughts, what he thinks he becomes.” It is our responsibility to project the feelings, emotions and thoughts that reflect the results we desire in life—this is how to put mind over money.