Being Wise with Money

Ah wisdom.  It's what many of us aspire to. Or, is it?

Often, when I ask my clients what they want from money, they answer (among other things), wisdom.  Or at least to be money wise.

What then does having wisdom mean about who we are as a person?  

When I looked up what the word "wisdom" means in the dictionary, here are the 3 elements:

1. Knowledge;
2. Good judgement (which means making "considered decisions"); and
3. Experience.

It looks so easy, doesn't it?  If I want to become better with money, I just need to learn about it and there we are!  

The reality is not that easy. Why is that?  Our minds get in the way and throw up all sorts of obstacles as to why we aren't good with money, or why we have so many other things to do rather than get good at understanding our relationship with money.

This is mostly referred to as "money mindset", which is a term being bandied around a lot.

At the heart of the obstacle is a lack of self-worth, and a lack of confidence and belief in ourselves that we have the capability to learn about money and then also to successfully manage it.

The thing is, without learning first (as in, gaining "knowledge"), we can't effectively take action (i.e. making "considered decisions"), which will then give us valuable experience (which is the third part of being wise!).

The lack of self-worth shows up primarily as procrastination, and that is very common when it comes to anything we don't know, whether it's money or gardening or learning to cook, etc.

Why am I telling you all this?  To let you know that you aren't alone, and that learning about money and finances is not something we are taught in school, so the only way you will learn about money is either through trial and error, or actively learning through books, courses and coaches.

For more on this topic, have a listen to the podcast episode I recorded - https://www.money-madesimple.com.au/podcasts/money-with-alpha/episodes/2147934475