Part 2: Learning from your past.
In Part 1, we talked a little about the breakdown in our relationships with money, and began to examine our ideas, values and beliefs about money which inform our financial choices and well being. There is another aspect here that must be addressed before real financial abundance can be realized. We must learn from our mistakes and misfortunes, as well as our wise choices.
As you begin to recognize your limiting beliefs, it’s necessary also to take full responsibility for your behavior with money.
Think of it as a past relationship that needs to be understood and healed before you can be empowered and move on. Jot down and consider the answers to this questions:
How did you treat your money? Did you take it for granted, abuse it, or cling to it?
If money were a person from your past, who could it be?
When you begin to explore your behavior with money, you might find emotions arising, like anger, sadness or grief. Remember that who you’ve been with money is not who you are becoming with money. Allow yourself to be with and process the feelings that come up, so you can heal them and move on. As you own your past behavior with your finances, you empower yourself to choose wisely in the future.
The next step is to forgive your financial past.
Hind sight is 20/20. I’ve known so many people who’ve misspent, lost or “blown” a large amount of money in their lifetimes. You may carry immense regret, guilt, grief and anger from financial decisions you’ve made in the past, or that were made for you. Maybe you’ve had money or valuable items stolen from you. Maybe you were duped or scammed into giving money away, or lent someone money that was never repaid. You probably spent money on things that don’t align with your values today, and like most Americans, you may have accumulated crippling debt.
Whatever your history, it’s very important to remember that your past decisions were influenced by unexamined and unconscious messages and beliefs. It’s so easy to judge our past behavior by our current knowledge and wisdom. Before you can make sound financial decisions and empower your relationship with money, you need to forgive your mistakes and missteps, and allow yourself a clean slate to start fresh. As you grow more aware, your choices will shift around money. Your newfound clarity and conscious practices will create more abundance than you can imagine.
Have your learned from your financial past? What steps have you taken to heal it? Please share your comments. It makes a difference for all of us!
You can read Part 3 here.
For further information on accessing your wisdom, happiness, fulfillment, and peace you desire, click here to learn about Dr. Howard's Multiple Award Winning Book "Your Ultimate Life Plan: How to Deeply Transform Your Everyday Experience and Create Changes That Last."
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