I’m going to let you in on a little secret…

You don’t become and stay wealthy by budgeting, or randomly jumping on the hottest stock on the market.

Sure, if you just so happened to invest your life savings in Beyond Meat when it soared from $40/share to $155, you would have made out. Sidebar: I’m still bitter that I DIDN’T do that, so let me move on.

No, I’m not talking about getting lucky on timing, that’s not the secret.

The secret I’m referring to is exercising complete control of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors when it comes to money.

We talking about Mindset. ::Allen Iverson voice::

Your mindset is the core ingredient to improving your financial wellness and achieving your desired results.

Mindset is what got me out of my gambling hole.

Strengthening my mindset is how I was able to grow my net worth from zero to $200K before 30 and without gambling.

It’s the secret to success in just about everything, but certainly money.

I can teach you everything you need to know about debt reduction, saving, investing, and earning more money, but it is absolutely useless without the right mindset.

So, since it’s so key to your financial and overall well-being, here are 11 CRUCIAL money mindset shifts you need if you are FINALLY ready to become financially free.

You Are In Control

I will just go ahead and say it. If you don’t believe in yourself, you are doomed. Self-efficacy is arguably the most important element in changing your financial life. It refers to your belief in your ability to achieve goals. Not only do you need this, you need to fully believe and understand that you have the ability to create the results you want.

You might be thinking, “how do I create my results?” By connecting with your values, and creating intentional thoughts that positively influence your feelings and behaviors. When you truly embrace this concept, you stop waiting for others to fix your situation and you start living with intent to the highest degree.

• Self-Check:
  • Do you believe in yourself?
  • How much influence do you believe you have over your future?

There’s Money All Around You

There is more than enough money in this world. Enough for you, me, your neighbors, your coworkers, Jeff Bezos, all of the Kardashians, and anyone else you can think of. Realizing that alone will change the entire way you interact with money. When you stop treating money like a scarce resource, it really frees your mind. What someone else has is not limiting YOUR ability to accumulate more money. It’s just not. These days, there’s seemingly endless legit ways to make money, it’s kind of wild. I mean, my goodness, there are people on YouTube making money by testing mattresses on camera.

You are not constrained to your 9-5 and you can make as much money as you please. In order to start, you need to believe in abundance, but the decision is yours, and yours alone.

Free Your Mind, And The Rest Will Follow

-En Vogue-

• Resource Suggestion:
  • Read Mindset by Carol Dweck, Ph.D

You Can Be Both Wealthy AND Happy

I’m really not sure where people got this idea that you can’t have both money and happiness. The two are not mutually exclusive. There continues to be the stereotype that people with money are unhappy deep down, but that doesn’t have to be your story. Not to be cheesy, but happiness truly does come from within and how you think. You can decide to be happy whenever you want because it originates from your thoughts and core values.

Never forget the main point of financial well-being, which is being able to spend money on what makes you happy. In other words, the more you cut out the things that don’t bring you happiness, the more you can spend on the things that do. If that’s exploring the world with your family, awesome. If it’s giving back to charity, great! Money is simply a way to connect with your values and do more of the things you love. You don’t have to choose between money and happiness; choose both.

• Connect and Reflect:
  • What brings you the most joy in your life?
  • How can money help you to experience more of what you love? (e.g. giving, traveling, building, learning)

Avoidance Is Not The Move

One of the worst things you can do with your money is avoid it. That goes for people who ignore their debt, late payments, and other financial struggles, as well as people who sit in cruise control while other people manage their money. Own your situation and be willing to face your money; it’s YOUR money!

There’s no shame in whatever you are experiencing, only an opportunity for growth. The more you face your money, the more you can intentionally think of ways to better your situation. If it’s out of sight and out of mind, you will remain stagnant in your financial journey.

• Challenge:
  • Start getting in the habit of reviewing your financial activity on a regular basis. Develop goals, establish a spending plan EACH month, keep track of your spending, and regularly review your credit reports.
  • Read: How To Create a Budget You Can Be Happy With
  • Read: How To Create Goals You Believe In: 7 Step Guide

Wanting Money Doesn’t Make You Evil

There is such an anti-wealth sentiment going around these days, and I feel it’s a bit short-sighted. Wanting and having wealth does not make you greedy, unless you are just greedy. As I mentioned earlier, money is simply a tool that gives you options. With those options comes the inherent ability to literally change the world. This is what Robert F. Smith, Queen Latifah, Will Smith, and others have been able to do with their wealth.

So, if your heart is in the right place, why would you be concerned you would turn into some evil person? This mindset will keep you from accumulating wealth out fear. Fear that likely isn’t to happen to you unless you are already greedy-lol.

• Mindset Check:
  • What messages about money are you carrying with you?
  • What role did your family, media, or past experiences have in that?

You Can Be Content Without Settling

This point can get controversial, so naturally, I will gravitate towards it. Allow me to put out there that I am not encouraging a tireless pursuit of money. That said, you should watch the limits you place on yourself as it’s possible you are selling yourself short. A minimal level of financial wellness is being able to provide for your needs, but you don’t have to stop there. Growing your wealth provides opportunity to add value to this world, which in turn can provide fulfillment. When you are fulfilled, you are at peace. Contentment and peace go hand in hand.

• Just a Thought:
  • Figure out what you want out of life, and then aim higher. I say that because we as humans tend to sell ourselves a bit short. As radio personality-Donnie Simpson says in his sign-off: “Shoot for the moon and even if you miss you will still be amongst the stars”.

Money Is Just Numbers

Don’t overcomplicate money. Yes, there’s some nuances you’ll have to learn, but at the end of the day it’s just numbers. That’s all it is. Personally, I find people WAY more complicated than numbers. That’s not to say money is easy, but the hardest part is learning how to control the emotions you assign to it. And if you break that down, you’ll quickly realize that those emotions are more about you than the money itself.

• Connect and Reflect:
  • In order to start reframing your mindset about money, you will need to begin thinking about how those thoughts were formed. Your family, personal experiences, personality, media, and culture all influence your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors around money.
  • Read: How Your Family Influenced The Way You Treat Money

You Can Become The Rich Uncle or Aunt You Always Wanted

Generational Wealth, that’s the key. My parents ain’t have sh*t, so that ship started with me.

-Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter-

I love the song Legacy by Jay-Z, because he’s talking about being the change-maker for his family tree. Everyone always wishes they had some close or distant relative leave them some inheritance, why can’t that be you? You have the ability not only impact your life, but the life of those that you will eventually leave behind. You can be the change maker for your family, but it can’t happen until you decide that for yourself.

• Self-Check:
  • What type of life are you building for yourself?
  • What type of financial status will you pass on to the next generation?
  • How would your life be different if you were the recipient?

Choose Today, Not “One Day”

For years, I have been saying I’m going to learn yoga “one day”. I have literally been saying that since 2015. To date, I have watched maybe three “how to” YouTube videos. That’s it!

Don’t do this with your financial education; choose today. Decide RIGHT NOW that you will take control of your own growth. Don’t wait until next month, or next year; start now. The more you wait, the more you are costing yourself in potential savings and investment growth. Your procrastination is literally costing you hundreds of thousands over your adult life.

• Just a Thought:
  • Don’t delay! Use time to your benefit through the power of compound growth. This works for both assets and education. The more you learn, the more-and quicker-you can grow.

Your Journey Will Look Different

Trying to keep up with friends and family is a good way to end up broke. Not to mention, half of them are probably buying on credit, anyways! Your financial journey is not about keeping up with other people, it’s about connecting with YOUR values to reach the results YOU want. So, if you ever find yourself dealing with FOMO, or envy over what you see posted on social media, shut it down. Not the app, I mean those thoughts. You are on a unique journey towards financial well-being and the only competition is the one with yourself. Be invested and focused on YOUR continuous growth; the rest is just noise.

• Challenge:
  • Stop the comparison games. It doesn’t matter what your friends have, what type of life are YOU building for yourself?
  • Be intentional with your finances by creating a spending plan that you can be happy with. This spending plan will allow you to stay focused, while leaving yourself some room to enjoy life.

Move Past Your Past

If I got paid $100 every time I heard someone lament that they never learned finances in school, well, I could probably pay off all of your loans. I get it, we didn’t get ANY formal financial education, but we have to get over that. We can’t change what we did or didn’t learn, which is why you need to go all in now. Learn as much as you can so YOU can help and influence the knowledge of your children, friends, and those around you. I accepted long ago that it’s now MY job to educate myself. You have to take control and decide to no longer be a victim to your past.

• Challenge:
  • It’s time to reframe your past. Instead of being upset over what you didn’t learn, focus on what you did. There are probably things you learned about money that you didn’t even realize.
  • Block negative thinking from restricting the thoughts and behaviors you need to build wealth. Learn how by following these 7 steps.
  • Consume! Blogs, podcasts, eBooks, and YouTube are all FREE resources. If you have a smartphone, you can learn.

Final Thoughts

I cannot stress enough the importance of approaching money with the right state of mind.

This stuff takes time, but the key is to start. Decide today to start shifting your mindset into one that serves you; not one that limits you.

On that note, cue En Vogue.

Keep growing,

-Ambus-