Do you think about money? Are you worried about money? Do you wish you were making more money? Do you wish you had more money?In this article I’m going give you three things you can do to set you on the path to making more money, gaining financial security, and relieving your money stress.
1. Money is a head game.
For many people, talking about money is harder than talking about sex. Why? We all have very deep seated beliefs, thoughts, and feelings about money.
The first step is to become aware of what this unconscious baggage is. Ask yourself the following questions: how much money would you like to be making? How big can you allow yourself to think? Can you say that number out loud to someone else?
If these questions make you nervous, you need to look at your underlying beliefs and judgments about money.
Once you work that stuff out . . .
2. You’ve got to think about how you make money in a whole new way.
The first thing you need to do is face reality: our economy is in the crapper. The game is rigged so that the rich get richer and everyone else is struggling. The American worker is getting exploited. The old social contract, where you worked for a company for your whole life and got a good salary, decent benefits, and a livable pension are gone.
Life is not all about money, but you will probably need more of it, especially if you are starting out and having kids.
So what do you do? I call the model you need to live by the “Island Strategy.” When I visited a small island years ago, we stayed in a local inn. The proprietor not only ran this place, but he also had a pineapple plantation. In addition, he ran tourist boats out to the reef. He also dealt a little pot on the side.
I’m not saying that you should become a drug dealer. What I am saying is that in the next economic phase, everyone is going to have to think and act like an entrepreneur. We are all going to be working for ourselves.
Once you accept that you are going to have to change your approach to making money . . .
3. Prepare for readiness.
You may not be ready to make the changes you will need to make to increase your money security, but if you start preparing now, you will be able to launch when you are ready.
Here’s the deal. A job will no longer bring security. What will bring security is being able to grow and change. That means you have to embrace being a life-long learner. You constantly will have to acquire new skills and improve the ones you have.
Competition is steep and will get increasingly so. You need to be the best at what you do.
You will need to be in a continuous state of reinvention. Fifty years ago, the people who were the most stable succeeded. Today, and for the foreseeable future, those people who are the most comfortable with the new will survive and thrive.
In sum, you need to examine your emotions about money, and learn to think big.
You need to accept the reality of today’s economy, and embrace living like an entrepreneur.
You may not be able to leap into this new concept today, but start preparing to. Get comfortable with growing and change. That means you need to add a new job to the one you have: become a student. Start learning something new now.
If you work through your fears, face the new reality, and do the work of continuous growth, you will make the money you want, gain the security you seek, and live a happier, less stress-filled, life.
Dr. Glenn Berger is a psychotherapist, relationship counselor, business and artist’s coach, and young person’s mentor. He sees patients in New York City, in Mt. Kisco, NY, and around the world by Skype.
