Money - Is it Good or Bad?
Is money good, bad or neutral? Are your emotions tied to having (or not having) money? How do you honestly feel about rich people? Poor people? Are most of your friends around the same financial level as you? In this article, I discuss what a proper view of money should be and how you can make more of it in your existing career.
Money means different things to different people. For some it’s freedom, for others it’s security. Thoughts about making money make some people feel dirty. Take a moment to examine your feelings about money. Does it make you stressed? Are your thoughts about money empowering or disempowering? In reality, money is actually neutral and is defined as ‘a medium of exchange’. Money itself is neither good nor bad. What some people do to make money can be good or bad, however.
I believe that most people are seeking freedom. Freedom to make your own choices. Freedom to work when and if you want to. Freedom to volunteer with charity groups, travel around the world or take up a new (or old) hobby. The fact is that it takes money to do all these things. You need money to pay rent/mortgage, buy food, get around town, take courses, etc. Charities need money to run their organizations. Musicians need money for instruments, studio time, and music lessons. Money is simply a means to an end. We are not striving to make money for money’s sake but to enable a meaningful and enjoyable lifestyle.
I talk about the specifics of making more money in your career in my blog and e-book, such as finding niche markets, negotiating, and subcontracting to consulting firms. But realize that the vast majority of the problems of not making enough money are related to how you think about money and your sense of self-worth. If you’d like to understand how wealthy people think, check out Secrets of the Millionaire Mind
Before you can take the required action to make more money, you need to adjust some of your daily thoughts. Awareness is the key. Spend time each day thinking about money and your relationship with it, how to make it, how to save it, how to invest it and you will be well on your way to figuring out the answers. Set a goal of doubling your salary and get your subconscious mind to starting figuring out how to achieve this. Think of empowering questions such as ‘How can I double my salary?’ instead of disempowering thoughts like ‘Why can’t I earn more money?’. Your brain will figure out answers to both of these types of questions, so you want to be careful as to what kinds of questions you ask it!
