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Kim Potgieter
Knowing the information is not enough to drive a behavioural change. We all generally know that it is important to live a healthy life and eat a balanced diet. But how many of us spend enough time exercising and eating healthily?
To ‘know” something and then use that information to change your life, takes effort.
This is because the mind has a comfort zone – where everything is predictable. It’s a familiar place and we need a lot of motivation to leave this place of safety. Just thinking about change can fill us with fear and anxiety. It is much easier to repeat the same predictable patterns every day. These patterns form habits eventually become automatic behaviour. Your brain will also automatically resist change – it’s programmed to keep you safe, and the safest place the brain knows, is what’s familiar and comfortable – even if they are bad or unwelcome habits.
So how do we make changes that last?
You have to have a plan. Your plan should outline your life vision with specific goals and actions of how you are going to achieve your vision. Stick to the plan. It’s ok to change your plan every now and again, but be careful not to change the plan because it’s easier to revert back to “old” behaviour.
I find a vision board extremely helpful. Make your goals visible. Look at them every day. Say them out loud. Eventually your goals will become a habit of mind. The moneys story that you are trying to change did not just happen overnight. Take it step by step and keep focussed on your vision.
For me personally, the thoughts and behaviors I chose to shift took a healthy dose of emotional healing and self-empowerment. My challenge was to understand my money trigger points and how they make me feel and react. My father used money as a means of control and I witnessed my mother’s vulnerability daily, my trigger point is when I feel that I am being controlled or manipulated with money. This is a constant battle for me. I have also made shifts in the following aspects of my life:
Values – I now see money as an enabler. I understand that I need to give money the attention it needs and have a specific plan to save, invest and spend my money.
Belief – I believe with my whole heart that I will have an abundance of money. I will not live a script of scarcity.
Trust – I have faith in myself; faith to stand on my own feet financially.
Conversations – I encourage money conversations in my family. We discuss the value of money and share what money means to us individually. We talk about investing our money wisely to better enable our lives.
Mindset – For me, money means choice. I believe that money allows me to have the freedom to choose.
My wish for you is to find peace in your money relationship as you journey through this process. Be empowered to live consciously and abundantly!
