Is money holding you back from making the decisions you want to be making?

Money is a complicated subject. It impacts us all a little differently. 

Often for the people I know and work with, money feels like a barrier to obtaining what you want. It is as if you can see what you want right in front of you but you can’t get to it.

It is the hardest thing, to realize there is something that you want, but that you can’t create it or attain it because you don’t have the money to do so.

When  it feels like this, ask yourself: Is there a way to look at this differently? Maybe money can be a partner in your journey? Instead of a barrier, is it actually more like a stepping stone?

A long time before starting my training as a coach, I knew it was something I wanted to do, but I couldn’t see how I could afford it at my nonprofit salary, and while paying off my students loans, so I put the decision on hold. I knew what I wanted, but money was a barrier.  

Soon after, my dentist highly recommended I get braces, not for cosmetics, but for the health of my teeth and gums. I was scared and didn’t think I’d be able to afford it. I considered many different ways of paying for them. In the end, by negotiating a long term payment plan with my orthodontist, money could help me achieve this important outcome for my health.

A few years later, I had a very different smile, could actually get a piece of floss between my teeth, and most importantly, I had learned that I could use money as a tool to reach a goal that was important to me. 

So, I set my sights on my next important goal: becoming a certified life coach and the payments that came along with my training. 

Now, I acknowledge that there is a ton of inequity and bias in our financial systems and that I am in a place of privilege to have had this experience. If you are also privileged enough to have room in your financial situation for decisions around your money, it is important to consider your relationship with money.

In what ways does money hold you back from making the decisions you want to be making?

Do you think of money as a barrier or stepping stone?

What’s one thing you could do to see your money differently?

Some ideas to get you started: brain dump what your current relationship is with money and how you’d like to improve it, reflect on what you’ve been able to choose in your life thanks to money, or review your balances more regularly and find something to appreciate about them.