How many of you find yourself struggling with “SHOULD I SPEND MONEY ON THAT?
What have you been taught about money? Have you been taught the following?:
Money is the root of all evil
Money is not that important, its just money
Money doesn’t grow on trees, it is a limited resource
You need to save for a rainy day
It is selfish to want a lot of money
These are just a few of the top money and abundance blocks out there. I have personally struggled with my thoughts and beliefs about money. It is never something that I really focused on. However, as I created intentional focus on my thoughts and beliefs about money, I have seen some shifts in my life.
Money is a representation of the value that you provide to others. It is an exchange for goods or services rendered. It’s all about defining the VALUE that is created by the exchange.
How often do you make decisions based on a lack or scarcity mentality as opposed to an abundance and and prosperity mentality? Many times we don’t invest in ourselves, because we are afraid to spend the money. Which is the exact opposite of what we really want. We allow ourselves to punish or sabotage ourselves unknowingly by not being true to ourselves and our desires.
I remember last summer I was reintroduced to my love of kayaking. One day I decided to take two of my boys for a surprise and went to the Naperville Riverwalk so that we could rent a kayak and go on the water, When I got there, I looked at the price of the paddleboat vs. the price of the kayak. While I REALLY wanted to rent the kayak, it was like $25 MORE than the paddleboat. So I stood there, and questioned myself. WHAT SHOULD I DO? WHAT SHOULD I SPEND MY MONEY ON?
I almost rented the paddleboat and then something in me said NO. You came here to kayak, so spend the extra money and get the kayak. That is the REAL EXPERIENCE you want to have. There is value behind the experience of having your boys experience a kayak vs. the paddleboat. Don’t sell yourself short. I did choose to rent the kayaks and we had an AMAZING experience. I felt so good about my decision and the experience we had. If I wouldn’t have spent the money, I would have felt bad that I didn’t listen to myself and would have wondered what we might have missed out on, however in the past I have deprived myself or chosen NOT to do something and ended staying in my comfort zone. This felt SO MUCH BETTER and because I was true to myself and in alignment with what I wanted, I started to see shifts with my kids. That was reason enough to say yes to my own desires.
How many of us, stop in our tracks and don’t spend money on what we REALLY want, thinking another option might save us money. Each situation and person is unique on what they define as valuable, however, what I learned about myself was that when I saw VALUE in something, I would invest the money on it, however, if I saw it as wasteful or not worth it, then I wouldn’t spend the money.
I encourage you to think about WHERE YOU SPEND OR INVEST YOUR MONEY. Do you invest in things for yourself? If NOT, I would encourage you to reflect on why you are not valuing yourself enough to invest money in yourself. Things shift for us when we are willing and open to shift our thinking. What could happen IF YOU INVESTED IN YOURSELF TODAY?