Telling the money lie

Totallygroovygirlfriday thought this 20-min video entitled 4 Money Beliefs Keeping You Broke from Mario Forleo was just great! Click here for the youtube version and here for her blog.

If you are dealing with debt or thinking about investing, these four beliefs about money might be holding you back from taking action.

Belief 1: Someone else will take care of it for me.

When you hold this belief, you give away your financial power and you lose a precious commodity: time. groovygirl’s main reasons for getting ahold of her finances, creating a long-term plan, and educating herself about investing were self-sufficiency and taking back control. There are many things in life you can’t control, your finances need not be one of them.

Belief #2: I am not good with money.

This belief automatically limits financial options. groovygirl was not born with knowledge about investing (and she certainly doesn’t know it all right now). She has been in debt at times in her life, just like everyone else on the planet. The difference is she didn’t let her mistakes go to waste. It was an opportunity to learn how to do things better the next time and ask better questions of people who were investing successfully. Mistakes are not failures if they propel you to learn more and do better. They are failures if you give up when they happen. If you fear failure or looking like an idiot, you will limit yourself in every area of your life, not just money.

Belief #3: People with money are greedy.

This is a pretty common assumption. groovygirl has met greedy rich people and greedy poor people. She has also met generous rich people and generous poor people. Greed has nothing to do with money. The only thing money does is amplify the character of a person. If people are greedy, more money will make them more greedy. If they are insecure, more money will make them more insecure, and so on. If they are generous and happy, more money will make them more generous and happy. That is why if you do not learn to give away money when you are poor (conquer greediness), you will never get any money to give away when you are rich.

This is the first and most important rule of investing. Give some money away. groovygirlfriday can not emphasize enough the power of giving. It is totally freeing.

Belief #4: I’m not ____ enough.

Such as, I am not smart enough or I don’t have the right education/background, etc. Again, totally limiting statements. If you wait to become smart enough or have enough time or have the right background or know the right people, you will never get out of debt and/or invest. All those limiting things: education, contacts, time, even money, all come together once you commit to moving forward. It is AMAZING how this happens. Totallygroovygirl has spent the last 20 years watching this happen in her own life. The only thing gg has done consistently is take the next step. Everything else has fallen into place from that little continuous action. Do the next thing.