Most of us have a screwed up view of money! I bet if I asked you to publicly say why you love money, you’d get all cringey about it. If you had to, you’d admit you love money because you’ve experienced the joy of buying yourself something you really want. But we’re not meant to love money (because ‘money isn’t everything’, right) so you certainly don’t have a giant list about your love of money and we certainly shouldn’t be having a money conversation so publicly. Guess what? I feel exactly the same! I am terrified but I am publicly sharing my exercises from Jen Sincero’s book, ‘You are a Badass at Making Money. Here’s why I’m putting myself through this.

Would you agree with these statements?

Money can add awesome things and experiences to life
Being rich can seriously benefit others
Beautiful things have happened in this world thanks to money

No matter your views on money, my guess is you can’t say no to any of those statements. Money is beautiful and powerful. Money can open doors and make massive positive change. Money is marvellous.

In my quest to conquer the money monsters hiding in my money closet and that get in the way of my personal financial growth, I dug a deeper into what these statements mean to me. If you are keen to making changes in your money story then I recommend you do this marvellous money exercise to help you feel more positive money vibes. Here’s to marvellous money vibes. Here’s my work laid bare for you to critique and be inspired by…

Awesome things and experiences money will add to my life

Hello money! Life would be so much more satisfying, balanced and fulfilling with these awesome things and experiences in my life… Notice I didn’t say it would be happier. Despite constant yearning for more financial freedom, I am happy now. But life is not as satisfying, balanced or fulfilling as it could be with more money. So here’s what money could add to my life. My list will probably look quite different to yours, so why don’t you have a go at crafting your own list?

Education changes everything. I dream of giving Marley the best education opportunities there are. There is no question in my mind that private education is a better education. There is no question that there are many educational tools, resources and opportunities that could enhance his learning.
I yearn to take away some of the financial burden from my husband. He is the main financial provider in this household and it comes with two major sacrifices. 1. It negatively impacts his physical and mental health. 2. He has little time left to spend with Marley, as a family, and on things he values outside of work. Door to door, it’s a 7 to 7 day, and that’s on a good day, when the trains have not been delayed and there is no additional early breakfast or evening event.
Pack more suitcases. Different countries and cultures have so much to offer so I would like to be able to go to far flung places, see the world and go off the beaten path.
Surprises for loved ones. There are people in my family who I want to do things for, but I can’t. Simple things like buy some tech, fund a passion or ease a financial strain. I find my my inability to take such action excruciatingly frustrating.
The housing dream. We live in a big house that needed a lot of work when we bought it. 5 years in and we are still ‘slowly’ doing it up. Money would help us fast track this process. My husband has visions of his own self build project. How nice would it be to make this happen for him? And then there are our dream holiday homes and expanding property portfolios.
Looking good costs money. Being able to regularly refresh my wardrobe would do wonders for my confidence. Being able to buy self care products, and treatments to help me feel good about myself would add to that confidence. And although my crooked teeth don’t bother me that much, if I had the choice, I would absolutely get some orthodontic treatment.
As a mother I want nice things for my child. I’ve already mentioned education, home and travel. There’s also good food, activities like swimming classes and wonderful monthly subscriptions. I want to be unrestricted and take action on the things that I know will enhance his life.
Shop positive. I’d like to be able to choose products and experiences that have a positive impact on the environment and communities rather than simply going for the cheapest option. That means being able to choose products that are better for the environment, the people involved in making them and the people using them.
Buy back our time. Getting more help with running the home, such as more cleaning hours, fresh veg box deliveries and a gardener would give us more time to ‘live’ together. These jobs tend to be done on weekends when we should be going on bike rides and having fun together.
Giving gives me satisfaction. I’d really like to give a minimum of 10% of my income. Love, attention and resources can positively impact little lives so I’d like to focus my giving on children’s organisations that help give tiny humans around the world a chance in life. Having experienced feelings of being stuck in life, I’d also like to support people to follow their true path like change jobs, study or start a business so they can get to the next step in their lives. I’d like to be spontaneous with who I give to and when I give, like being able to just buy something for someone when I know they need it.
Save well for retirement. My current retirement savings are flaky to say the least! Money can certainly help me fix my post 66 future.
Live a debt free life. I’d like to chop up my credit cards and never see site of an overdraft again!
Educate myself. I love learning and filling my soul and I’d like to buy all the books, apps, courses, retreats and mentors I need!

Action step: Write down the awesome things and experience money will add to your life. Don’t judge yourself. Don’t edit. Just pour it out. I’m finding that being aware of the true desires of your heart can be the catalyst you need to educate yourself and make important changes in your life. Because nothing will change if you don’t change anything!

How my being rich will benefit others

My theory is that the richer I am, the more I can give. How would you help others if you were rich? I get really excited about giving! Right now I get terribly frustrated at having to fit my gift buying into tiny budgets so I can’t wait to be able to give more freely for the usual things like birthdays and christmas, and just because I can! My being rich will benefit others because I’ll be able to:

Ease other people’s burdens
Reduce the financial burden on my husbands shoulders
Provide better for Marley
Support my extended family
Enhance the lives of children around the world
Give to people in need
Keep the river flowing by employing people to provide their skills, such as DIY and gardening
Choose to buy from people and brands I want to support

Action step: If you were rich, who would you help, how would you help and why? Being clear about this can add to the desire and motivation you need to take powerful action.

Beautiful things that have happened in this world thanks to money

Since it’s easy for you and me to fall into the trap of believing that money is bad, here’s my list of beautiful things that have happened in this world thanks to money.

Imagine wanting to learn, but having all kinds of barriers to education. Money provides scholarships and access to education. It pays school fees, builds classrooms, pays teachers and buys learning materials.
Imagine being a child with no one to love you and no one who to take care of you. Money is a key ingredient in being able to change a child’s life through adoption.
Imagine having nowhere to go home to. Money builds temporary homes for the homeless. Money runs the programmes that help people on the road back to independence.
Imagine being unable to afford treatment or medication. Money funds access to immunisation and antiretroviral treatment for HIV. Money treats the bed nets that prevent malaria.
Imagine having no access to clean water. Money builds water pumps, filters water and builds clean loos.
Imagine having the best business idea but not being able to do anything about it. Money funds startups before they are earning any kind of return.
Imagine a world without elephants, rhinos or tigers. Money funds their conservation, breeding, anti-poaching programmes and environmental education.
Imagine living in poor neighborhoods with little access to opportunity. Money supports people in poor communities through access to food, clothing, books, household furniture… the things that many people take completely for granted.

Action step: What beautiful things have you seen happening thanks to money? Who are your favourite philanthropists? What organisations are making an impact? Maybe you know of people who have given away large sums of money. Use your list to constantly remind yourself of the beautiful things that are happening in this world thanks to money.

Why you should do the ‘marvellous money’ exercise and my top tips

When you think of rich people with bags of money, what is your immediate thought? Is it positive or negative?

Do you think, “Fair play, they’ve earned it, they deserve it and they are doing amazing things with their money”.
Or you might roll your eyes and think, “It’s alright for some, they probably just inherited it anyway, normal people like me can’t have that kind of money.”

Whether your thoughts were positive or negative, answering the three questions in this marvellous money exercise is worth doing. My thoughts about people with bags of money are positive. But I had never thought deeply about the correlation between good things and money, nor about what I would add to my life if I had more money. I know why I want more money. I know why money is so important to me. I know why I am on this journey of understanding and attracting money. This exercise gave me clarity on many money why’s, and it can do the same for you.

If your thoughts about people with money are mixed or completely negative then this exercise will start to dissolve some of the bitterness. When you write down the good in the world as a result of money, how your life would change because of money and how you being rich would impact others, you’ll start turning that negative into positive. And the more positive you are about money, the more likely you will be to attract more of it. I mean think about it, if we despise people with money, how could we ever have more money? You don’t want to become someone you despise do you?

To make the most out of the marvellous money exercise,

Take your time. I did this over a few days, grabbing early morning quiet time when I could.
Aim for 5 to 10 answers for each of the three questions. I aimed for 10 then later merged some of the common threads.
Write down your answers. Writing things down helps me process my thoughts. Whether that’s true for you or not, writing/typing it out will give you something tangible to reference.
Don’t judge your thoughts, just write it all down. Never think that’s silly or impossible, just go with your first thoughts.
Review, edit and tidy up your answers if you feel the need to. I certainly felt the need to and it ensures I have something legible and useful to review later.

Phew, this exercise was easier for me than the previous exercise on why I deserve money! But it was still valuable to cement my positive feelings about money. Let me know how you get on.