Keys To Effective Money Management – Part 1: Attitude

Attitude Is Everything!

Finally! The first part to my series on the Keys To Effective Money Management.  Many people put hope in the microwave plan that takes minimal effort and usually fizzles out, but the real answer to transforming your financial situation, is really more like a slow cooker.  It takes time, patience, consistency, and dedication to really get the hang of it.  Most of all it takes the right attitude to effectively start the process.  Behaviors do not just change automatically, your attitude and view about money and life may need adjusting.

“Attitude and behavior are woven into the fabric of daily life. Research has shown that individuals register an immediate and automatic reaction of “good” or “bad” towards everything they encounter in less than a second, even before they are aware of having formed an attitude. Advertising, political campaigns, and other persuasive media messages are all built on the premise that behavior follows attitude, and attitude can be influenced with the right message delivered in the right way.”

I have also created 12 Steps to encourage a debt free attitude, that I feel  strongly about.  Please check it out!

This post is a little longer than most of my articles, but I hope you are able to take the time to complete it.  I also spent some extra time linking to other sites and articles to give you additional resources.  Your questions, comments and feedback are appreciated.  Has this article been helpful to you?

What Is Your Attitude About Money?

Misconceptions concerning money are widespread and can very easily go from one extreme to the other.  Emotions tend to dictate attitude as most people form their attitude about money based on their own experiences. Good or bad, those experiences can either help and motivate you, or limit you, causing YOU to be your worst enemy.

One of the biggest, and probably the most well known misconceptions about money, is the one that says “money is the root of all evil“.  People that believe this have no motivation or reason to build wealth.  In their opinion, it’s evil, so why should they participate?  Saying money is evil is like saying knives are evil.  Knives can be used to carve works of art, and prepare food, or they can be used to inflict harm.  It’s the same with money, it can be used for good or evil.  In FPU, Dave Ramsey reminds us that money is amoral.  The person that has it decides what to do with it, not the money itself.  The truth is that instead of refusing to participate because you think it is evil, you should consider countering evil by using yours for the greater good.  The best way to avoid hoarding money is to become a very generous giver.

Do you believe that people who have money took advantage of others, in order to get it?  While I am positive this is true in some cases, it certainly is not true for most people that have acquired wealth.  Most wealthy people provided some kind of beneficial service that someone else deemed important to them.  Providing that service took hard work, sacrifice, diligence, and passion to produce, and they should get paid for their efforts.  They also made wise decisions with what money they do have. You don’t have to take advantage of people to become wealthy, all you have to do is understand how to serve others, earn an income, and then learn how compound interest works.

What Is Your Attitude About Debt?

Do you believe that debt is a tool?  If your opinion about debt is that you MUST use it or have it in order to enjoy life, then you are COMPLETELY mistaken!  You don’t HAVE to, you CHOOSE to!  Believe it or not, you can actually buy a car without going into debt.  That’s right, they take cash!  When it comes to debt we have been trained like dogs to obey our masters. Your leash is the FICO score, or as I like to call it, your 3-digit financial slave number.  That score constantly reminds you that in order to make your master happy, you MUST borrow money.  After all you can’t enjoy life without good a credit score right?  Debt is how rich people become wealthy, because they use it as a tool to prosper right?  WRONG!

Debt keeps you from using the real wealth building tool which is your income!  Yes, your income is all you need, and the kicker is that you don’t have to make tons of money.  All you have to do is manage what you do have.  If you do a budget, and still find you can’t make it, then you either need to cut your lifestyle down more, or you need to find a way to increase your income.  There is ALWAYS an answer, but so often people look to fix their situations by addressing the wrong things.

If you have lots of debt, it’s a problem but it is not the problem.  The debt is a symptom of something much larger, your behavior.  You are using debt, or you are spending more than you make.  Stop spending more than you make, and please stop digging yourself a deeper hole by borrowing.  Debt consolidation is not the solution!  Bankruptcy isn’t going to change your behavior!  You are going to fix your problem by addressing your behavior, nothing else.  Your attitude and acceptance of debt can keep you from building wealth, and make managing your money stressful.  Change your attitude and your behavior regarding debt and you will be surprised at how much easier personal finance becomes.

What Is Your Attitude About Work?

Do you believe in only traditional methods of earning income?  Have you accepted a job that you hate but feel it is your only source of income?  I hope not, but if you have, the good news is that there is another way.  Unfortunately, most people hate their job or career path that they started.  Dan Miller, who wrote the book 48 Days To The Work You Love, says that in order to find your purpose in life you need to look at these three things:

1.  Skills and Abilities
2.  Personality Traits
3.  Goals, Dreams, & Passions

Find a career that utilizes those three things.  In doing so, you set up a more positive, more enjoyable work experience, as oppose to the thank god it’s Friday, oh no it’s Monday mentality.  The idea is that if you are working in your strengths, dreams, abilities, and passions, you are more likely to enjoy what you do.  If you enjoy what you do, then working becomes less like work.  I like that idea a lot, and it is part of what made me take a look at what it was that I wanted to do in life.  About two years ago, I was looking at becoming a Real Estate Appraiser, which is something I had just chosen right out of thin air, based on it being a good paying job.  Would I have liked it?  Maybe so, but I think it is safe to say that it was definitely NOT my passion, therefore I might have invested lots of time, energy, and money into a career, only to find that I was still unhappy.  Becoming a certified financial counselor is my goal, my passion, and now my dream, but I still do not plan to stop there.

This is not to say you should just go and quit the job that you hate, although some have, but it should get you thinking about how doing something you love, could be more rewarding and in turn, more profitable.  I guess the main point here is that you shouldn’t limit your abilities because of common misconceptions.

If you can play the violin like a pro, because you have practiced, but have no formal training in teaching others how to play, that doesn’t mean that you can’t start a blog, giving tons of free advice while providing online lessons to those who want to learn.  You don’t need college to teach people something that you are already an expert at, AND you can do it at your own pace while you are working your current job.  Slow but steady progress in the right direction.  What if your passion for music enabled you to eventually surpass your current income level from the job you hate?  Wouldn’t that ROCK??  Bye-bye job you hate, right?

What Is Your Attitude About Education?

Many people are of the opinion that the only way they can be anything is by getting a college education.  Yes, college certainly has it’s benefits, but it isn’t the only way to educate yourself.  There have been many great companies started by men and women who dropped out of college, or never finished High School.  Education is actually free, if you consider picking up a book and reading as education.  Learning comes in many forms and only one of them happens to be college.  Reading builds confidence, stimulates brain cells, and causes a new level of creativity.  Ideas are born by people who decide that they can never learn too much.

This quote by Adam Cooper and Bill Collage says it all!  “You don’t need fancy highbrow traditions or money to really learn. You just need people with the desire to better themselves.” Charlie “Tremendous” Jones was known for saying, “You will be the same person tomorrow, next week, next month, next year and in 5, 10, 20 years except for two things – the people you meet and the books you read.”

If you are reading this blog then you have internet, which happens to be a HUGE resource for learning.  Granted, you have to be able to separate fact from fiction, but there are so many FREE (Dave Ramsey offers a free lesson here) legitimate resources online! Another FREE way to learn is by joining the local library.  As long as you turn the books in on time it is absolutely free.  Something else you can do is ask LOTS of questions when around the right people.  You never know when you will hear that priceless piece of information that sparks the next Google or Facebook.  Surround yourself by people who can inspire you!

When I started this blog I knew nothing about css code or stylesheets or even blogging for that matter, but by going to the right places to learn a few things I was able to change it enough to make it my own.  I could of just decided it wasn’t worth it simply because I didn’t know enough about running one, but I didn’t.  I’m glad I didn’t, now I just have to learn how to make a few bucks, but my point is that I learned something for free that allowed me to do something more.  This blog has allowed me to talk about my passion which is teaching people to live debt free.  It has also has expanded my knowledge on personal finance, because of the research that comes with informing people.  Your willingness to learn is without limitations, except for the ones you place in front of you.

Do You Blame Others, Or Look For Answers?

The book QBQ – The Question Behind The Question, written by John G. Miller, taught me that I was asking the wrong questions.  It’s really easy to point fingers, especially when you feel someone wronged you.  It’s hard not to, we have all done it right?  What if instead of focusing on who to blame, you decided to make your situation better by asking yourself how you can fix the problem and move on?  This is about attitude.  When you change your mind about what is right and wrong, and accept responsibility for how to make it better, you have then empowered yourself to change the outcome, no matter how bad or messed up it once was.

You can blame credit cards, credit card companies, banks, the government, or anyone else  for how your financial situation is right now, but what will that solve?  Maybe you got taken advantage of, OR maybe more of the responsibility lies on your shoulders than you are willing to admit.  Either way, you have to figure out how to get yourself out of the mess you are in.  The banks are not going to make it better, YOU are!  The sooner you realize that, the easier this money thing will be.  Saving money,  avoiding debt, and having a plan for your money, will drastically improve your financial position.

Take responsibility for yourself, and do not allow the notion that someone else is keeping you from doing or becoming something greater, to be your guiding light.  Blaming others will cause you to remain stagnant because you think that there is nothing in your power that can be done to change it.   I spent years blaming others and it caused resentment, hatred, and emotionally drained me, but it never once solved my problems.

Your Attitude Influences Your Behavior

How you think largely determines how you act.  Just as negative feelings about money can keep you running in place, so can embracing the bondage that keeps you from using your income to grow.  If you think you can’t do it, or if you are under the impression that someone else must do it for you, then not only are you selling yourself short, but you are limiting your ability to win.  You have accepted a myth as truth, and in doing so, have forfeited your future to a master.  In short, what you believe is what you achieve.  How many times have you attempted something that you thought was impossible?

Your attitude must be changed in order for your behavior to be modified.  Your attitude affects your behavior, and your behavior determines how successful you are at achieving your goals.  In part two of this series I will be discussing the behaviors that need to change in order to effectively manage your money.