Unique Relationship with Money

Forget boring budgeting and dry “do this, do that” financial advice. Today, we delve into something far more fascinating: your unique relationship with money. Whether you’re a budgeting champion or a spender extraordinaire, how you feel, think, and react to money shapes your life in very surprising ways. 

Over my 15+ years of coaching individuals not only in business but in life, I’ve come to realize that people have very unique and distinctive relationships with money. 

With that in mind, we’re going to talk about five things to think about regarding people and their relationships with money. There might not be as many nuggets of “do this” or “do that” as you might have come to expect in my blog posts. However, just thinking about these things is very valuable. It’s important to think about how your mind works in relation to money.

It’s important to find out how you feel when you talk about money and personal finances. And, as an entrepreneur, it’s just as crucial to figure out how you feel when you get into your business metrics and your business numbers. So, to that end, here are five things to think about when you explore your relationship with money.

1. How Culture Shapes Your Relationship with Money 

The first thing to consider here is the culture you grew up in. I live in Houston, Texas, and one of the things I love most about this city is that it’s one of the most diverse places in the world. People here come from all different backgrounds. There’s a huge Hispanic culture in Houston; in fact, I married into a Hispanic family.

That’s just one example, but in that specific case, you’d ask yourself, “How does your Hispanic culture influence your view of money?” Of course, there are subsets within Hispanic culture based on what country you’re from. That creates even more specific influences on your view of finances. So, that would be something to consider as well. Whatever your culture, these are all extremely helpful questions when it comes to discerning how it has shaped the way you see money.

2. Your Education Level Has an Influence As Well

Your education level can be a huge factor in how you view money. So, you really have to ask yourself how it influences the way you look at it. This is a particularly interesting thing because the answer isn’t always what you might expect. Sometimes people who are highly educated don’t have the greatest relationship with money, whereas someone who’s not traditionally educated might have a better one.

High levels of education don’t necessarily mean you have a good relationship with money, and the reverse is also true. For example, you might be a medical doctor and yet have a really interesting relationship with money, even though you’re extremely educated in a certain field. So, whether you’re someone who didn’t graduate from high school (many entrepreneurs I work with are in that category) or you received some kind of advanced degree, this is an excellent question to ask yourself.

3. Your Parents/Grandparents’ Relationship with Money

This potential source of influence pertains to your parents, grandparents, or guardians, or, in other words, whoever raised you. This probably has the greatest impact on our relationship with money, and certainly our culture and education level can fit into it as well. However, you have to take it a step further here and ask yourself How do the people who raised you view money?

Did they argue about money? Was it something they discussed, or was it something they never talked about? Was there constant financial stress, or were things usually comfortable? Did they have their own entrepreneurial business where you learned how money works in a business capacity, or were they employees?

Was there a budget that you knew of, and did you guys play board games like Monopoly where you learned about money? These are all things to consider when you’re trying to figure out how your parents or guardians influenced your relationship with money.

4. Entrepreneur vs. Employee  

Most of my readers are entrepreneurs, but some might be salespeople, sales professionals, general managers, or employees. In that case, you have to consider how being an employer versus an employee has impacted your relationship with money. 

As an employee, you might view money in a particular way, just as you might see it in a certain way as an entrepreneur. Or maybe you’re an entrepreneur and you have your own business, but you think more like an employee. So just think about how your work situation or career effects the way that you view money.

5. Risk Tolerance Impact on Your Relationship with Money 

There are many things that I’ve learned through working with the myriad of people that I have. One of those things is that, generally speaking, there’s a level of risk tolerance that we all have, and it varies from person to person. 

Some people are averse to risks, while others don’t mind taking them at all. So you have to ask yourself what your risk tolerance is and how it impacts your view of money. Do you like to take massive risks? Are you someone who gambles, or are you someone who wants a sure thing? There’s not necessarily a right or wrong answer when it comes to this. However, you have to figure out where you are in that regard and how it shapes your relationship with money.

In Conclusion…

These five fundamental elements play a pivotal role in shaping how you navigate the realm of business and personal finances. When we conduct workshops on financial literacy, quarterly planning, and budgeting, it becomes clear that delving into your psychology and understanding your relationship with money is essential for achieving outstanding results. Therefore, I hope this blog post has sparked your curiosity and encouraged you to reflect on how your unique perspective on money has been molded.

Naturally, making improvements in any area of life can be a challenging endeavor. Whether you seek assistance in enhancing your relationship with money, require business consulting, or need sales coaching, remember that EntreResults is here to support you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out. In the meantime, I wish you a better than amazing day that brings you one step closer to a healthier relationship with money.