The Power of Perspective
Is your money mindset getting in the way of success?
When it comes to saving money, individual perspectives can vary widely. To some, the benefits seem obvious. While to others, all that stands out is sacrifice.
And this doesn’t seem to be influenced by how much money we make.
Many people with huge incomes barely save a penny, while others with more modest salaries are able to save up to 50 percent or more of their income.
So, if income doesn’t determine our perspective, what does?
From our experience, mindset seems to play the greatest role.
I was reminded of this recently while listening to a podcast about Hal Elrod’s book, The Miracle Morning.
Elrod talks about the role of mindset when it comes to sleep and feeling energized. The basic principle is that how we feel is largely influenced by how we expect to feel.
Tell yourself you need 8 hours of sleep when you can only get 7 and you’re sure to feel tired, but tell yourself that 7 is enough, and it can change the way you feel.
The same concept seems to hold true when it comes to money.
Our mindset not only sets the stage for how we experience the pursuit of financial independence (FI) but has a huge impact on our ability to achieve it.
The more challenging we perceive saving money to be, the more challenging it becomes. But if we can shift our mindset to believe that we have enough, saving money doesn’t seem so hard.
This isn’t to say money isn’t important, or that real financial challenges don’t exist. But once our basic living expenses are covered, how much we need to be happy may be largely influenced by our mindset.
If we tell ourselves that we’re making do with less and restricting our spending, then eventually saving money becomes unenjoyable.
But if we shift our mindset to think of a budget as gaining control over our financial lives, we can start to feel empowered instead.
This is something we have found to be true in our own lives.
While we enjoy many of the things (and experiences) that money can buy, we look for ways to include them within a budget that allows us to reach our financial goals.
Rather than looking at it as having to cut back, we focus our energy on spending intentionally to get the most out of our budget.
For example, while cutting out restaurants completely would feel far too restrictive for us, we have found that spending $100 rarely makes us happier than spending $40.
Realizing this has allowed us to enjoy the experience of dining out without impacting our ability to save.
And the same concept holds true in many areas of our lives. By focusing on the experience rather than the price tag, we can find happiness within our budget.
Not only does this help us stay focused on the path to FI, it allows us to enjoy the money we do spend even more.
Thanks for reading! To learn more about our journey, visit Financially Free 2033.
