“Money Makes The World Go Around…Or Go Crazy!”
02/15/2018
In considering emotional fitness, our finances are a significant component of our life that can add a great deal of stress or can bring peace and contentment, depending upon how you view money and how financially fit you are.
This leads me to the first and most important principle of financial management---What does money mean to you? If you see money as a source of happiness you will be forever seeking it and never having enough. It will impact all aspects of your life including your work, your marriage, your family, your friendships and how you live your life every day. This will cause you significant stress and you will be miserable. If you keep money in proper perspective as a necessary element to sustaining life but do not allow it to dictate your identity, then you will be managing your money well and not letting your money manage you.
The second principle of financial management is related to a saying you may have heard--- "live within your means." This isn't a bad idea until your "means" changes because you lose your job or your business doesn't bring in the revenue it once did. So the second principle is: Live within your needs. As you do this you should have excess each month to put away for savings. If your means decreases for the reasons listed above, you will hopefully still have sufficient for your needs. If in fact this is not the case you may need to dip into some of your savings for a short time until you can increase your means or figure out how to adjust your needs.
The third principle was supposedly shared by a simple country farmer who said: Interest...thems that understand it earn it and thems that don't pay it!" Why would you want to give your hard earned money away to some big bank or credit card company? I'll tell you why---it's related to the first two principles above. You think material goods (money) will bring you happiness, consequently you don't want to follow the second principle. Some additional reasons that are related to the first principle have to do with pride, difficulty delaying gratification and lack of emotional maturity. (I talk more about our perception of money in my Emotional Fitness book)
If you understand these three principles and can apply them in your life you should be on your way to fairly good financial shape which will in turn contribute positively to your emotional fitness and keep you from...going crazy!