How To Make Conscious Financial Choices
For many of us Millennials (and let’s be real - anyone living in our modern world), there was likely a time when looking at your bank account brought you immense stress. It doesn’t matter if you have a six-figure salary, or you’ve never had a credit card to your name - simply acknowledging the black-hole-that-is-your-bank-account can feel overwhelming, scary and anxiety-ridden.
When I entered adulthood, managing my money would send me into a tailspin at the end of each month. It didn’t matter that I was a finance major in college, nor that I worked at an investment bank in my first job. By day, I was analyzing millions of dollars in excel spreadsheets, but when it came to my own bank account, it always felt like I was doing something wrong. And so, I pushed off acknowledging it until the last possible moment (and maybe poured myself a glass of wine or two before opening the Chase app).
If this experience sounds familiar, you and I are not alone. Over 70% of Millennials say that their financial planning needs improvement - more than any other generation. But, there’s a simple, intuitive practice that can help you get to the root of your money issues without even taking stock of your bank account.
The Wealth Nourishment Pyramid
In my latest book, On Adulting: How Millennials (And, Any Human Really) Can Work Less, Live More And Bend The Rules For Good, I dedicated an entire chapter to navigating our perception of wealth. Because, at the end of the day “money” is simply just an exchange of value or energy. It’s what we perceive we’re worth. So, when we avoid understanding our finances, we are denying the existence of that part of our lives.
Basically, we have to nourish our wealth just like any other part of our well-being.
One of my favorite tools to begin practicing this mindset shift, and one that helped me go from money-scared to wealth-nourished is The Wealth Nourishment Pyramid. It’s a simple, intuitive tool that helps us get really clear about the different areas of our lives that we want to infuse with energy, and which ones we can create boundaries around.
I think about wealth using this tool in four main ways:
Our needs: The stuff we need to exist in this world, like healthcare and housing
Our well-being: This is the stuff that makes us feel good on a regular basis
Our treats: The stuff that brings us special joy or utility
Our gifts: The ways that we can spread our wealth
The coolest part about the Wealth Nourishment Pyramid is that it’s simply a tool that prompts conscious decision-making on our part. Because, have you ever noticed yourself spending money without even realizing it, like attending 5 different birthday dinners for co-workers or acquaintances from college (back when those happened!), only to check your credit card bill at the end of the month in horror? The root of our anxiety around finances is that we don’t have control over our choices, and somehow we’ll mess it all up. So, when we begin to get really clear about what’s important to us at the most basic level, we can begin to make trade-offs that feel good.
You might try experimenting with the specifics you’d fit under each aspect of the Wealth Nourishment Pyramid, and see how things line up. Is your “needs” bucket bulging with expenses - like a huge rent bill, student loans and other must-have expenses? Or do you find that most of your wealth pyramid is centered in “treats” - though your well-being is suffering?
The coolest part about this practice is that this conscious-thinking mindset encourages flexibility. Your needs may change every month, or every few years. But, as soon as you can begin to get really honest and clear with yourself about how you view your wealth, and most importantly, how you’re spending it - you can begin to practice making choices that make you feel good, and do good, in the world.
Ready to take your finances to the next level?
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