Mindfulness with Kristen and Sara B.
On this episode of Financially Naked: Stories from The Financial Gym, our host is Kristen, freelance artist in Brooklyn, NY. She is joined by Sara B., Trainer at The Financial Gym.
Podcast Notes
Kristen became a client of The Gym in December 2019. In addition to being a Financial Trainer, Sara is a certified life coach, which is one of Kristen’s goals.
The Financial Gym has a book club. One of the books they read was Mindful Money, by Jonathan K. DeYoe. The author is Buddhist and he talks about the Noble Eightfold Path. Kristen is focusing on three of these pillars to create good habits.
The first pillar is health, because it truly is wealth. Coffee was a huge part of Kristen’s spending because she was working 80 hours a week and she wasn’t getting enough sleep.
Her three goals are exercising for 15 minutes a day, nourishing her body with good food, and getting enough sleep. When she does these things, her spending is more in line.
When you ignore your health, it ends up costing a lot of money, and it tumbles everything down in your life.
If Kristen gets sick, she cannot work, because her job is physical. In addition, she freelances, so she doesn’t get sick days.
Start small: make one meal at home or walk whenever you can. It will make a financial difference long term.
The second pillar is accountability, and Sara is Kristen’s accountability partner. Humans naturally have a story that predetermines how we think and respond.
For many people the story is around money, body image, and family. Many people have mindset blocks and habits with money that aren’t conscious. It is important to have someone unbiased in your life to question things and hold you accountable.
All Financial Trainers have their own trainers. It is a wellness perk at The Gym. Sara is more successful when she asks others to hold her accountable to what she wants to do.
One of the biggest goals amongst Sara’s clients is financial flexibility/security/independence. Most clients want to make purchases without anxiety or without feeling like they are doing something wrong. That is not always quantifiable. The Gym approaches personal finance from all sides.
The third pillar is gratitude. Defensively, gratitude can help steer us away from damaging behavior, such as impulse purchasing. Offensively, it can give us the determination to reach our goals.
Gratitude is the easiest way to change your mindset. Being thankful to pay her bills has helped Kristen change the way she feels about her debt. It is not magic, you need to work at this.
Meeting financial goals is 50% mindset and 50% numbers on the page. Sara works with a lot of clients to shift their mindset to gratitude. It is easier to move toward your goals when you aren’t focused on the negative. It is important to feel the full range of your emotions.
Gratitude is the easiest way to increase your abundance and it allows you to be more open to accepting it. Writing it down and thinking about it is helpful and leads to manifestation.
Connect with Kristen & Sara
Instagram: @pastichedbykristen
Instagram: @yourlifecoachsara