FACE YOUR FEARS

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SIGNS YOU ARE AVOIDING YOUR MONEY:

1. You don't like to talk about money.

2. You don't open all your bills and statements.

3. When you think of money, negative feelings surface.

4. A negative experience with money shapes your current perspective.

Growing up, I loved the saying, ignorance is bliss. I thought that what I didn’t know couldn’t hurt me. 

If I limited what I knew, I could live in my fairy tale life. 

How wrong was I? 

My fondness of ignorance was verging on avoidance. 

Avoiding anything – feelings, conflict, pain, fear, shame – never ends well. When you purposefully avoid something, you are shoving it deeper inside. 

You’re creating negativity inside your mind and body. Negativity will literally tear apart your mental and physical health.

While growing up, I was completely aware that my parents didn’t have a lot of resources. As I got older and performed well in my career, I started making a decent salary and had a positive net worth. I was excited about this progress. I no longer consciously thought about being broke.

One day I was shopping with a friend. I had picked up a couple items to purchase. At the checkout I decided I really didn’t need these items. My friend jokingly called me poor. 

Emotions instantly came to the surface. I realized that deep-down I still felt poor even though financially I wasn’t poor any longer. I had no idea these feelings were still inside of me. I was happy she made that joke because it revealed some of my shame. You may not have a friend reveal this for you, so take the time to analyze yourself. Figure out what is lying just below the surface of your conscious mind. It’s only when you discover what is holding you back that you can release it and move forward.

Instead of practicing avoidance or ignorance, face it head-on. Whatever you are pushing down, let it come to the surface and face it. You will never move ahead if you don’t. You will feel stuck like you do right now until you acknowledge it.

Feeling stuck in your circumstances, your environment, or your progress is a horrible feeling. I know because I’ve been there. I’ve felt stuck in my past. 

These feelings will not go away on their own. You’ve got be courageous and face whatever you are avoiding. Recognize your feelings. Acknowledge why you feel this way. 

When I was spending like crazy, I was in denial. I wasn’t aware of how big my debt pile had become. Instead of wanting to know, it seemed easier to live in the dark. I had tricked myself into believing everything was fine. I thought, eventually, I’ll get a promotion and out earn my growing debt. I wasn’t taking it seriously. I was just burying my concerns. This attitude of ignorance and avoidance wasn’t allowing me to progress. I was stuck.

After a few years of this, I slowly got more serious about my desire to get out of debt. I started seeing hope. When you’re in a hole so big it doesn’t look like there is any way out, it’s difficult to believe that escaping is possible. Instead of trying to find hope, we immediately brush off the idea. 

However, when you see a tiny ray of hope, that small amount of light might be all you need to get started.

No matter how much debt you’ve accumulated, it’s time to start believing you can do anything you set your mind to.  Faith that you can do it as well as openness to new beliefs opens doors for you. 

Decide ignorance and avoidance isn’t your path.