When you worry about money- do this!
In the previous article, i wrote about the biggest worry of all- money. This ridiculous yet dangerous worry must be properly addressed so its seeds don’t grow into parasitic plants in the beautiful garden which is your mind. As i wrote, one way to deal with your worry is to examine it and negate it whenever it appears.
If your mind tells you that without money you can’t pay the bills and you will get evicted from your apartment, simply calculate your expenses and set a specific goal to reach this amount. Money related worries are only strong when we lack clarity and don’t know our numbers and that’s something we must change.
For some, however, rational explanations are still not enough and so here are few experiments you can make to test the validity of your worry:
- Be poor for few days: You would be surprised by how fun it is to try to be poor. Every decision you make becomes calculated and your appreciation for money as well as for what you currently have will greatly increase. You can also come up with ways to make a certain amount of money that will be your only budget for the experiment. I guarantee you will be surprised by the results. For me personally, this was not an experiment but a reality in a certain period of my life and it taught me to think creatively and treat challenging moments or time periods as a personal experiment.
- Condition your brain to give: Whenever you worry about losing all your money, try to create a dissonance in your brain by giving money. By doing the exact opposite of your fear, you immediately negate it and remind yourself the blessings you have in your life. Every time such worries emerge, give a certain amount to charity. You can even increase the amount whenever the worry returns to show your brain that this worry actually costs you money. See if it works for you, for me it works quite well simply since it reminds me those who worry about their next meal.
- Work for free: We are used to the formula time equals money. This is what we have been taught by society but it’s far from the truth. Our time is a priceless gift and we must value it as such. One way to remind ourselves of this fundamental truth is by volunteering our time. This changes the formula as we don’t get anything tangible in return but feel incredible. I strongly believe that when we give our time for free we increase and not decrease its value and the formula becomes time equals impact. To me, this is a stronger formula and a great way to remind ourselves the true value of our time.
What do you do when you worry about money? What would be your advice to yourself and to others regarding dealing with this common fear?