The Psychology of Money - Part 2
Posted on March 17, 2017 by Steve Stuhlreyer, One of Thousands of Christian Coaches on Noomii.
In this article, I continue to write about how money affects us on a daily basis.
When I meet with clients for financial coaching or counseling for anxiety, depression, addiction, etc…, one of the first aspects of the client which I try to judge is their attitude towards the service they have asked me to provide for them. Now, you may be thinking that since the person sitting in my office has initiated contact with me and asked me to help them with a specific issue that they might just have a good attitude towards my help. This is true many times but not always.
Your attitude toward money will greatly affect how you handle your money and how you approach the journey towards getting control over your money. Here are some attitudes towards money that effect how you manage it:
1) Money is the root of all evil. While this sounds good, it isn’t true. Money is an inanimate object and has no ability in and of itself to cause evil or to cause good. What is true is the attitude you take towards money can be the root of all evil. If you LOVE money (the attitude), then you may run roughshod over people to make more money and may make some poor impulsive decisions about money that can cause you or others problems. If you ABHOR money (the attitude), you can avoid making any of it and become dependent on others for your sustenance. The healthiest attitude toward money is to see what money really is. It is a tool that we can use to barter for things we want or need and for services want or need.
2) Money can buy happiness. While this also sounds true and it is an active part of our cultural conversation, it is also not true. Money can’t buy emotions, it can only buy things and services. Scientists have actively considered the relationship between financial wealth and happiness and have found that there is no connection between the amount of money you have and the amount of happiness you enjoy. In fact, it has been shown that the highest rates of suicide attempts are among those professions which make the most money. Money may give you an initial good feeling about life but that feeling doesn’t last forever.
The healthiest attitude for you to take in regards to money, is to see it for what it is. It is an inanimate object which has no magical power to it. It’s only usefulness is that it can be used by us to barter for things and services – and it is those experiences with those things and services which can have an influence over our emotions and our happiness.
Steve Stuhlreyer is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, a Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor and a Certified Financial Coach.
