According to most Psychoanalysis theories by Sigmund Freud, most of our adult behavior has its roots in our childhood upbringing. And, most of our present challenges are solvable by bringing our unconscious beliefs into conscious.
So, these two statements bring two questions to mind:
If we have poor money habits that make us broke just a few days after payday, can the patterns be traced back to our formative years?
Can these habits be resolved by making the unconscious irrational beliefs we formed during our childhood conscious?
If the answer to the above two questions is a- Yes, then the following 6 points will help us unearth our unconscious beliefs related to money and make them conscious. They will help us understand how we were taught to be broke.
1) Don’t talk about money – It’s embarrassing
According to the statistics, 66% of parents talk to their children about money. These seemingly impressive statistics also means that there is a significant 33% of parents who never talk to parents about finances.
I can also bet, of the 66% of parents who talk about money, a good percentage don’t tell their children anything that will equip them to handle money wisely in the future. I could be wrong-It’s just an assumption. However, most of the millennials have been brought up in a society that is afraid to talk about money openly.
Therefore, most millennials are only left to look for the information from Google, social media and peers. The gospel spread through Instagram and other social media platform concerning money, wealth, earning an income is the furthest thing there is from the truth.
2) Limited ways to earn a living
Most millennials will admit that they were taught to go to school, get good grades, get a white-collar job and they’ll be successful. This was the formula used by the government in the industrial age to get people to work in the industries. But, we are in the information age. Everything is changing, and as such, there are a ton of other ways people can earn a living as opposed to this famous formula.
Most millennials were never taught about other alternatives of making money, investing, creating wealth and so on. The ones who were educated about investing was only about investing in shares and government bonds.
The only advantage is that this method is flawed and the millennials can see that. Therefore, they’ve started resulting in seeking the information from other sources such as e-mentors and resources from the internet.
3) Credit cards are bad
Some millennials were brought up by parents who hammered in them the fear of credit cards. They, therefore, were denied a chance to learn how credit cards work and how you can use them wisely. This could be the reason why today, very many people have errors in their credit cards they are not even aware. You can check this page; it is an excellent resource for learning how to remove negative items on a credit card.
4) The difference between appearing rich and being rich
You might have been taught that a flashy car means someone is wealthy. When that Instagram model rocks Fenty, it shows they are fashionable. If they are wearing Gucci, they are trendy and so on. They lied to you.
Mark Zuckerberg rocks a Jeans and a Tee, and he is one of the richest men on the face on earth. Wealthy people aren’t concerned with the show.
This does not mean, by all means, that you shouldn’t be fashionable. It only says that do not be deceived to pour out all your income in a liability such as a flashy watch to show your peers that you are trendy.
One of my favorite quotes on this subject is- ‘would you rather carry a $30 bag with $30,000 in it or a $30,000 bag with only $30 in it?”
5) It’s okay to live paycheck to paycheck
If you are an employee, you have undoubtedly heard your colleagues say specific terms to justify living paycheck to paycheck. As long as your bank is full on payday, you don’t have to worry about struggling to make ends meet for the last half of the month.
Being okay living paycheck to paycheck is one of the things that limit your creativity. It robs you off the power to think about what you can do better or differently. When you are comfortable with being comfortable, you will find a solution to living paycheck to paycheck.
6) Money can’t buy happiness
This might be probably true, but if it was absolutely correct, aren’t the poorest on earth supposed to be the happiest?
Are they?
Absolutely not. Therefore, the belief is just something to make you feel less pain when you are struggling. It also unconsciously prevents you from thinking about how you can make more money because you associate more money with more problems.
It’s sad that most millennials have been wired to live pay check to pay check and be broke by mid-month. However, this should not be an excuse not to learn other methods of earning a living, investing, saving among others.
