Know Yourself, Know Your Money – an Interview with Rachel Cruze
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Understanding yourself is essential to understanding the way you handle money. I recently interviewed personal finance expert Rachel Cruze about her new book, “Know Yourself, Know Your Money.” Rachel shared why understanding your own behaviors and beliefs will help you to take control and manage your finances better. Here are some of the top takeaways:
Eliminate Financial Fear
It’s common to experience fears around money and a lack of financial security. A powerful way to turn fear on its head is to act. Ask yourself: What would it look like to budget, manage your spending and have no debt? If you want to change your circumstances, you have to commit to doing things differently!
When it comes to external forces, meanwhile, you must accept that there are only certain things you can control in life. You might not be able to control everything that can impact your finances, but you can control your work ethic, your attitude and who you surround yourself with. Focus your energy on these, instead of worrying about external forces that you can’t influence.
Keep Learning
Change is uncomfortable. Instead of embracing it, our tendency is often to just keep doing what we know, even if that’s not beneficial. When it comes to your finances, changing can be very difficult, but you need to recognize that the outcome will be better in the long run. It takes a level of humility to admit that you don’t know it all and that you need to change. Above all else, keep learning, keep growing and keep building your financial knowledge and literacy with expert resources. It won’t be easy but if you persevere and push through the changes you need to implement, it will be better on the other side.
Identify Your Money Tendencies
People generally have seven major money tendencies:
- Saver or Spender
- Nerd or Free Spirit
- Experiences or Things
- Quality or Quantity
- Safety or Status
- Abundance or Scarcity
- Planned Giving or Spontaneous Giving
None of these tendencies is necessarily right or wrong, but pinpointing the ones you identify with – and the ones your relationships identify with – will help you to navigate financial conversations and decisions with much more ease and far less stress!
To learn more about taking control of your money and achieving financial freedom, listen to the latest episode of “It’s a Good Life”.
Eric
