Many adults, though they may try, are in poor financial health. This is due to high debt and lack of savings and financial planning. Most would likely cite money as a significant source of stress though the principals to reach financial health are simple, don’t live beyond your means, and have some savings for the future. While this does sound easy, it proves difficult for one simple reason; financial psychology.
People fail to realize that when they get to a place of complete financial breakdown and sleep-depriving stress, money problems have as much to do with the mind as it does money management skills. You can talk yourself into and out of financial health issues by merely having the wrong mentality. Here are five mentally focused steps to psych yourself up to better financial health.
Identify Three Financial Goals
Identifying a specific number of goals helps you figure out what is most important to you. Keeping it limited makes the goals more easily attained then having several financial goals that are waiting to be reached all at once.
Name Your Financial Goals
This step is going to seem silly, but in reality, it is a highly effective technique. Instead of calling a goal “retirement” call it something more exciting like “Golden Years Goals.” This simple mental trick will help keep your goals in focus.
Time-stamp Your Goals
Once you have named your financial goals, it’s time to give them a deadline. This time-stamp can be a specific date, or simply a month or a year. What’s important to remember is that by setting the time-stamp or deadline, you will not leave the goals lingering unreached because you have an achievement goal.
Picture Your Financial Goals
Visualizing has been a form of mental goal setting used successfully for years. There are many ways you can bring out visualization, and you should do the method that is right for you and proves the most successful. Here are some methods of visualization that work.
- Picture yourself succeeding
If you see yourself with the things you hope to accomplish by saving towards your future, you will more likely complete it in reality - Create a vision board when most people think of a vision board; they see something arts and craftsy. In some ways, it is, but this gets you creatively involved in your goals. It doesn’t have to be a board; it could be a vision wall or whiteboard. It just needs to be interactive.
- Meditate or pray towards success
Meditating or praying towards your goals connects you spiritually to your vision, which adds to the visualization and success.
- Daily affirmations
These affirmations are a way of verbally claiming these goals until they are obtained in reality.
- Mental rehearsal
Mental rehearsal is something athletes have used towards winning. Mental rehearsal is going into your mind and seeing yourself making the plays or taking the steps and seeing the winning outcome.
Automate to Success
Now that you have set the goals, it’s time to automate them to success. One of the best ways to trick ourselves mentally when it comes to financial health is the theory that if money is allocated to savings automatically, we get used to the lower amount of spendable income, and we “don’t miss it.” We already take part in the automation when taxes are withheld, and what we receive in our paycheck is the net income after the IRS and social security take their allotment out. Using automation for savings lowers the net income more and puts the money withheld into one or various accounts set up for savings.
Conclusion
Financial psychology is directly related to financial health, so your mind is as essential as learning money management skills. If you use these simple steps, you will say goodbye to the stress money issues have been causing you for years.
About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.
