How to Change Our Attitude Towards Money And Become Rich?
The first step to become rich is to change our attitude towards money.
How do we change our attitude towards money? How do we go from ‘stay poor’ printed in your subconscious to becoming a go-getter who says, “Being rich is our birthright?” Yes, we are born to be rich and it is our birthright.
To make this quantum change in our attitude towards money, we must take few simple steps. The first thing to do is to become aware. And how does one become aware? It is simple…meditate!
Please, don’t freak out. Most people get confused. They think— to meditate is to get into some tremendous yogic posture and concentrate on the problem till you get the answer to the problem. Nothing can be further from truth.
Meditation means a reversal of the thought process. Our minds are overloaded with continuous inputs from our five senses, 24 hours a day. Even while sleeping, it works all the time chiming in dreams. It is burdened to the extent that it can’t think straight.
Silent Reflection
It is high time you go to a quiet place where there is no disturbance, sit down quietly and turn off your five senses. Now drift inwards towards your mental space and observe what is happening there. Initially, you will see only the top layers – consisting mainly of pressing issues and problems that are worrying our minds.
It takes patience, practice and courage to unravel the inner workings of your mind. To uncover the layers of your mind, you should become non-judgmental and fearless. The mind will try to put brakes on the flow; there is much fear, hurt and guilt there. It is very hard to uncover memories that cause so much pain. It will need great courage to command the mind to let go of the brakes and allow the buried impressions flow out from the mind.
While reflecting, do not sit in judgement, because you were not responsible for most of the impressions recorded in your subconscious. These events occurred when you had no control over them. They happened during your childhood. Let your thoughts flow out with one part of your mind as a mute witness. It may not happen in the first sitting, but in due course even the most deeply buried impressions will begin to appear.
Therefore writers, musicians, painters and other creative people are given such a high pedestal to stand on. It is because each creative idea involves the reversal process of the mind. The creative people can invoke and have access to the deep recesses of their minds, and sometimes, even beyond the mind as we shall learn later.
How to Increase Awareness?
Our awareness level increases when we start observing our thought process. We begin to understand that most of our actions are because of our previous programming. As our level of consciousness increases, we are freed from our pasts and start living, and making decisions in the present.
Increase in awareness will lift the lid on buried emotions, hidden fears and deep-seated myths that you have about money. You will understand the subtle influence that money exerts in each of your relationships, even with your nearest and dearest ones.
Understanding Invisible Money Strings
Money is the currency of power: it is used to manipulate and control. The person with greater resources uses his or her assets to control the behavior of the other person—whether they are friends, parents, children or spouses. In most cases, this happens at a subconscious level with none of the players fully aware of what is happening. Deep resentment develops in relationships as a result of this game play. Money matters are shrouded in mystery and there are layers of emotions that cover our motives.
Some reflection will prove that money is central to all our relationships. It influences many of our choices ranging from whom we marry, our choice of job, where we live to what we wear, eat and experience.
In our society, money is the metaphor for success and achievement. Having it can make us feel worthwhile and not having it can make us feel worthless. We are what we are because of the money we have. Somerset Maugham, put it rightly when he wrote, “Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make complete use of the other five.”
Further reflection will show that men may feel threatened if they earn less than their wives. Men associate money with success, prestige, risk, power and excitement. If a man loses his job, his shoulders will drop as though he has been emasculated and lost his manhood.
A man normally measures his worth to his wife, children and society in purely economic terms. Unemployment can lead to depression, low self-esteem, anger and perceived loss of power. Women on the other hand, look at money as a form of security that gives them freedom and independence. Change in relative earning capacities results in a shift of power dynamics, spending patterns and bedroom politics.
Another area where couples display a wide range of differences is in their ability to tolerate debt. Intimacy is stifled by financial conflict. If there is power imbalance in your financial relationship, there will surely be a similar imbalance in your sexual relationship. In extreme cases, this results in marital tension and relationship breakdowns.
You will be surprised to learn that there are more divorces due to money problems than there are because of sexual ones. Money, not sex, is the last taboo and an intensely private matter. People will discuss their problems of sex openly but when it comes to money they will clamp up even with their spouse. This is because money is power and any discussion regarding money threatens to change the power dynamics in relationships.
In many cases, love becomes a financial transaction. Parents are conditioned to believe that buying things for children is a measure of their love for them. Women feel loved only when their husbands shower them with gifts. Cutting financial resources is a tactic frequently used to establish control in relationships.
Many people offer financial help to gain power and status over others. The recipient, on the other hand, tends to become subservient and in emotional debt. Many people don’t even spare themselves and go into a buying spree if they are lonely and depressed.
You must have heard of money strings—they are everywhere and mostly invisible!
Problem of Financial Security
Now reflect on your work scene; your financial security depends on your job. If you are fired it, will create havoc for your family. You are forced to succumb to every unreasonable demand of your boss. You cannot speak your mind freely or you may not get the next promotion.
I excelled in my naval career because the driving force there was my financial insecurity. My wellbeing, and that of my family, depended on my doing well in service. I could never speak my mind; deference was a sure way of getting written off. Only when I had built substantial residual income through my real estate investing could I freely express myself. I think I became a much better person and an officer once I gained a sense of financial security.
Money forces us to make compromises at every turn in our lives. Unfortunately, some people cross the barrier and break the law. They steal, don’t pay taxes, become corrupt and in extreme cases, even resort to violence and murder. Money corrupts like nothing else.
Reflect on another scenario: what happens if you fall sick or become incapacitated to work? How will you cope? For how long will your insurance pay up? What happens to you or your family that relies on your income? Still many people say that, “money does not matter to them.”
Influence of Money in Our Lives
Most of us fail to realize that money has a powerful influence on us starting from the moment we’re born till we die. We spend most of our waking hours trying to earn a living away from our loved ones. Our free time is spent in thinking about money: How to pay our bills? How to allocate the limited money we have? Whether to buy a new car or a house, go on a holiday, buy new clothes, send our children to better schools or look after our aging parents?
Conflicting requirements and lack of money causes anxiety in the deepest recess of our subconscious. Insecurity and financial pressures make us think and act in ways that are detrimental to those we love and the society at large.
The idea behind silent reflection is to increase awareness regarding money matters. It is to understand that money is the undercurrent of life that drives us. Our physical and spiritual well being depends on it. Decision to acquire wealth and riches is a noble act towards not only.
Power of Enlightened Wealth
Imagine the power of money in enlightened hands and the amount of good it can do: it can provide physical, mental and spiritual freedom. It can free the planet Earth from the ills of poverty that bind millions to a life of misery.
There is no nobler pursuit than the creation of wealth that is done in an enlightened way. It is the forerunner to spiritual development. In fact, spiritual progress is not possible without passing through the material phase and satiation of the basic human needs—which only money can provide.
Look at any religious organization, including the church; they thrive on patronage of the rich. Success in the material world is a prerequisite to entering the spiritual world. So, don’t be afraid- it is your destiny to be rich.
There is an energy flow in silent meditation and stillness. Wherever you direct this energy, results will show. It is your mind’s energy that decides your destiny. Its flow can be controlled through mindfulness and silent observation.
It is lack of understanding about importance of money in human relationships and invisible money strings that holds us back from understanding the true significance of money in our lives. Money by nature is neutral. It is neither good or bad. It can elevate humanity when in the hands of enlightened human beings. By simple reflection we can change our attitude towards money and take first important step towards wealth creation.
