Last Updated on March 4, 2023 by the thought method co.

• How you feel about money is more important than the amount of money you have
• 77% of Americans are anxious about their financial situation
• When financially investing, it is important to invest in your money mindset

Financial investment is self-investment

The goal of financial investments is to make money, but financial investing is much more than money. Financial investments are part of self-investment, and when you see financial investments from a holistic, self-investment view, your financial investments will thrive.

When you invest in yourself, there are 9 key areas to focus on:

You can financially invest while not investing in other areas of your life. However, investing in the foundational level items like identity and mindset will benefit your financial investments. Because your mindset towards money and how you identify with money affects how you choose to invest.

How you think about money is your “money mindset”. It can be engrained into how you identify yourself. Since thoughts lead to behaviors, your financial investments and overall attitude towards finances rely heavily on your money mindset.

How an unproductive money mindset can negatively affect other areas of life

An unproductive money mindset is a mindset towards money that blocks or stops you from wealth in every area of your life. Your money mindset is unproductive if it leads to feelings of guilt, shame or stress. With an unproductive money mindset, you might:

• mislabel yourself as a failure
• shy away from asking for the salary you deserve
• disagree with friends or partners about expenses
• not pursue fulfilling hobbies due to cost
• feel guilty for investing in your development

Unproductive money mindset and limiting beliefs

The core of an unproductive money mindset is limiting beliefs.

For example, the limiting belief that money buys happiness. If you believe that money buys happiness, then your happiness will be directly tied to how much money you have. This causes unhealthy hustle culture. You miss out on your life because of the constant chase for more money.

It will be quite a shock when you have money and are still miserable, because while money buys essentials, it does not buy happiness.

Some other limiting beliefs about money are:

• You need to work hard in order to deserve money
• Money is hard to get
• You need to be frugal in order to have money
• Money is tight, and there will never be enough
• You are selfish or materialistic if you want to be rich

Productive money mindset

A productive money mindset is a balanced mindset that views money as a valuable and obtainable resource. It’s knowing there is plenty of money to go around and that you can make money and pay off debts if you try.

Some productive thoughts about money are:

• Money is abundant, and when I work towards my goals, I can invest successfully
• It’s important to have a balance between savings and splurging
• I have experience in my field and deserve this high salary
• Investing in finances will help reduce stress and provide security
• Well thought out investments are better than get rich quick schemes

Overcorrecting an unproductive money mindset

Sometimes, when people switch from an unproductive to productive money mindset, they may go too far to the other side. It would be like going slightly outside the line while driving but then jerking the wheel and going completely into the other lane.

You do not want to go from thinking that you need to save every penny to then spending irresponsibly, and you do not want to think you can seamlessly wish for money and it will appear. What you want to do is realize that there is no guilt or shame in money and balance is key.

Photo by Fabian Blank