Flipping Your Money Script

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My grandpa once told me there are three things you don’t talk about with people: religion, politics, and money. It is one of those topics that makes people feel uncomfortable. Recently I am on my own abundance journey. It is a sort of quest–to rewrite my own money story and to empower those around me to flip their own scripts.

There is something inspiring about helping people work through their money drama. I’m teaching the next generation that the world is their oyster, and they do not have to be confined to the money story of their families. I work at a title 1 school where 80% of my students receive free or reduced lunch vouchers due to their family’s income.

This year, I started to teach an elective course entitled Entrepreneurship. With the help of generous volunteers from the Rotary club, we have developed a curriculum for students to create their own business. Then in a “shark tank” like the format, students present their ideas to Rotarians who in turn decide if they want to invest in our students. For some, this is the first glimpse that they have ever had at rewriting the story of the financial situation they have been born into. They have never even realized that owning their own business and turning their ideas into impact was a possibility for them. It is truly meaningful work.

Through my life coaching practice, I started a monthly membership program called Manifesting Abundance. I work with clients on flipping their money script, removing limiting beliefs, and developing a positive relationship with money. We use Denise Duffield Thomas’s book Get Rich Lucky Bitch as our anchor. If you haven’t read it, go out right now and get your copy. It will change the way you view money and your life! My program is a monthly membership because flipping money scripts is an ongoing process and just as we rewrite and clear, more comes up to be transmuted.

The most important work that I have been doing recently on this quest is working with my 2.5-year-old daughter on cultivating a healthy relationship with money. Every time we are out for a walk and I find a coin as little as a penny, I act really excited and say “thank you”. She started mimicking my own actions. One day she got into the miscellaneous change container in my closet. As the evolving Montessorian I am, I followed the child, and decided it’s never too early to start teaching about money. We sorted out my change and made up a silly song that went something like “quarters in the quarter pile”….we would get really excited if we found dollar coins and do all kinds of silly dances. She then helped me put the loose change in money rollers and I talked to her about how we were going to cash that in in the bank to help pay for our upcoming trip to Aruba for her uncle’s wedding. I believe it’s never too soon to start cultivating a positive relationship with money.

From my experiences and research, here are some tips on flipping your own money script:

1. Figure out what your money script is–what is your current relationship with money? Where did that relationship come from? Did you grow up hearing “money doesn’t grow on trees” or “money is the root of all evil”?

2. Figure out what you want your money script to be–how do you want to feel about money? What do you want your income to be? Often times people are so uncomfortable around the topic that they don’t even let themselves be willing to change or they are afraid to even identify money goals that feel so out of reach.

3. Think of ways that you have already contradicted the limiting beliefs that you previously held. For example if you grew up hearing “money’s the root to all evil” where do you know people who do good that have money? Deconstruct all of those limiting beliefs and as you start flipping your own script, add these experiences to your list.

4. Find ways to declutter and consolidate–roll that spare change; sell unused items–using principles of feng shui, make room for more in your life while also instantly manifesting some abundance.

5. Feel into gratitude and abundance–don’t take even the littlest gestures of money for granted–when a friend pays for your lunch, when you find a penny on the ground, etc. it is all relevant, and coming from a high vibe place like gratitude breeds more of these opportunities.

6. Be a positive money mentor–don’t perpetuate your limiting beliefs on money. Start young with your children, nieces & nephews, neighbors–let’s create the next generation of people who are not held back by cliches and stories from past generations but who create independent wealth and happiness on their own terms.