Financial Pressure? What to do Right Now

One of the lessons that I'm learning is that time and space create a lot more results than pressure.

Have you ever been in a pinch and tried to come up with new ideas about a project? It doesn't matter if it's for work or at home. If you're really worried about it, what happens? 

Often the ideas struggle out of my brain. I'm worried and have a hard time focussing. I feel urgency and want results now.  I find that if I'm under enough pressure, I look back after making the decision and realize there are about 14 things I hadn't thought of that didn't make it into a project idea or into that proposal or off to that client.

On the other hand when I take time and open up space and spend some time relaxing,  ideas just come to me - out of the blue. Brilliant ideas for projects, services and products - so many that I can't follow up on all of them.

Financial pressure is a lot like that.  There are plenty of places that talk about money as a river or stream or flowing water and that use the metaphor of a faucet. My experience is that worry is akin to turning the faucet down or even off.

But why?  I've heard it talked about in terms of energy and there is something there. But in terms of psychology, what we see is that people get and do what they focus on - they find proof for their stories.  That's why advertising works. You see an ad for toothpaste over and over and pretty soon you're standing in your bathroom wondering how this this toothpaste you've never tried before got into your house.

Things that we imagine often come to pass - positive, negative or otherwise: because our brains are looking for them. Our brains are trained to find patterns and so the patterns you put into them is what you eventually find. It's why we seem to have similar relationships over and over - and that's part of why affirmations work. We tell our brains to look for certain ideas and hooks and it does. So I talked about affirmations and and how to write them, now is great time to review them if you haven't in a while.

In an ideal world you would have a Financial Map of  Intentions - a review of what you've been spending and clear projections about what you intend to spend moving forward, month by month. That way you can review your monthly spending and make clear decisions in advance of financial crunches. 

But that's not always possible and things change - so no sense in making yourself feel worse than you already do. In fact now is a great time to be grateful for your financial prowess - you see what's going on, you've come to look for support and now you're going to change it! Way to go!

So what to do about financial pressure right now?

If you're feeling pressured about money, the first thing to do is to take a deep breath. (And notice when the last time was that you did that.) Just take a moment to relax and come back into your body. Sometimes it takes a few breaths or more to come back - a walk outside in the fresh air, a hug, looking at something beautiful, a nice long, hot bath. But take that time - it's well worth it and really supports making sound decisions.

Second do a real assessment: are you in danger? What are the real dangers in this situation?  Often we worry about financial pressures that might happen - in days, weeks and months from now. If those things aren't here, take another breath and notice that more than likely you really are safe right now.

Then create a plan. Not just for the crisis or thing that has come up that you're worried about, but look at the bigger picture. Decide what really wants to be done here - is this an obligation that you want to continue with? Is this mortgage something you can handle? What is coming up over the next few weeks that can effect this piece of your financial reality? And how can you effect positive change from right here. 

Remember in creating change you want it to be in alignment with your values. So if you value ease, think about what you can do to bring more ease into this situation.  How do you want to feel about this obligation and what can you do to bring more of that emotion into this situation?

Keep breathing and move gently focusing on staying home in your body and making positive changes that support the overall effort of your life. It might take time, but putting into place a plan for you financial success is well worth the effort.

From monetization to interconnectedness: a theory

Today I was reading Charles Eisenstein's blog entry about monetization and came across this quote:

In the face of the impending crisis, people often ask what they can do to protect themselves. "Buy gold? Stockpile canned goods? Build a fortified compound in a remote area? What should I do?" I would like to suggest a different kind of question: "What is the most beautiful thing I can do?"

I'm really impressed both by his understanding of the process and his ability to frame a shift away from the banking system in such positive terms. Additionally he talks about the shift to human-beingness, the idea that now is the time to bring our gifts to the world.

It's a beautiful read, go take a look. And do let me know what you think!

What do you intend?

I've been watching people - friends and clients alike - freak out about the recent financial uproar. It all seems so scary. There's not a lot of information and a lot of speculation and fear.

I found this video amusing and helpful. It's reassuring to think about legislators being willing to speak their truth.

What I've been doing is thinking about how money and our interactions with it transform out lives. I've been holding this quote from Lynne Twist's "The Soul of Money" close to me:

"Money travels everywhere, crosses all boundaries, languages, and cultures. Money, like water, ripples at some level through every life and place. It can carry our love or our fear. It can flood some of us such that we drown in a toxic sense of power over others. It can nourish and water the principles of freedom, community, and sharing. Money can affirm life or it can be used to demean, diminish, or destroy it. It is neither evil nor good; it is an instrument. We invented it, and it belongs squarely in the human experience, but it can be used by and merged with the longings and passions of our soul."

Remembering that we have assets that have nothing to do with our finances is a great benefit right now. Money is part of the human experience, but only one part.

Crisis: Danger or Opportunity?

About Black Monday in 1987...
"I was reminded of the written Chinese character that, depending on the context, defines 'crisis' as 'danger' or 'opportunity.' We realized that, although the stock market would do what it would do, when we let go of the conversation of fear and anxiety, and created a different conversation focused on the bounty of our lives - then out fear subsided. When we approached the circumstances without the noise of fear and high anxiety, the 'crisis' lost its drip on us; the experience of 'danger' did, indeed, transform into opportunity." - Lynne Twist, The Soul of Money

I've been thinking about what to write to support people in dealing with what's being touted as a huge economic crisis. I have a deep need both to contribute positively to the lives of people - both in my practice and community - as well as a desire to change the framing of the conversation.

In re-reading "The Soul of Money" by Lynne Twist, I realized that I have the perfect opportunity right here in this critical moment. The banking system has manufactured a crisis. It is effecting people and it is frustrating and scary and sometimes totally overwhelming. There is danger here. Acknowledging that is crucial to being able to do something else.

And what a blessing. I see two big opportunities here:the first is to count our own, non-material assets and blessings and the second is to get to look at the banking and credit systems cracked open. There's more information available right now about banks and credit than there's ever been. The opportunity to really review what the banking system does and how it functions is a gift. We rarely even consider who we bank with unless something is going on - substantial fees or opening an account or applying for a mortgage. Most people seem to stay with their bank for a long time, sometimes lifetime relationships. So getting a a real chance to see how they work and what decisions they make and how those effect us gives us insight into our own choices.

And there's a real opportunity to take a step back and look at who we, as human beings are. Who do you love? What do you teach? How are you enough just as you are? Who loves you? Who's lives do you touch every day? And most importantly for me, how do we come together in times of crisis to turn that danger into opportunity?

One of the things that I love about my work is that I get an opportunity to reach deeply into people's lives and really help them explore something that they often haven't talked openly about with anyone else - money. I am really blessed with clients and friends who have a deep willingness to look at the choices they make and then do what they really want to do in their lives. Getting to watch that process and be included in that is an amazing gift. I'm very grateful to have this work in my life.

I do have 3 spaces in my practice right now. If you know someone that you'd like me to work with or who might be open to this level of support - in business or personally - please let me know.



P.S. I am aware that the "crisis=danger + opportunity" is sometimes framed as a myth. That idea is based on the character ji being translated as "incipient moment" or "crucial point." I think that opportunity comes at a crucial moment and the interpretation of opportunity as solely positive and without any hint that there might be danger does not reflect the connotations of current usage. Plus, dude, I'm quoting someone who has a good idea, it's all about interpretation.

Is Money Really the Issue?

In watching my son play a video game I was reminded that we've really set money up as a construct of scarcity. In the game called "Robots" you gather sprockets and sprogs to buy things: upgrades, parts, weapons, information.  In fact the whole game is based on gathering critical currency to give or trade.  This game is all about money.

It's very clear that it's about gathering together scarce things to get even more scarce things.  it seems that we're programming ourselves and our children to identify and focus on scarcity rather than on sufficiency.  

When I looked around I realized that nearly every video game I could think of was about this idea (or the idea of hacking things into little bits to get the coinage to do the thing).  And that money is viewed as a bottleneck rather than a support to the gamer.

It was surprising to me to see and put the pieces together here. I wonder what message this is sending to those of us who like to play in the digital world.  What do you think?

Free Credit Reports

One of the things that I like to do regularly is get my credit reports to see what's going on. You're entitled to one free credit report a year from each of the three major agencies - TransUnoin, Experian and Equifax - and these days you can get them online. You can get them more often than once a year for various reasons including if within 60days of appling for credit (whether you're approved or not).

Each of the credit bureaus does things a little bit differently, so it behooves you to look at all of them. I found a mistake on one of mine that was not reflected on the other two which was interesting to me (and I plan to dispute it).

But why just one? I recently started reading "Dirty Little Secrets:" What the Credit Bureaus Won't Tell You" (Entrepreneur Press) which has a lot of great information including that different companies report to different agencies but not necessarily to all of them, so the information is likely to be at least a little bit inconsistent (which I already knew).

But, did you know that even though you're entitled to a copy of your credit report, you're they can charge you to see your score? There are options to get 3-in1 reports for varying pricesor you can get them one at a time by agency.

By the way, I got my free credit reports at Annual Credit Report. I couldn't figure out how to find the free reports on the TransUnion site (it actually goes to a third party site that is full of ads and all kinds of products, but nowhere could I find the link to get my credit report for free). But Experian had the link on their front page. However, they all wanted money to take a look at the scores, so I opted for doing a search to find the above tool this which I've used before.

Over all it was a pleasant experience - I've been in process with my own money and credit stuff and am finding that the work really pays off. I'd love to hear what you find out and what, if anything, you do about it.