I often hear my clients at Canada Career Counselling from all spectrums of wealth express limiting beliefs around money that hinder the career exploration process or prevent them from their own personal development.
It’s always good to consult with financial advisors and educate oneself on money management but, if you want your money situation to play out in a different way, it might help to examine your own relationship with wealth. This blog aims to shed awareness on the 3 most common limiting beliefs regarding money. Notice if any of these are familiar to you:
1. Lack mentality
You may have always heard arguments around money growing up or perhaps your parents were worried about debt and spending. Individuals living in a place of lack in their careers often don’t enjoy their money because they’re afraid of losing it, and others without much sometimes learn that they need to be frugal to have more.
2. Making money makes you better than or less than
This is when you think having more money makes you better, higher class, or smarter than others. Or, alternatively, you might think more money means you’re selfish or too “money oriented”. Folks who adopt this school of thought can experience debilitating self-judgment and either believe they’re inadequate without wealth or, too greedy with it.
3. There’s not enough to go around
You believe there’s a limit to your earning capacity and that it’s based on your outside circumstances. If someone has more, the other person has less. In other words, “If I get more, they can’t”. This is a common thought process and often gets reinforced when the economy is tanking, or inflation is skyrocketing.
If you have any of these beliefs, meet with a therapist to explore how these may be limiting you. Of course, poverty is a stark reality and systematic discrimination is not to be condoned. In fact, as a counsellor, I look at my client’s situation through a social justice lens and consider their circumstances all while helping empower them to process how their automatic thought patterns, beliefs, and messaging around money may also be affecting their quality of life. Give yourself permission to look at the stories you tell yourself without judgment and see if a new awareness can help uncover new beliefs.
