Good morning y'all!
Hope you're enjoying the cooler fall weather. It's been really nice in Atlanta.
And speaking of Atlanta, how about the Braves winning the world series?!?!
Today, I'd like you to think about "perspective."
Whether you're 40 or 70 years old, the way you personally see and interact with the world around you is influenced by your unique collection of experiences throughout your life.
Starting at an early age.
It's this combination of our early childhood family environment + our experiences over time that hard-wire how we think about and deal with money.
These are most often referred to as money scripts.
And I've had the opportunity to see some of these money scripts bubble to the surface through some interesting conversations I've had with clients and other folks recently.
Here's an exercise for you...
Ask yourself this question:
What lessons about money did you learn when you were growing up?
Your answers could reveal your values regarding money & insights about your current level of financial satisfaction.
It can also indicate the level of financial instruction (or lack thereof) you received in your formative years.
Finally, it can give clues as to whether your relationship to money is conflicted or harmonious.
And here's the thing... these money scripts are often invisible to us.
They're a unique lens through which we each see money matters, but they're unconscious.
I was reminded of this concept when I saw this picture recently:
Just like the rhino in the picture above, our attitudes and perspectives about money are often right in front of our face.
They're a part of us.
But do we recognize and acknowledge them?
Or do we simply let them impact our money decisions on auto-pilot?
Regardless of your early money memories or your situation today, I encourage some introspection on this idea of moneys scripts.
Not in an effort to "fix" anything, but in order to better understand and appreciate why we see money the way we do in our lives.
To better understand our personal perspective when it comes to money matters.
What do you think?
Hit reply and let me know...
Links & Things
I had a great time joining Vince Carter for a recent episode of his CFO at Home podcast where we talked about "Millionaire Traits." Give it a listen here.
Mark Ciucci - a friend and recently retired financial services executive - discussed the many facets of financial advice in the latest episode of Women's Retirement Radio.
And check out my latest blog post on how an HSA can help women save on medical costs in retirement.
Thank you, as always, for reading.
And if you have any questions or an idea for a future newsletter, podcast, or blog post topic, I'd love your input.
Just hit reply - I read (and appreciate) every email you send.
Until next Wednesday,
Russ