3 Steps to Overcoming Financial Hopelessness and Creating a Mindset of Money Success

We have all experienced the sense of despair at one time or another in our lives. With the recent COVID-19 virus, many of us are in lockdown mode and not seeing each other face-to-face.

We can feel very isolated, distressed and overall gloomy.

We may even feel a sense of hopelessness, especially if we are starting a new business, facing furloughs, changing careers, battling on the medical front lines, or simply trying to make it through the day.

When we are mired in feelings of hopelessness and muck, it is so hard to get out of. Often, we feel like we are wading through 4’ of mud. And, if you are challenged with financial troubles on top of everything else, those feelings can become overwhelming.

Even if you are inundated with financial troubles, there is light at the other side of that mud tunnel!

Our brains are the most powerful muscle we have. Changing our mindset about things, even if we feel like we are forcing it, can change other aspects of our lives. It can also relieve some of the stress and heaviness we might feel when we are overwhelmed.

Many studies show a positive or happier mindset DOES affect how you fare in the workplace and financially as well. According to Psychology Today, people who experience frequent positive emotions are:

• More satisfied with their jobs

• Receive more favorable evaluations

• Earn slightly higher incomes

• Are less likely to lose their jobs, and more likely to find a job should they become unemployed

Change your mindset and your life will begin to change.

Our minds are so powerful, we don’t realize the impact that they have in our day to day lives. Changing your mindset can mean the difference of your business succeeding, you landing that new job or finding the motivation to keep you moving forward during this pandemic.

This pertains to our finances in every way.

If you think you will never get out of debt, you probably won’t. If you think you will get out of debt and find a better job, you probably will. As Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can or your think you can’t, you’re right.”

Three Easy Ways to Begin Changing Your Mindset

1. Be Mindful with Your THOUGHTS

One place to start is with mindfulness. Kick the negative thoughts, phrases and statements you say to yourself, out to the curb. If you are a new business owner, but you keep telling yourself, “I’m so stupid,” “I’ll never make this work,” or “What was I thinking? I can’t do this,” you will make success too difficult to reach and destroy belief you had in yourself initially.

One easy way to change that negative self-talk or thinking is to use the Penny Flip switch. Imagine a penny and the Heads side is a positive thought and the Tales side is a negative thought. Every time that coin lands on Tales, or you tell yourself something negative, flip that penny! Immediately change that negative thought into a POSITIVE one.

As you do this exercise, you will become progressively more mindful of your thoughts. With each practice, you will strengthen your thoughts by reinforcing a positive mindset. You will also start to see how frequently these negative thoughts come up for you and you may be surprised at just how many are occurring during a regular day.

In a noticeably short time, you will begin seeing the power of your thoughts, the power that your mindset has and the impact of your thoughts on your success.

2. Make TINY Changes

Another way that we can get from hopelessness to success is to make one tiny change TODAY. Then, do it again tomorrow. When you have that down, add one more tiny change in addition to the first one and keep building up and up.

You will see that these tiny changes will have a big impact over time and you will begin to see real transformation take place before your eyes.

A good example of making a tiny change is to recognize how you spend money.

How much do you spend in a day? How often are your swiping your debit card? How many “Add to Cart” clicks have you made this month? This week? Or today while online shopping? Do you know where your money is going each month? Have you created a budget? Do you feel like you’re broke, but you buy things to make yourself feel better? Are you coming from a place of scarcity or abundance?

If you are overspending and didn’t realize it, what is one TINY change you can make starting today? Try challenging yourself to 24 hours without spending any money.

Building up a new habit in a small way, consistently over time, is the best way to make that habit stick!

3. Your Subconscious Mind is Listening

Once you are mindful and making tiny changes, you need to be watchful of your spoken words. What you speak, your subconscious mind believes. If you are making the first two internal changes but telling anyone who will listen what a “loser” you are and you will “never find a job,” again you will be right!

As Brian Tracy, the extraordinarily successful motivational speaker and business author, writes “Your conscious mind commands and your subconscious mind obeys. Your subconscious mind is an unquestioning servant that works day and night to make your behavior fit a pattern consistent with your emotionalized thoughts, hopes, and desires. Your subconscious mind grows either flowers or weeds in the garden of your life, whichever you plant by the mental equivalents you create.”

Your subconscious mind BELIEVES the words you say to yourself and others, regardless if they are true or not. If you are struggling finding work for example, refrain from saying “no one’s hiring, I’ll never get a job during this crisis.” Try saying something like, “yes, it’s been difficult finding work right now, but I am going to keep trying.” This sets your mind into a different place, one where you CAN win and are not already defeated out the gate. Also, your subconscious is constantly taking notes. Don’t provide it with weeds over flowers, or defeat over success. Give it something to propel you forward instead of dragging you backwards.

The next time you are feeling hopeless, try changing your thoughts, making one tiny change towards your goal and paying attention to what you are saying to yourself, your subconscious mind and others.

As you practice these steps more and more, your mindset will begin to shift. You will find you’re in a much more positive place and you may begin experiencing more success than you have had when your mindset was occupied with negativity or defeat.

YOU are the only person who has the power to turn your life into success! You can do this. One thought at a time!