Change Nation: Brent Kessel (07/04/08)

Learn how to make your dollars and your spirit grow with financial planner Brent Kessel.

Advice on Change

You have the financial life that your unconscious mind thinks you deserve. It’s not about the economy or boss, or spending habits, it’s entirely about you. If you really want to change the external symptoms, you have to look inside to figure out the cause and that involves going back into the past and figuring out how your financial habits have been working. What have the pay offs been?

You have to look at why you have a low sense of self worth around money. More often than not it’s because you have been bought into a cultural image (i.e. I’m 40 years old and should’ve made a million by now, or I should have this much in a 401k). Whatever your belief is, you have to dissect that. That’s the first step. Then find out if it is true that you would’ve been happier had you done that.

Live within your means, starting today. Someone who is upset, living beyond their means, in credit card debt or relying on their parents creates an uncomfortable financial flow. If you really want to be free of that, you need to become self-sufficient.

Even if you’ve lost money in the stock market, you can still invest. If you have a well thought out investment portfolio, you put your feelings aside and stick to whatever plan you and your financial adviser had. Sell what has held its value…only way you can force yourself to buy low and sell high.

You do have to give away money to get money. My son was diagnosed with diabetes, and I was compelled to give to the philanthropy.The real reason giving helps us have more money is because in the process of handing money out are telling our unconscious minds that we have enough. The very act rewires our money thinking, from “I never have enough” to “I have enough.”

You are NOT your money. The phrase net worth is ridiculous. It’s like saying your value as a human being is based on how much money you have. If you think having money will make you happy, in and of itself, or take away suffering, it doesn’t make you shallow, but makes you misguided. If you know someone like that, you should encourage that kind of man to meet with other men who had that goal and achieved it and find out if they got what they were looking for and if they found happiness. If you want to be rich because you have very specific goals that will benefit wider circle of people, than it’s a very noble aspiration and even in seeking it you could be very happy before you even get there.