Having More Money

Making slight adjustments in spending and getting some financial help can start you on your way to having more money.

Making the conscious decision to increase your prosperity—to have more money—may seem like an obvious choice. After all, who would choose to be broke! But you may be choosing not to be prosperous without even knowing it. Much of what you think and feel about money is subconscious. Depending on the beliefs you learned early in life, powerful emotions about money may be woven into your behaviors and close relationships—creating complex dynamics that affect your financial habits.

The first 30 days of having more money often evoke myriad emotions, positive and negative, which can be both challenging and liberating. Because your current financial situation is the product of past thoughts, behaviors and beliefs, any financial situation can begin to change with a shift in mindset and decision to take new actions. The first 30 days can be a time of great transformation—in a new and exciting direction. By allowing emotions to surface and making deliberate, small changes, you’ll have a solid foundation on which to build your financial dreams. The rest is just a matter of sticking with the plan!

The Psychology of Having More Money

“Money has a strong emotional component,” says Arlene Englander, MSW, owner of The Wellness Source in Chicago. “Money is energy, just like everything else. We all have beliefs—most of which we may not even be aware of. Making those beliefs conscious is very important when we want to bring prosperity into our lives.”

Minneapolis-based money manager John Wing makes his living in the financial sector, but has experienced some major shifts in attitude towards his own prosperity. John consciously defined his beliefs about money in his 20s. “When I was 28, I was making a boatload of money, but I was miserable. I learned the hard way that money doesn’t buy happiness. So I’m very clear now about why I want more money,” he says.

“I quit my job, and for awhile, I went through a phase where I believed money itself was bad,” he says. “I became very spiritual and I thought being spiritual and being wealthy were at odds.” Instead of choosing a life of poverty in the name of spirituality, John, a devout follower of Christ, dove into religious texts to read what they had to say about wealth. What he found surprised him. “There are more Bible verses about money and wealth than about love,” he says. “I realize now that money is just a means of exchange. Being wealthy doesn’t mean you have to be greedy. When you have wealth, you can use money in an honorable way to help others,” he says. John suggests taking a hard look at what’s driving your desire for more money as a first step on your journey down the path of prosperity.

According to Englander, your beliefs about money drive your intentions, thoughts and actions, the results of which determine your level of prosperity and whether or not it is successfully sustained. “Because money is energy,” she says, “when you hoard something, it stops flowing. It becomes stagnant. People with a lot of money don’t necessarily feel prosperous. If they’re hoarding it, they must believe there’s not enough to go around. So if someone’s intention is to accumulate a million dollars for the sake of accumulating it, that’s going to eventually create a problem,” Englander notes. “I ask people, ‘What do you want? What are you willing to do to get it? And what do you want to gain from the experience?’”

Developing A Money Mindset

You may not realize the impact your thoughts have on your prosperity. Susan Thorne-Devin, MSW, executive director of Choices Inc. in Glen Ellyn, IL, stresses the importance of visualizing the future. “I tell people to visualize the feelings of handling their finances like a pro,” she says. “I suggest developing a plan for increasing their prosperity and then visualizing what their future will be like once that’s achieved,” she says.

Having an abundant mindset is crucial. “Abundance is not the end result,” says Englander. “It’s recognizing that the universe is abundant, and that you attract abundance as long as you are grateful for it and aware it’s there.”

Sculptor Richard E. and his wife, Danielle, used to spend a great deal of time worrying about their finances, or lack thereof. “We were constantly thinking about our debts, and wondering how we would possibly pay off such a huge amount of money. We finally ‘got it’—that we needed to change our mindset and concentrate on abundance. We read somewhere that there is enough money circulating for every single person in the world to have $1 million. That fact made us realize that there really is plenty to go around. We started focusing on prosperity, and soon everything turned around for us. We were able to re-structure our debts, and my income soared,” he says.

Life coach Michelle O’Connell, of Jack Canfield’s coaching firm, suggests that you use affirmations to develop new mindsets about having more money and make them stick, and then follow-up with action. “I tell my clients to use the affirmation: ‘Money comes to me from unexpected places and money comes to me everywhere.’ The mind starts to look for money and opportunities to fulfill the affirmation, because it believes it’s on the way,” she says.

She also recommends getting creative. “I tell my clients to hide small amounts of money in their homes or cars to reinforce the belief. Then, when they find this ‘unexpected income,’ energy is sent out that the affirmation is already true, and the universe responds with like energy. The experience of receiving the unexpected money serves as a powerful reminder that anything is possible and this belief overflows into other areas of a person’s life.”

O’Connell tells her clients that “the last five letters of attraction are action, and getting results in your life takes more than just changing your mindset. You have to follow up with action.” She says she frequently receives calls from clients who are excited to share the results this approach produced for them.

Develop an Action Plan

Taking action to have more money can be as simple as asking for help. A former stockbroker, Wing had the tools and training necessary to develop his own financial plan, but he feels that for most people, seeking out advice from a fee-based advisor is crucial. “It’s important to look for the least-biased advice possible, where all the bases are covered,” he says. “In my case, I was able to [create a plan] myself. Then, of course, the next step I took was to actually implement the plan and stick to it,” he says. “That’s the most important part.”

Experts agree it’s easier to stick to a plan if the short- and long-term goals are clear. Wayne and Jackie can attest to this. The couple faced what seemed like insurmountable odds when they married in 1989. Wayne had accumulated credit card debt of $35,000 while working as a drug store manager. They really wanted to buy a home, but couldn’t quite see how or when this would happen. Setting the purchase of a house as their goal helped propel them forward. Jackie was paying $900 a month on her $60,000 in student loans. She took a longer amortization period and lowered the payment to $300. “We saved the difference each month until we had the bare minimum down payment required to buy a home,” she says. Once they bought their house, it quickly built equity due to a strong market. “We sold it and used the profit to pay off the entire student loan and both of our car notes, and we still had enough left to put a down payment on our next home.”

Get Financial Help

Jackie says mutual support was one of the biggest factors in helping them reach their goals. When they were first married, Jackie was shocked to learn of the debts they would face together. “I really wanted to change our situation,” she says. “I knew if we continued in the direction we were going, we would never get anywhere. I felt trapped.” Wayne initially resisted Jackie’s attempts to turn their finances around. But over time, his attitude changed. Jackie feels strongly that Wayne’s surrendering to the situation was the key to their ultimate success—they were working together toward common goals. “He saw that I had good intentions. He saw I was willing to sacrifice right along with him.”

Once you realize prosperity may take time, you might feel overwhelmed and frustrated. Thorne-Devin recommends seeking out a buddy in the first 30 days to support you through this change. She also recommends joining a support group, such as Debtors Anonymous, if appropriate.

Another way to garner support is to form or join a Mastermind Group. Ten years ago, Englander was transitioning from working in a social services agency to private practice. She joined a Mastermind Group, like-minded individuals who come together with specific goals they want to achieve. Her first year in practice, she wanted to match the income she had been making at the agency, and she did. “I set my intention for the following year to double that,” she says. At each meeting, the members would gather support for their goals, report results and determine what action they would take before the next meeting, providing accountability.

She doubled her income that year and set a goal to do it again the third year. “Literally, in three years, I had quadrupled my income,” she says. In addition to providing accountability, a Mastermind Group’s collective energy can boost each member’s individual success.

Create Your Future

According to both Thorne-Devin and Englander, people report feeling myriad emotions during the first 30 days of having more money. Often, initial feelings of regret over not making the choice sooner give way to euphoria as they see the possibilities life offers. This may be followed by letdown as reality sets in—that there is no quick fix. “It’s important that people take ownership for their past, present and future financial situation,” says Thorne-Devin.

Through determination and a positive, future-oriented mindset, Wayne and Jackie increased their income considerably. Aside from their mortgage, they are debt-free with six months’ salary in the bank and plenty of money in their retirement accounts. Needless to say, they are enjoying their new lifestyle.

Jackie’s advice: “Looking back at my first 30 days into this change, I felt overwhelmed. You have to realize it’s not going to happen overnight. I kept thinking of the long-term. Sticking with it is the hardest part, but the payoff is so huge! We are very comfortable financially and when you look at where we came from, we did it in a relatively short period of time.”

“Just acknowledging that there is more to life and that you deserve to have it is an important first step,” says Thorne-Devin. “The first 30 days are crucial, especially in working through the emotions that come up and beginning to change your mindset,” she notes. “The small victories people experience in the first month, and even just persevering for 30 days, can really be the key to long-term success.”