My family was a recipient of welfare so as a little girl it was hard seeing over the wall of poverty. Those funds helped us get school uniforms and supplies as well as food in our stomachs. My mother worked as a housekeeper at the time and my dad was an entrepreneur but because of issues in their relationship as well as financial abuse, he didn’t commit to his responsibilities as a protector or provider.
So on a meager pay of $120 a week, I watched my mother sacrifice where sometimes she would walk to and from work so she saved on bus fare to make that money stretched for her four children. They were times she didn’t eat so that we could be fed and that is why in my position today I make sure she experiences no lack.
I remember as a little girl, I made a vow that I will never place myself in a situation like my mother. I would work for my own money and be independent. Looking back this was a very thwarted perspective but at the time it was a means of escape. Money was like a friend you hardly saw but when it showed up you will greet it with the longing hope that it would stay just a little longer.
Over the years my relationship with money changed as I furthered my studies and worked in corporate. At different levels of my money journey, I had to release things in order to make room for more. Knowing your money personality is so important because if you don’t identify the event that shifted how you view and handle money today, you will continue to treat it poorly from a place of offense.
It is only when you grieve the experience and heal, that money can show up the way it was designed to and work for you. If you believe you are not good with money, your life will reflect it through self-sabotaging behaviour. When I look back at my life, my childhood experience was a seed because, in every aspect of my journey, I dealt with money in some capacity.
As a former banker of ten years and now a personal finance coach and consultant to corporate professionals and entrepreneurs, when you face your numbers, it tells a story and gives clarity to what your next steps should be. When I healed my money relationship, I was positioned to repay a 4-year loan in 12 months! I started my business, A Purpose Life which now helps others see, think, and act differently toward money.
To conclude, when you change your relationship with money, it changes every other relationship in your life.
Written by Marcia Armstrong
Barbados
I love this “ when you change your relationship with money, it changes every other relationship in your life.”