Making money doesn’t start with some million-dollar idea, and it doesn’t (usually) start with a silver spoon or a strike of lightning or anything else like that.

Unless you’re a trust-fund baby, creating wealth starts with creating the mindset you need to thrive. Only by shifting our thoughts around money can we inspire the action we need to take to get our hands on it. Money isn’t some mystical, cosmic deity; nor is it an unattainable measure of worth. It’s a means of exchange and one we can attract into our lives exponentially when we realize our own internal power and worth.

With money, you have to think about it differently so you can create opportunities to receive it. It’s not about changing your karmic vibrations; it’s not about transmuting your sins or right and wrong. Attracting the money we want is simply about aligning our thoughts and words with the actions we need to take to get what we want. We can do that using some introspection and a few basic techniques.

The best techniques for reshaping the way you approach money.

If you’re serious about creating material wealth that can provide comfort for you and your family, then you have to get serious about changing the way you act in terms of money. The scarcity mindsets have to go. Take one small step every day toward a life that is as financially fulfilling as it is emotionally fulfilling.

1. Learn how to quiet your mind

The first step in reshaping any thoughts we have is stilling our minds. Only when we learn how to quiet our brains can we take a step back and efficiently analyze our thoughts and the way they affect our quality of life. When we still ourselves, we can see things for what they are and then come up with pathways for creating the opportunities we need to succeed.

Incorporate a mindful meditation or journalling process that allows you to take some time alone and get in touch with your thoughts and your feelings. Take a hard and honest look at how you really feel about money and why. Likewise, analyze how those feelings might have caused you to self-sabotage or deny yourself potentially profitable opportunities in the future.
Note the roots of your negative thoughts, and note too the really rational way those issues could be addressed (with money). Ask yourself deeply probing questions and get comfortable with facing up to things the way they are. That will better enable you to move on to the next step, which requires a lot of even deeper exploration and a willingness to get up close and personal with the uglier aspects of why we feel so bad about money…and not having it.

2. Investigate negative thoughts automatically

Once you’ve become more aware of the negative thoughts and feelings you have surrounding money, you can become more aware of where those thoughts come from. This awareness makes us better equipped to take action in our lives, manifesting and attracting the kind of people and opportunities that allow us to then grab hold of that cash we really, really need.

After you’ve become aware of your hang-ups, face up to them. Journaling is a great way to do this and a great way to start taking action where there’s only been inaction. Every time a negative thought about money comes into your head, question it, and question where those emotions and negative reactions come from. Is money really the devil? Or does it just make you nervous because every time Mommy and Daddy brought it up, someone got hit?

Becoming aware is only as good as the investigation we then apply to that awareness. Deep delving into our more reactive responses to money can often reveal a whole other range of memories and experiences that have little-to-no relation to money, but still force us to self-detonate. Really dig into the meat of why finances make you feel bad and recognize the mental roadblocks so you can start kicking them over.

3. Tap into your universal faith

Every “let’s make money” article comes with a dose of spiritual nonsense, and this is as close as this one will come to that topic too. There is a certain amount of faith that’s required in striking it rich, but it’s not faith in an almighty — it’s faith in self. It’s the faith in knowing that you are worthy and that you are capable. But it’s also the faith in knowing that if you take action good things will (eventually) follow.

Tap into that universal, almost cosmic, and childlike faith in yourself; have a little faith in the universe and the fact that it wants you to thrive as a creature of its creation. Understand that your passions and the things that draw you in are attached to your true purpose in the cosmos; use it to unlock what your want, and use it to unlock the confidence that enables you to meet or exceed your dream financial goals.

You don’t have to believe in some god or some karmic law in order to make it big. You don’t have to become a celebrity or come up with a “save all of humanity” invention. You just have to know that you have a right to want the things you want, and you have to know that you are more than capable and deserving to have the ultimate wealth that you seek. No millionaire or billionaire in existence is special. They’re just someone who decided they were going to go after what they wanted — and they eventually got it.

4. Bust yourself

There’s an incredible book by author and life coach, Jen Sincero, called You are a Bad Ass at Making Money, and it details a 4-step plan for reshaping the negative way we approach cash and our thoughts surrounding it. This plan comes down to “busting” those thoughts, or actively silencing them and repurposing them in a way that makes it easier for us to succeed.

First, you have to just look at your fears and “bum-rush” them right in the face. You have to take a giant leap before you get too scared to move at all; in short, you have to take action before getting too caught up in thought. Next, you have to address the literal way you talk about money. If you’re always b*tching about “rich people” and whinging about being broke, your mind will forever be centered on the dark side and it will align with actions that keep you broke. Getting rich means taking advantage of the opportunity, and that starts by aligning our words with our deeds.

After you’ve had a chance to break out of the fear and address your speech, you can start shutting up those lack-thoughts before they damage your plans. Rather than spouting off at the mouth, just shut up that inner critic that thinks all rich people are evil and all broke people are noble. Visualize who you want to be, focus on the good things that make you feel like you’re moving in the right direction, and leave the rest alone. For the final step, sit down with yourself and have a good, long talk. Do you want to be the person forever blaming a slip of paper for your misery? Or, do you want to use that paper to get you where you want to go?

5. Start thinking of tasks in terms of cash

Time for a personal lesson. One of the best tricks my business mentor ever revealed to me was the act of thinking about our actions in terms of cash. This transformed my productivity, and it also transformed the way I viewed the actions I was taking. When we think about ourselves in terms of who want to be, we start to value ourselves differently. This shift in valuation changes the way we see ourselves, and it changes the way we approach the action we’re taking.

Ask yourself, if you were the ideal version of yourself: what would your time be worth? Really think about it. If you had all the money in the world, what would you pay for someone to do the things that you do or the things you don’t want to do? Imagine you’re a multi-millionaire. What tasks would be below you and what tasks would be worth your time? Think of them in $10 tasks and $1000 tasks. Where is your time best spent?

Thinking in these terms gives us confidence, but it also helps us to prioritize what’s important. Tasks worth $1000 are clearly more important tasks, with more nuance and potentially more demand. They’re the ones with (potentially) bigger rewards too, and bigger payoffs when we manage to pull them off — something that’s often more likely than we give ourselves credit for. When we start thinking of our actions in terms of cash, it shifts how we perceive not only money but the way in which we use it, interact with it, and even see it. It’s a powerful shift in perspective that has some transformative results when we stick with it.

6. Re-channel negative beliefs

If you’re still struggling to reshape the way you’re thinking, you can engage in active exercises that help you to re-channel those beliefs into thoughts that are more conducive for what you’re trying to achieve. Though this takes some practice, it’s quite an easy skill to master over time. It also has some major results, and can really help resolve any leftover hang-ups you might have surrounding money, cash flow, or scoring the wealth you want.

Sit down and write out a list of all the reservations or negative feelings you have surrounding money. They might include things like superficiality, fear of debt, fear of never having enough or even the belief that you’re not smart enough or “together enough” to make the kind of money that you need. State the thought plainly, and then ask yourself the inverse question. For example, if the thought is, “Money can’t buy happiness” ask yourself, “What makes me happy?”

Write down all the things that make you happy. Then, in another column, write down all the ways in which money could help you do those things. Consider, too, all the ways money would allow you to help or assist those you love. Use these revelations to then reassess the negative feelings you’re having. If money could help you do all the things that are so important to you, why are so repulsed by it? When we really get brutally honest with ourselves, we often realize that the reasons are more silly than they are countless.

***

Creating wealth starts with creating the mindset you need to thrive. Only by shifting our thoughts around money can we inspire the action we need to take to get our hands on it. Money isn’t some mystical, cosmic deity; nor is it an unattainable measure of worth. It’s a means of exchange and one we can attract into our lives exponentially when we realize the power of both our thoughts and our internal environments.

If you want to get “rich”, learn how to quiet your mind and become aware of the thoughts you harbor around money. Investigate your negative thoughts automatically, and really dig into the reasons you sabotage your change to be financially secure. All the money that we need is out there, and there is more than enough to go around.

That takes a great deal of confidence to accept, however, alongside the realization that you are both capable enough and worthy enough to thrive. When you feel the negative thoughts (or words) creeping in, shut them down and bust yourself. Think of your actions in terms of cash, and aim to spend your energy in areas with the type of financial rewards you’re honestly looking for. Only when we learn how to re-channel and reshape our negative money thoughts can we start to create the positive actions we need to gain. Kickstart that action by mastering your thoughts to manifest the life you want.

© E.B. Johnson 2023

Get coached by me. Learn more and apply.