Examining the Money Beliefs You've Been Living By

Hello Friends,

Happy Monday. Last week we introduced the idea of money scripts, the core beliefs about money that most of us formed before we were old enough to choose them. This week we are not going to spend more time naming what they are.

We are going to examine yours.

This is the part most people skip. They read about money scripts, nod in recognition, and move on without actually sitting with the question of what their specific scripts are and whether those scripts are still serving them. This week's article is an invitation to do the thing that can bring change. 

Are you ready? Let’s get into it!

Step 1: Write Your Money Autobiography

Set aside twenty minutes this week. Write down your three earliest memories involving money. They do not need to be dramatic. Here are some prompts to help you: 

• What was the atmosphere in your home when money was discussed? 

• What happened when there was not enough? 

• What happened when there was more than usual?

• What conclusions did you draw from those moments?

Dr. Brad Klontz, whose research we referenced last week, uses this exercise in financial therapy because our earliest money memories are almost always the source of our most persistent money beliefs. The memory is not always the belief itself. The belief is the conclusion the child drew from the memory. And that is what you are looking for.

Write it out. Do not edit yourself. You are not writing for anyone else.

Step 2: Ask "Whose Voice Is This?"

Once you have identified a belief, whether from the memory exercise or simply from noticing a recurring thought you have about money, ask yourself directly: whose voice does this sound like?

Is this something a parent said? Is it something your community communicated, directly or indirectly? Is it something you absorbed from watching someone you admired or someone you were afraid of becoming?

Remember, naming the origin of a belief is not the same as blaming its source. It is simply separating what was inherited from what you have consciously chosen. You cannot do the second without first doing the first.

Step 3: The Fact-or-Feeling Audit

When a money belief surfaces, run it through this question: is this factually true right now, in my current circumstances, or is this an emotional response that was true in a different context?

"I should not spend money on myself" might have been a genuinely rational response to scarcity. However, is it still rational when you are no longer in that situation, or has it become a reflex that is limiting you?

"Investing is for people who already have enough" might have been an accurate observation about your environment growing up.

Check again: Is it still true, or is it a story that keeps you from starting?

Facts can be verified. Feelings and beliefs often masquerade as facts. The audit is about learning to tell the difference.

Step 4: Write the Counter-Script

For each negative or limiting belief you identify, write a conscious alternative. This is not an affirmation or a motivational statement. Instead, it is a sentence that is true and points you in a different direction.

If the inherited script is "wanting more money is greedy," the counter-script might be "building financial security is how I protect my future and reduce dependence on circumstances outside my control." 

Klontz's research shows that the goal of examining money scripts is to build new, conscious narratives strong enough to guide behaviour when the old scripts surface automatically, which they will. The practice is in the repetition.

This Week

Pick one of these four steps and do it before next Monday. Just one. Write the money autobiography. Run one belief through the fact-or-feeling audit. Ask whose voice you are hearing. Write one counter-script.

Small and consistent is how this work actually changes anything.

Next week we look at what happens in the gap between income and wealth, and the income trap. If you are at a crossroads, you do not want to miss this. Stay connected, and together we will dismantle blocks to our financial prosperity. 

Have a wonderful week,

Fiyin

Team Konseye

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