When money is an issue, it may seem like having more creates happiness. The lack of financial problems certainly would lend itself towards being happier but having more money doesn’t increase long-term happiness. What money does create is choices.

The more money you have, the more choices you can make. This can be a great thing or an overwhelming thing depending on the skill sets you have. Let’s see why:

We already know that more money can equal more problems, especially knowing that money magnifies who you already are. If your day-to-day personality is high-strung and anxious, having more money is not going to stop that from happening- It is going to magnify it. If you are even-mannered and conscientious about your spending, you’ll likely be more so with more wealth.

As you work to earn more money, it is equally important to work to be the healthiest person you can be all the way around. This way, as your choices unfold, you can make the best...

Sports are a wonderful way to build a team. Coming together for the common good is rewarding and gives you people to celebrate the wins and losses with. Some sports rely on the entire team for the win, while others - like track and field - are individualized yet, still a part of a team. Your wealth mindset is also a team effort and works best when all the players are working towards a win.

Who is on your team?

Some ideas include:

• Your Spouse
• Your family
• Your financial planner
• Your banker

 Your team is made up of obvious players, from your spouse to your banker. Having the buy-in of your family is important so you are working towards a common goal. From spending, saving, to being generous, all the players help make your wealth a win/win situation.

Having a game plan and practicing your wealth management will ensure that your team is ready when adversity comes, and they need to buckle down for the greater good.

Who else might be on your team?

Some ideas include:

• Your debtors...

Creating a wealth mindset is a tool. Your mindset is a tool that you use to make better decisions and create long-lasting wealth. Why do you want wealth? There are many reasons that people want more resources:

• Status
• Options
• High-quality
• Freedom
• And more

If I were to poll 100 people, I might get 10 categories of answers as to why they want to be wealthy. One of those answers might be to have more options or to quit working for someone else - both super good reasons. One reason is very powerful though… to create a legacy.

Wealth isn’t just about spreadsheets and net worth. Wealth is a mindset and a way of living. Wealth is all about being generous and thinking outside of immediate and personal need to the needs and benefit to generations. There is little more satisfying than knowing your actions will impact your kids, their kids, and possibly their kids. That’s a lot of kids to share your legacy.

Creating a legacy with your wealth...

Making the decision to shift to a wealth mindset is the first step of many towards building a wealth legacy. Taking action is the second step. Both steps are very important but maybe not the most important. The most important step towards a long-lasting wealth mindset is not allowing a setback to undo all you have accomplished.

Sometimes making a change is easier when everything is going right. Let’s use weight management as an example: Everything is easy as long as the numbers on the scale keep going down and you can get out an exercise regularly... then BOOM! Life throws you a curveball. You twist your ankle and end up in a cast for six weeks. Suddenly, your success isn’t as easy. Being sedentary and feeling blue, the cakes are calling and there’s no way to burn up the calories. That setback can undo your weight loss success if you don’t modify your thoughts and actions. 

You may find that you are doing all the rights things....

Your family is always watching…  

It’s true. Most of what your family takes in about life and how to live it comes from what you say and the behaviors you have regarding what you say. Tiny humans are like sponges, and they make assumptions about life based on the modeling you do every day of their lives. Why not model a smart money mindset for your family?

 Parents are faced with some big decisions as their children grow. How much they can share about real-life situations and if they do share, how honest they should be about them. It is important to match a child’s development to the level of information they receive. Likewise, it is important to not place undo responsibility or expectations onto children who aren’t supposed to carry a parent’s burden.

This can make it really hard to share certain struggles that a family may face in the financial realm. Failing to be honest about financial issues can lead to fairytales where life...

We’ve all seen wildly generous people as well as stingy misers that never share any resources. Both might be wealthy, which proves money doesn’t buy happiness. Their wealth doesn’t guarantee that they are better people just because they have wealth.

Money is a magnifier. It puts a spotlight on your personality and projects it onto the big screen of your community. If you are a jerk without money, you’ll likely be a jerk with it. If you are fabulous when you are broke, chances are you will be extra fabulous when the wealth comes your way.

People attribute a lot of their personal satisfaction on how easy life is. How wealthy they perceive themselves to be translates to the ease they expect to have in life. Foolishly thinking you’ll be nicer when things are easier is… well, foolish.

Having more money doesn’t guarantee a better life. It won’t make you happier or easier to be around. Having a good attitude...

“What you think about, you bring about.” - Bob Proctor

 It’s true that energy flows to the things you think about but thinking about things isn’t going to make them happen. Having a wealth mindset isn’t going to make money bags drop from the sky into your lap. Having a great attitude about wealth is the first step. The steps that come after lead to wealth appearing.

A wealth mindset isn’t just about attitude, it’s about behavior.

Moving from hoping things can change, to believing they can, to doing something about change is the flow that creates the wealth. How you live day-to-day creates the behaviors that take the mindset into practical experience. Let’s look at a few behaviors that shift a lifestyle from lack to wealth:

Saving- Saving is a wealth mindset behavior. Saving indicates that you know that living for tomorrow is equally important to living for today.

Giving- Giving is a wealth mindset behavior. Helping those...

Isn’t it funny how being unable to have something makes you want it more? If you are dieting, that donut seems to be the only thing between you and eternal happiness. If you are broke, nothing in your closet fits or looks good and shopping - being out of the question - is all you want to do. In many cases, not being able to be, do, or have something seems to cause pain and suffering. Even if it never has in the past.

In the same way, living within your means can cause fear and anxiety to well up inside you. Imagining that you are unable to have whatever you want, whenever you want feels like the ultimate denial. Like a punishment.

Living within your means shouldn’t feel stifling or like denial. It should feel:

• Powerful
• Mature
• Responsible
• High-functioning

These are all amazing things to be celebrated. Living within your means isn’t about lack, it’s about freedom!

It’s hard to believe that living within your means is...

Retail therapy is the term used to describe shopping as a distraction from things that make us anxious. A diversion from whatever is causing problems in life. Sounds sort of fun and sort of dangerous, doesn’t it?

It is.

Doing any activity to distract or numb negative feelings totally unrelated to the activity causes double for your trouble. The term eating your feelings comes to mind. Eating the wrong foods to stop anxiety causes weight gain… and more anxiety. Shopping to distract oneself from problems causes debt... and more problems.

Can retail therapy ever be a good thing?

Actually, yes.

If you are one of the millions of people who love the hunt for a bargain, or designing or decorating a home or your body, shopping can be an exhilarating experience. If holding a shopping bag is your thing, then there isn’t anything wrong with finding pleasure in shopping. They key is to be intentional and responsible with your habit, umm… your shopping.

Here’s...

What we think about, we bring about. What we speak, we create. It’s that simple. The things we think and the things we say determine our outcomes in life. If we speak doom and gloom, that’s what we will find. If we speak life and love…. we find it too.

In this moment, you may have a bank account in the red and feel under employed and over extended. Your reality might look bleak and hopeless, but what you say about your reality determines your future. Sure, things may seem dire, but you can do something that doesn’t cost a dime to change things. Stop having these two conversations about money:

1. Stop saying there’s not enough.
2. Stop blaming your lack on someone or something else.  

It’s possible there’s not enough at this moment. I know that you can list a bunch of reasons why your lack is connected to someone or something else but leaning into those conversations is keeping you tied to their realities.

Stop...