Mental Money Journal

Financial Transformation is an award-winning program I created awhile back. It was a unique financial literacy education and self-improvement program. It was developed for a wide audience, both for financial services professionals and their clients. So, the public and the professionals were both considered. As I have long believed financial independence is attained by the combined efforts of professionals and clients. Both must win together, or it becomes a zero-sum game where for one side to win the other has to lose.

That is the core of Financial Transformation, a win/win mindset unlike any other presentation. A foundation in the program was the Mental Money Journal which was an outline to help people create a journal and systematically move towards their own financial independence. The following is the that outline/ Kindly take a look and consider viewing the entire series:

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The unique value of the Financial Transformation course is to help impact your awareness about money and how to make smart decisions with money.

A starting premise is the basic unawareness that plagues the nation. People of all ages, education backgrounds, and financial makeup suffer from a lack of awareness about money. Of course, no one would acknowledge this or even consider it, because they simply don’t know what they don’t know. This is reinforced with the common overconfidence and confirmation bias.

Overconfidence in financial matters shows itself as a common basic bias that has people consistently believe they know more about a subject than they truly do. This is reinforced through confirmation bias which finds people consistently finding and relying on information, sources and content that confirms their personal beliefs.

The breakthrough relies upon first becoming aware of what you are unaware of and then learning the new information to use in daily activities. This requires a change of behavior. All poor decisions with money have been locked into a decision-making process which is reinforced and habitual. Without the change in mindset and the reinforcement of new thoughts, ideas, behaviors and values the decision-making process will continue to yield similar results.

Journaling is a powerful activity to reinforce new behaviors. Writing allows you to maximize a mental process. Thinking is a process people sadly avoid. As Earl Nightingale said: “You’re guided by your mind. Every one of us is the sum total of our own thoughts. We are where we are because that’s exactly where we really want to be ----- whether we’ll admit that or not.”

And so, it is that this course has opened your mind up to new and different thoughts. I have provided you with different perspectives and hopefully some “AHA” moments. Now its up to you to do the work. Your efforts will determine your results.

HOW to Get STARTED

First step in journaling is taking notes as you watch the course. Take down any fresh perspectives and new thoughts for later reflection.

In each module there is some mention of journal topics. After each module spend some time with your journal and write down questions. It’s important you think through some key questions for reflection. Socrates used questions as the basis for drawing out education for individuals. It’s now commonly referred to as the Socratic methodology. Questions are an important part of your journey.

Ask questions that are uncommon. Questions that challenge your perspectives about the content you have learned in each module. Your questions are far more meaningful than any questions I could prepare for you. It’s not about memorization, it’s about perspective and mindset. You have to embrace change and how that will impact you and your decision-making process.

Past decisions are learning tools. Therefore, in your journal you need to write about past experiences. This is not a judgment exercise, it’s a reflective exercise. You are seeking to identify how you made decisions and what are the consistent actions in that process. We all have a process which is unconscious in nature. This makes it a habitual event. You naturally default to a pattern of activities in every decision you make about money. The journaling process is the most effective way to identify your sub-conscious processes and make conscious changes. This is a process and takes time. Habits are hard to break but the right process can easily break up any habit.

The first rule of psychology is “We tend to get more of what we reinforce” Questions help you develop awareness and that will directly reinforce better thought processes.

Writing is one of the most powerful mental cleansing exercises we can have. Most people refuse to write. They also refuse to think. Thinking and writing allow you to tap into the full potential of your abilities. Once you begin journaling and put the effort in you will find it to be an important part of your daily life. This is specifically a money journal which is all about your money related mindset, philosophy, beliefs and values. As you gain more clarity in your thinking and development of processes you will find the journal to blend into your entire life.

My greatest hope for each of you is that our course content will connect, inform, resonate, and motivate. The work that you are asked to complete is for your personal growth and development and it is not a chore or homework. It’s life changing, mindset altering. The mission is for you to attain financial independence. That requires personal commitment, persistence and a desire to achieve excellence.

Your pathway:

1.?????? Watch course (repetition is important so watching the modules numerous times will be most beneficial)

2.?????? Start a notes section in journal for each module

3.?????? Take 20 minutes a day to think about your awareness and develop questions to expand your thought process.

4.?????? Look for identifying factors in past decisions by writing about past experiences.

5.?????? Pick an action to practice each week.

6.?????? Reflect, and think. It becomes a strong habit which will be your ticket to financial independence.

“We are what we repeatedly do, excellence therefore is not and act it is a habit”

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