Exploring Your Financial Limitations
Aug 09, 2024
Do you feel stressed or anxious when you think about money?
Back in 2003, I remember being at a workshop trying to figure out how to make more money. I was a marriage and family therapist intern, unpaid and struggling to buy food and cover the rent. Although I was making decent money as a hairstylist, living in San Francisco can make most people feel like they’re living below the poverty line.
There are so many beliefs we’ve picked up throughout our lives that influence and contribute to financial limitations. Just in the psychotherapy field, many interns are not only expected to work for free, but to always offer discounts once licensed, making it one of the very few fields to do so. Don’t get me wrong, I’m super generous, but covering my own food and shelter is lovely too.
In this blog, you'll learn:
- How early experiences shape our beliefs about money.
- The eight money personality types and their characteristics.
- The story of Mike and his money behaviors.
- Tips to Release Financial Limitations.
Feel like improving your relationship with money to help your life? Keep reading.
How Your First Money Experiences Shape Your Beliefs
Our first experiences with money, especially in childhood, often shape our beliefs and feelings around finances.
When you think about your first money experience, what popped into your mind?
- Was it positive?
- Was it neutral?
- Was it negative?
Everyone has a different drive, meaning and motivation about money. Some wealthy clients seek a sense of emotional safety through money, but are unaware of a “finish line” to celebrate, while other clients think money and the desire for it is evil. Naturally, there is also everyone in between.
We all want more money for different reasons.
- To cover our basic needs.
- To have freedom to quit our job.
- To feel emotionally safe.
- To finally prove our self-worth.
- To give back to the world.
As you can imagine, feeling hungry and stressed had me in the library reading a bunch of books on this topic. Every author has their own model and formula, and just like the lens of psychology, it’s fun to learn about ourselves through different ideas.
I added loads of money book choices for you below. Some are funny, some are step by step practical, and some are about personality types.
One of the first money books I read when I was a wee bit lass (okay, not that young, but still), was the book, Money Magic, by Deborah Price. This was from that 2003 workshop I mentioned. It made a big impression on me, so I will highlight some things in hopes it will give you insight as well.
Just as we have different eye colors or body types, we also have different money personality types. Curious about your money personality type? Keep reading.
8 Money Personality Types
The book, Money Magic, by Deborah Price talks about our relationship to money is based on our personality “type.” I’ll give you a few examples here, but you may want to get this vintage book for yourself.
1. Innocent
Many of us, especially when young, have used money as a way to gain love or approval. Offering generosity out of a desire to be cared for is very human. If emotions feel overwhelming, money can seem like a quick fix for pain.
Characteristics:
- Trusting
- Indecisive
- Happy-go-lucky
2. Victim
The victims are inclined to blame external things, like society or someone else, but never themselves.
Characteristics:
- Prone to blaming others like, "My boss won't give me a raise."
- Highly emotional like, "I just lost my job. I’m gonna die."
- Lives in the past like, “I should have got that inheritance.”
3. Warrior
The warrior type sets out to conquer the money world and is usually seen as successful financially by society. While this may seem ideal, becoming machine-like has downsides. We want balance, not just success.
Characteristics:
- Powerful
- Driven
- Loyal
4. Martyr
The martyr is so focused on providing for others that they dismiss their own needs like an ATM endlessly giving. “You can have money. That's okay. I don't need food. I need to lose some weight anyway.”
Yet beneath the self-sacrifice lies deep control and manipulation. Martyrs typically care and appear compassionate on the surface, but secretly feel disappointed, critical, and judgmental. They may rescue and give generously as a way to boost their own ego or maintain a facade of perfectionism.
Characteristics:
- Self-sacrificing
- Secretly controlling
- Manipulative
5. Fool
The fool is like a gambler. He is carefree and prioritizes living in the present moment, not thinking about the future.
Characteristics:
- Restless energy
- Undisciplined
- Financially irresponsible
6. Creator or Artist
The creator or artist is highly spiritual or artistic, living more internally. They have difficulty managing the material world.
Characteristics:
- Difficulty living in the material world
- Highly spiritual or artistic
- Passive
7. Tyrant
The tyrant uses money to control people, events, or circumstances. You've probably seen people with a lot of money controlling politics.
Characteristics:
- Controlling and rigid
- Manipulative
- Fearful
8. Magician
The magician knows how to manifest and transform money into their own financial reality. (Mind you, some of these are in all the other ones, too!)
Characteristics:
- Spiritual and wise
- Conscious and vibrant
- Trusting and loving
Mike’s Money Mayhem
I want to tell you a story about a guy named “Mike.” He wasn't a client, just someone I crossed paths with a while back. Mike was describing to me at some event how he loved the thrill of fast money.
He saw how his family, whom he called "trailer park trash," suffered growing up. They worked hard but barely scraped by, and he felt ashamed of them. So, Mike learned early on that selling drugs brought in quick cash. Then he realized peddling guns was even more lucrative. He described feeling hooked on the high of “easy money.”
Of course, that lifestyle landed Mike in prison more than once. He'd get out and swear he was done, but the allure of fast cash always pulled him back in.
Mike's story illustrates how our money styles can stem from our very physiology. The lure of dangerous risks and get-rich-quick schemes can be like a dopamine deficiency or underdeveloped impulse control.
Our upbringing shapes us too. Mike was embarrassed by his poor family and probably vowed never to end up like them. The company we keep normalizes behaviors, good or bad. We adopt money beliefs so young, often without conscious thought.
Tips and Tricks to Release Financial Limitations:
- Reflect on your first money experience and its impact on your beliefs.
- Identify your money personality type and its associated characteristics.
- Consider the influence of societal norms and personal experiences on your attitudes toward money.
- Practice gratitude and generosity to cultivate a healthy relationship with wealth.
Key Takeaway
A fun exercise is to notice your money beliefs in the moment. Are you in fear thinking of money as a limited supply of water from a water bottle, or a water faucet you can turn on and off as needed.
As we learn, navigate, and refine our individual money personalities, which are often shaped by early experiences and societal norms, it's crucial to remember we have the capacity to grow while treating ourselves with respect and dignity.
Whether you resonate more with the innocent, victim, warrior, martyr, fool, creator/artist, tyrant, or magician archetype, remember that each of us holds the power to reshape our relationship with money.
Would you like to be taken through the process of Releasing Financial Limitations?
The information above is from a class inside the Mastery section of the Invoke and Release® Healing Circle.
There, you will find a step-by-step healing path to help you build a strong and resilient foundation to heal from your past and move through life with ease.
You can find Releasing Financial Limitations healing class in the Invoke and Release® Healing Circle
You will learn about the healing method Invoke and Release® which is a powerful tool helping you release emotional trauma so you can feel free to live the life you want.
The Invoke and Release® Healing Modality helps you:
- Release money blocks so you can receive financial freedom
- Transform scarcity into abundance and prosperity
- Forgive money trauma from your past
- Develop healthy money habits and behaviors
- Raise your ability to generate and retain wealth
Joining the Invoke and Release® Healing Circle provides these benefits:
- Removing shame or anxiety to embrace your net worth
- Enabling you to confidently earn, save, and invest
- Amplifying your capacity to attract and manage money
- Feeling comfortable receiving money and prosperity
If you feel called to Releasing Financial Limitations, I encourage exploring the Invoke and Release® Healing Circle. There is even an “Abundance Healing Lab” inside the circle. With an open mind and heart, you can access profound inner resources to anchor and illuminate your journey.
Important Links:
Reveal and Heal Obstacles to Your Success™
Invoke and Release® Healing Circle
Recommended Books:
Money Magic by Deborah Price
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
Building Your Money Machine: How to Get Your Money to Work Harder for You than You Did for It! By: Mel H. Abraham
I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program That Works (Second Edition) By: Ramit Sethi
The Illusion of Money: Why Chasing Money Is Stopping You from Receiving It By: Kyle Cease
Get Rich, Lucky Bitch!: Release Your Money Blocks and Live a First-Class Life By: Denise Duffield-Thomas
Helpful blogs:
Why is Healing Trauma Important
The Ultimate Guide to Identifying and Transforming Your Limiting Beliefs
Why Forgiving Yourself Helps You Make Peace with Your Past
How to Reclaim Your Power and Step into Your Adult Self
