Money Tools

The Young Adult's Guide to Financial Management: Journey to Financial Freedom

Brian C. Powers

• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781643348476
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Self Improvement

Money Tools: A Young Adult's Guide to Financial Management, Journey to Financial Freedom is for those that want an understanding of how to management money, dispel the myths of money, create good habits, realize their dreams and goals, and create wealth.

Chapter 3

Values and Beliefs

All money is a matter of belief. (Adam Smith)

Beliefs are derived from a long list of factors and influences. In this chapter, we will discuss beliefs and how they can affect our way of thinking. It is so profound in the makeup of our success that it can actually cause us to fail. Beliefs come from many sources, family members being the most influential because of our instant and immediate connection to them; then there’s the community, which includes churches, schools, workplaces, and friends.

The doubt and fear you feel is a straightjacket put on by somebody else.

From them and the beliefs they may have instilled into you, doubt and/or fear of what you are capable of makes you believe in something bad or unproductive.

Not all beliefs are bad. Like anything, there are good and bad beliefs. I would rather think of it as productive and non-productive beliefs, and productive or not, you must educate yourself so that you can examine the belief for what it is to you and why.

This is the first step to change; remembering this simple quote will help you change or at least take the first step.

Everyone thinks to change the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves. (Leo Tolstoy)

There is a Greek word that I would like to share: μετανοέω, metanoeó (met-an-o-eh’-o)—meaning, “change of mind or change my mind.” Before change can occur, you must be open to change, and the best way to open yourself for change is through knowledge and understanding. I am here to assist you in getting the knowledge to help you become more financially educated so that you can understand the system and benefit from that understanding.

If you can’t change the people around you, then change the people around you.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. (Nelson Mandela)

I consider values to be more than beliefs because values span a greater range of people.

Values are what beliefs have been formed on; they are the foundation of beliefs. For example, the value of integrity—which means doing what is right, regardless of who is watching—can have a belief in some that you should be trustworthy and not tell lies.

One of the greatest organizations in America instills values in Soldiers from the first time they are sworn into the Army. The Army Values consists of Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage.

Soldiers in the army have a belief system built around these values that are set up as the standards of the army. Beliefs and values are very important because it sets your boundaries to be moral and just in your interaction with family, friends, and society as a whole. Here is a statement I truly take to heart: “When you believe, your mind finds ways to do” (David J. Schwartz, PhD).

Dr. Schwartz further states that “When you believe something is impossible, your mind goes to work for you to prove why, but when you believe, really believe something can be done, your mind helps you find the ways to do it.”

My point from all this is, change starts with believing and believing can bring change. All of life is change; throughout the rest of life, you will experience change physically, mentally, and emotionally. But the important thing to learn here is how to deal with it. Some changes occur, and there is nothing you can do about it, like growing older, getting taller—physical change is a part of life.

Career change or those changes that are harder to cope with, like moving to a new place and leaving all of your friends, could feel like the world is going to end. And in some cases, your world as you know is ending, and a new world will become your norm. There is a book I would like to recommend you read that talks about change titled Who Moved My Cheese?

The book talks about workforce and career change. I want you to read it because it will also prepare you to realize the changes in your life and adapt to those changes without it causing you to lose focus on your goals. So you can have a “So What, Now What” attitude—a shark-like attitude—which means if I stay still, I will die (if a shark stops swimming, it will die; it is always moving forward).

I want you to make an honest effort to understand how you feel, what you honestly believe about money, your goals, your dreams, and then start believing how you can make those dreams come true, reach your goals, understand money and how to create it.

And that is how change happens, one gesture, one person, one moment at a time. (Libba Bray)

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much. (Luke 16:10)

This verse speaks volumes to me because it is simply stating that if you create habits with the little amount of money you have, then those habits will be used with the abundant amount you create. This allows you to understand money and learn to save, invest, and share the little you have, and then you will be demonstrating your faith.

It will also bring satisfaction, and this quote from Dave Ramsey said it best: “The happiest people in the world are those who do the most for others.”

As with anything, there are good and bad habits or positive and negative habits. I will help you identify both so you can develop good habits and recognize the bad habits, resulting in metanoeó (change of mind).

When your mind-set changes, so does your money

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for and we are the change that we seek. (President Barack Obama)

You can only change by being self-aware of your habits and taking action to change them.

Errol Flynn simply stated, “My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income.”

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. Doing the same thing is a habit. To take conscious actions to change those unproductive habits will result in a change.

God isn’t trying to change your mountain; He is using your mountain to change you.

Dave Ramsey often says, “To live like no one else; you have to live like no one else.”

To accomplish this, you have to be aware of your spending, saving, and investing patterns. Once you are aware and conscious of these patterns, changing them will be easier to hold yourself accountable.

“Know thyself and to thine own self, be true.” Shakespeare

As the quote states, you must know yourself, your strengths, your weaknesses—identifying these will allow you to start down the road of self-awareness.

A common problem is having too many goals in the oven. To mitigate the overwhelming feeling that oftentimes results in stress, frustration, and failure, you can prioritize or categorize your goals. Try to put them in succession—meaning, find goals that are similar or can be grouped together. This will allow you to focus on one and build on another.

After you have completed this little exercise, share it with your parents, siblings, friends, or maybe a stranger—if you feel that your family and friends may be judgmental or unsupportive. And that is okay, oftentimes; that is the drive we need. Many people have become successful because someone told them they would fail or won’t able to do it. Be prepared to hear the negative, just continue to believe and never quit. And remember this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

The main thing I want you to understand when you feel criticized is that it is not you the performer, but your performance, and if you can look at it that way, you take yourself out of the equation and can better see the intent of the message and not feel attacked.

When you fail, look at it as a means of learning, because the worse thing is not failure, the worse thing is not learning. Once you do not succeed, learn from it and make the necessary changes so that you will succeed.

“I have never failed; I only found 10,000 ways that didn’t work” Thomas Edison.

As Thomas Edison stated, failure is a state of mind, and when you change that state, success is inevitable. Don’t dwell on something that didn’t work; learn from it, and move on! As discussed previously in this chapter, changing your beliefs is an important step, not on...

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Money Management
• Values and Beliefs
• Credit and What They Look At
• Continued Education
• Money Tool Programs Defined
• Money Tools Overview/Results