May/June 2004 Living Now
Thinking About Money

by Steven Sashen

I asked a friend who has been on Oprah a few times how he prepares for the show. He said, "I find a way to talk about the simplest principle I know in a way that upsets the greatest number of people. That’s what makes good television."

I want to follow in my friend’s footsteps, because the topic of this article has us in such a trance that we often need a great upset to even consider it could work differently than we imagine. The topic? Money.

Here’s my upset-provoking proposition for you: You never have and never will have a problem with money… only with your thinking about money. I’ve said this to people who have stacks of unpaid bills and watched them nearly burst at the suggestion that their debt isn’t the actual cause of their problems, stress, or depression.

Let me give an example to show you what I mean.

Imagine that I put a hundred $100 bills in your hand. Now, I’m going to take them away, one at a time, until you stay "Stop." 99. 98. 97. 96. 95. If you haven’t snatched the remaining wad away from me by now, I’m sure you realize that you soon will.

To bring this into the real world, think about someone who was impacted by the stock market’s fall. Why didn’t they (or you) say "Stop" as quickly as you just did? The reason is a thought, a belief, a philosophy about reality. Whether the thought came from inside or from a broker, neighbor, or someone at the water cooler, believing some idea led to watching a retirement account all but disappear.

Can you think of what kind of beliefs would do that? They often sound like, "The stock market eventually goes up, so I’ll hold on," or "I haven’t really lost anything until I sell," or "I know it’ll go back up as soon as I sell," or "I hate being wrong."

Do you see the real cause of this financial problem? It was never the stock market. It was thinking about the stock market.

Some popular money teachers suggest that to keep from making financial mistakes, you sell any investment that keeps you up at night and hold onto ones with which you’re content and relaxed. I wish that worked. That theory merely points out that different people can have different thoughts about the same investment. If you’re content, you’re simply telling yourself an optimistic story. And you may optimistically watch your money vanish into thin air.

So, how do you make sane financial decisions when the economy is going crazy? Or how do you deal with having more bills than you know what to do with, or income that can’t support you, or a job that isn’t providing satisfaction? Toss the possibility into your mind that the real problem is a thinking problem, not a situation problem. Wonder what beliefs you may have that are keeping you from saying "Stop" (or, sometimes "Go!"), and are the true cause of your stress and restless nights. Rather than trying to fix the outside world first, explore the real cause of your stress and problems – your thinking. When these beliefs are seen clearly, they can easily lose their grip on you in the same way that when you wake from a nightmare and see your bedroom, your body naturally unwinds the stress and you can move freely.

With clarity, you’ll find peace-of-mind first, before your situation has time to change. I like this "upside-down" approach because, after all, which way do you think you would be more effective (and have more fun) if you wanted to create a new financial situation: peaceful or stressful? I know you’ve tried stressful. I hope you give peaceful a chance.

Some people help you "think out of the box." Steven Sashen is known for helping people think outside the planet where boxes exist. In the "Inner" world, Steven has taught with transformational visionaries Byron Katie and Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks. In the "Outer" world, Steven founded a multi-million dollar software company and is an internationally known Internet marketing consultant. Steven leads his revolutionary Quantum Wealth Class around the country – more information at www.QuantumWealth.com.