Resources to help you finally feel better about your finances

As Srinivas Rao points out in his article What We Should Have Learnt in School But Never Did — we all have fixed ideas about what money means, how much we should earn and what we should do with it. Unless we question them, these ideas may remain unchanged for much of our lives.

Here are some of the resources that are helping me to re-think money.

On Making More and Managing it

• Money and Confidence are Interchangeable: This is an uplifting article by the wonderful Mr. Money Mustache, who blogs about his adventures in early retirement (thanks to his very careful money management).
• The 2 Main (Only) Reasons People (You) Aren’t Making More Money — this is an episode on Money podcast by Rob Moore. He’s also written a book on the subject.
• Worth It — Women (like men) have unique money stories shaped by the cultures they live in. This book, by Amanda Steinberg, is a reminder of the need to become aware of this and start changing it.

On Looking at Money More Holistically

• The Soul of Money — Lynne Twist has dedicated her life to ending poverty. In the process, she has gathered many thoughts on the power and potential of money that are valuable to anyone who is seeking to have a better relationship with it. Here’s a podcast episode that’s a good introduction to her ideas.
• Who Are Your Money Heroes? — George Kao’s article reminds us of the fact that there are many ways to become wealthy and that it makes sense to choose the one that most aligns with your own preferences and values.
• How to Up Your Gratitude Game, Abraham Hicks Style — while not overtly about money, this was a great podcast episode that now helps me to think of appreciation as a kind of refined gratitude — a way of recognizing the multiple forms of wealth you already have.
• Money Isn’t The Root of all Evil, Said The Minister — This great article by Lydia Kohn takes an in-depth look at the guilt we feel around money and how we can overcome it.

On Learning to Invest

• Money: Master The Game — The first 4 sections of this book by Tony Robbins (the only ones I’ve read so far) are a good introduction to the importance of investing.
• The Simple Path to Wealth by Jim Collins — this is an episode on the Afford Anything podcast with some great advice on how to make investing straightforward. The host (Paula Pant) herself offers useful thoughts on financial independence on other episodes in the podcast.
• The Power of Being Invested — a thought-provoking talk that sheds a different light on investing, presenting it as a tool that could bring us closer to the world we want.
• Spending now to increase your true wealth forever with Michael Ellsberg — this is an interview on the Unmistakable Creative podcast in which Michael Ellsberg discusses investingin yourself. It’s an unusual perspective on investing that’s worth exploring.

Whatever you believe about money, you have to deal with it every day. It’s often a cause of stress, so we avoid thinking about it. Ironically, educating ourselves about money can give us the time and freedom to focus on what deeply matters to us.

Maybe it’s not as hard as it seems. All we have to do is start somewhere — and take it one step at a time.

To read more of my articles please visit my articles page