CFD 292 - Joan Sotkin Says Money is NOT the Problem; It’s Our Relationship with Money that Messes Us Up

Published: July 18, 2016, 3 p.m.

You may remember Joan Sotkin from episode 125, where you heard how she helps people change their lives through changing their perspectives on your finances. She is an excellent prosperity coach, author, speaker and educator. Today Joan shares about how she is developing programs so she can help even more people. 

Joan delves into our family origin stories that affect our financial outcomes. In short, it’s our belief systems around money that get us every time. The things that created your emotional responses to events in our lives are what you need to pay attention to. 

Issues around money are NEVER about money. In reality, money only has energy when it passes between two individuals. It is your relationship to money that is at the core of your issues. You have to figure it out. Listening to today’s episode of the Cash Flow Diary podcast will help you toward that goal. 

One of the many interesting things that Joan shares during this episode is that our brains are to blame for the fears we have around money. Our brains tell us that anything new might be dangerous, so we have to be careful, which translates to fear. For example, when you’re accustomed to struggling financially and you start doing really well, your brain may throw up red flags. You may feel terribly uncomfortable because you are not used to doing well. The change that is happening can feel like a threat because it challenges your origin story. 

What that means is that you grew up in a family that struggled, didn’t invest in real estate, didn’t do well because there was always too much month at the end of your mom and dad’s money… and now you are challenging the way your family deals with money… the way your parents raised you to think about money. 

You have to control that fear, because it isn’t serving you and it isn’t moving you forward to all those goals you walk around telling other people you want to reach!! 

So how do you control the fear or fix the issue? Joan says you have to get to the core of your “moving stupids.” Your brain doesn’t want you to change things up; you have entered the fight or flight syndrome when in fact you should be embracing the changes and focus on what is going on in the moment. By focusing on the moment that is happening right now your brain isn’t going to focus so much on the future and all the fears that go along with the tunnel of transition. 

Joan says so many cool things in this interview that it might just put you on a whole new path. If you let it happen you can have the life you say you want. Pay attention to the ways to deal with your fears and put your mind at ease. One thing you have to do is dump the retail therapy! Learn more. Listen now.