Fear and Finances
At first glance, one might wonder what fear and finances have to do with one another. For some, managing their finances is not an emotional process but rather a straightforward approach to planning, organizing, directing, and controlling their money. For others, however, dealing with money is a trigger to something deeper and can affect their ability to make sound decisions when it comes to their finances.
In her book, The Financially Empowered Woman, Tracy Theemes suggests that emotions come into play when being threatened or supported, or when some message you have believed in for your whole life gets activated and brought to the surface. They come in during particularly stressful life transitions like marriage, divorce, death, or selling a business. They can assist us by guiding us towards what feels good and hopefully away from those things that are not in alignment with our values and goals.”
“Money has no value until you attach value to it.”
The problem though, is when fear takes over and starts to guide that process. “Money has no value until you attach value to it,” says Tracy. “Money is a tool, an assistant, a means to an end. It’s not an entity that should rule our lives.”
Unfortunately, for many, fear and finances go hand-in-hand—dealing with money issues is often overwhelming and incredibly stressful. Fear is allowed to take over and affects a person’s ability to manage his or her finances successfully. For some, this means avoiding dealing with their money in any meaningful way, often handing over the reins to someone else. For others, although they may tackle things head-on, their decisions are fear-based and not very effective.
As a result, an important and vital component to becoming financially empowered is learning how to manage fears around money issues. This involves understanding fear and its effect on our bodies and minds. From there, we can learn to better manage our personal triggers and make sound decisions when it comes to our finances.
Mihael Mamychshvili, the founder and CEO of Angel Hands Integrative Center, understands all too well how fear can take over all aspects of our lives. Not only does it affect the decisions we make, but holding on to these fears will also have short-term and long-term consequences—physically and emotionally. Mihael, who is a gifted Shiatsu practitioner and healer, has developed his own style of therapy and methodology that focuses on the mind-body connection. He believes that the body never lies and that it is always trying to communicate with us. Consequently, he has dedicated his career to helping individuals figure out what he calls their “pain story” and how that affects their physical and emotional well-being. Through this process, he has learned that fear and trauma play a significant role in these stories.
“An important and vital component to becoming financially empowered is learning how to manage fears around money issues.”
Fear, according to Mihael, can be summed up in a simple acronym: “False Evidence Appearing Real.” He believes that “Fear is an emotion induced by a perceived danger or threat, which causes physiological changes and ultimately behavioral changes, such as fleeing, hiding, or freezing from perceived traumatic events.” He goes on to say that these fears, “…may occur in response to a certain stimulus occurring in the present, or in anticipation or expectation of a future threat perceived as a risk to oneself.”
Mihael suggests that in order to grow and evolve, “We must move through our fears and develop the tools and experiences that foster resilience and growth.” As part of this, we need to be able to recognize our own personal triggers, along with their associated stories, and then learn to work through them.
“We must move through our fears and develop the tools and experiences that foster resilience and growth.”
With this in mind, Mihael set out to create his own unique and innovative approach to working with the body that has led to his reputation as a therapist who can initiate transformative change. Recognizing that dealing with personal finances can be seen as a perceived threat that then triggers some kind of fear response, Mihael uses his teachings to help identify what he terms “intrinsic fears” and offers ways to work through these fears. He shares this knowledge, along with his simple yet effective tips and strategies, as part of Sophia Wealth Academy’s Wise Money Talks webinars series because he understands that fears around finances can easily rule our lives on many different levels.
In “Listen to Your Body and Change Your Life! Part One” Mihael presents an overview of the physiological response to fear along with some useful mindful breathing exercises. In Part-Two, he provides strategies to help conquer fears by learning to recognize and manage triggers while developing ways to overcome and change habitual patterns that create blocks.
Listen to Part-One and Part-Two of Mihael’s Wise Money Talks webinar sessions available on Sophia Wealth Academy’s YouTube page. His presentation pdfs, including exercises and tools, are also available for download in the video descriptions or on Sophia Wealth Academy’s
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