Did you know there’s a name for fear of wealth? According to Psych Times, it’s plutophobia. This fear of wealth can prevent you from reaching your financial goals without you even realizing it. Like many fears, plutophobia is often set in motion during childhood. Children who are raised in a home where scarcity is a common mindset are likely to develop this fear of wealth.
The good news is that if you feel you have this fear, you can overcome it by figuring out where the fear is coming from and working to replace your thoughts with others that serve you better. One way to do this is through your journal. At the end of this post, you will find some journal prompts you can use to get started thinking about your fear of wealth.
Let’s dig a little deeper into how we become afraid to earn more money. I’m discussing this from my own experience. I am not a psychologist or a doctor, but I find the human brain and how it interprets our experiences extremely fascinating.
Confusing But True
If you have a healthy relationship with money, you might wonder how it is that anyone could ever fear making more money. The source of a fear can be many things, but one thing that is known for sure is that fear is our mind’s way of protecting us. If we are scared of something, we will be more cautious as we work towards it. This can be a good thing when it comes to money too.
However, being cautious on a path to making more money isn’t the same as fearing money. When we fear money, it’s often subconscious, and it can take us a while to figure out that we have this fear. At first the suggestion that we are afraid to make more money might be brushed off as silliness. Who is afraid of having money?
But with more money comes more responsibility. In my case, since I have mismanaged my money in the past, I fear I will do the same thing when there is even more money at stake. In this case, my fear relates to repeating past mistakes, which I feel would be even worse if I were making more money. I need to journal around my inability to forgive myself for my past mistakes with money.
There’s Enough to Go Around
There are many reasons for a fear of making more money. Some people are afraid to make more money because they think if they make more money, someone else won’t be able to. But money isn’t a finite resource. Money is all around. Just because you or I make a lot of money, doesn’t mean we are taking that money away from someone else.
Money is like energy coming at us from many sources. It flows in then it flows out then the cycle repeats itself over and over. This means there’s more than enough to go around, especially since not everyone is going to be receiving their money from the same source.
Another way to think of money is like a renewable resource. You can generate money from your job, from a business, by selling your belongings, and even through your mindset. When you set out to attract money by using your mindset, you are facing your fear of making more money and telling the universe you're ready to make more money.
You Don’t Have to Change
Sometimes when people make more money, the people close to them see their behaviors and attitudes change. This can be another reason people are afraid to make more money. They think once they make more money, they’ll change too. But this doesn’t have to be the case.
If you’re afraid you’ll change when you make more money, simply acknowledging this fear will help you make sure this doesn’t happen. Some people change for the better when they make more money. They’re able to make donations they couldn’t make before and contribute to causes that are important to them. They have money to support their family in ways they couldn’t before.
There’s no reason your core personality needs to change simply because you’re making more money.
Affirmations
Affirmations have been instrumental in changing my mindset around money. This is why I include several affirmations with every Prosperity Matters post I write. The key, though, is finding the affirmations that resonate with you, so if you don’t like any of the ones below, I encourage you to journal and find some of your own.
- It’s safe to make more money.
- I make more money with ease.
- I was born to make a lot of money.
- I deserve to be wealthy and prosperous.
- Making lots of money brings me joy.
The more you use your affirmations, the better they work, so I recommend choosing one to start with and repeating it often throughout the day.
Journal Prompts
One of the best ways to get over your fear of making more money is to write about it. Journaling will help you get clear on what’s causing your fear as well as help you come up with action steps to overcome it. Use the following journaling prompts to get started today.
What hesitations do I have when it comes to making more money?
As I mentioned above, one of my biggest fears when it comes to making more money is that I’ll repeat past mistakes when it comes to managing more money. In my mind I see it as a “more money equals more mistakes” type of situation. The only way I can forgive myself for these past mistakes is to write about them and get them out of my head so I can stop thinking about them. I’m sure there are some hesitations you have around making more money that you’d like to stop thinking about too.
When do I feel the most afraid to make more money?
Certain situations can bring up more fears than others. Maybe you would be happy getting a raise at work, but the thought of moving to a new job that would provide you with a substantial salary increase causes you to second-guess yourself. Once you get to the heart of this fear, you’ll have more confidence attracting more money into your life.
What happened in the past that caused you to fear money?
When I was growing up, my parents worked hard to provide all the extras we could want: family trips, sports, art and music lessons. I was grateful for this, but I saw how hard my parents worked to be able to afford all those things and I started to question that. Was working all the time the only way to earn the money needed for those kinds of extras? Money started to represent a lot of work. Work I wasn’t sure I could handle.
How will you tell the universe you are ready to make more money?
It’s important to show the universe we are ready to accept more money. This could be as simple as using one of the affirmations from above. Maybe you’re going to take the plunge and perfect your resume in preparation for applying for higher paying jobs. Take some time and write about the ideas you have to show the universe you are ready for more money.
Things are often complicated when it comes to money, and that’s okay. It’s more common than you think to be afraid to make more money, but the good news is you can overcome this fear with a few simple tools. Through journaling, you can get to the heart of your fear and start making a plan to let it go. It’s safe to make more money!
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From Mari:
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Author bio: Michelle Cornish is the author of Prosperity Planner: Manage Your Personal Finances and Get Out of Debt, an undated planner where she shares more about her personal financial journey and her TREE Method for keeping her personal finances in check.
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