How To Create Financial Security Today
I’ve been thinking about security a lot lately, although maybe not in the way you might think. After a crazy heat wave earlier this summer, the area where I live, BC, Canada is suffering from drought and forest fires. Many of the neighboring communities, including where my parents live have been put on evacuation alert or been ordered to leave their properties.
One day, the smoke was so bad that it blocked out the sun and it was dark in the afternoon. I felt like I was in an apocalyptic film. Of course, I’m a writer, so I may be a tad dramatic, but this got me thinking about safety and how nothing else really matters when your physical safety is threatened.
So how does this relate to financial security? Well if you don’t feel safe making or having money, this affects your finances. Many people feel like they will become a target once they realize their financial dreams. This can look like family or friends asking for money or having strangers show up at your door hoping you’ll contribute to their cause.
The first step in becoming financially secure is to start seeing what that feels like to you.
The financial gurus say that financial security is the peace of mind you feel when you can meet all your financial obligations as well as have money set aside for the future and in case of emergency. For some of us, this feels overwhelming. How do you save for emergencies when you can’t pay your current bills? Talk about stressful.
I prefer to focus on the peace of mind aspect of financial security. How great would it be if you felt at peace even before you had the money required to be financially secure? If you feel secure, you will attract more wealth into your life. Feeling stressed and like your finances are stretched to the limit reinforces your lack of funds. This is how I felt when I was researching claiming bankruptcy.
If you’ve read past articles of mine, you know that I considered claiming bankruptcy three times in about two years. I felt desperate for my financial troubles to end, but the paperwork involved with claiming bankruptcy increased my stress level. Then I discovered, because I didn’t have a steady income as a freelancer, bankruptcy wasn’t even an option for me.
Once I accepted my fate (that I would need to pay back my debts), a feeling of peace came over me. I would no longer waste my time filling out paperwork. Once my mindset shifted, money came to me from many different sources. I received additional freelance work, job offers, and even gifts of money from relatives.
To me, financial security is the calmness that comes with knowing that everything is working out the way it’s supposed to.
You can probably guess that for me, the security came first. This is completely backwards to what society teaches us. Growing up, we hear our parents say things like, “Once I get this new job, things will be better.” We learn that once we have a high-paying job or a certain amount of savings in the bank, we’ll feel secure.
In my experience, it worked the other way around. Once I embraced a feeling of security, new opportunities to make money started showing up all over the place. Our minds really are that powerful. Flipping the switch on what we need to feel safe and secure changes how we look at all areas of our lives.
Of course, if your physical safety is being threatened, nothing else matters. When the sky went dark where I live due to forest fires, all I could think about was staying calm so I could keep my family safe. Money was the last thing on my mind.
I’m a firm believer that if you can imagine something, you can create it. This means financial security is going to feel different for everyone. You get to create what fits for you. When I was contemplating claiming bankruptcy, I did not feel safe at all. I felt completely out of control. The minute I accepted that bankruptcy wasn’t going to work for me and I would pay back all the money I owed, a sense of calm came over me.
This is how security feels to me. Calm and confident that things are working out for me. Conjuring this feeling can be difficult if you have been taught your whole life that you will feel better when you have more money, so go easy on yourself while you are practising feeling secure. Meditation is one way to do this, but you can also imagine yourself feeling secure when you go to bed at night. You may even find you sleep better too.
If you’ve read anything about manifesting your desires, you will know that it’s important to feel like you already have the thing you are trying to manifest. So, when I’m working on my financial security, rather than thinking I will feel secure when I have money, I focus on feeling safe and secure first, trusting that the money will come.
One way to transition into feeling as if you already have financial security is to use affirmations. Here are a few you can try:
Which affirmations resonate with you the most? If you don’t yet feel financially secure, practice using one of the affirmations today and every day until you feel like it is safe for you to have money. If you enjoy affirmations, check out my Freeing the Butterfly oracle card deck with affirmations to help you live a happier life.
Another way to feel into financial security is by listening to music. What does financial security feel like to you? What songs conjure up those vibes for you? Put them on and dance around, thinking about all the money on its way to you. Create a playlist of all your empowering songs or even rewrite the lyrics to suit the ideal money story you are writing for yourself.
Journaling can be a huge help in achieving a sense of safety and security. Open your journal and free write about money and security. If you don’t know what to write, try answering the following questions.
What does security feel like to you?
Try not to bring money into this prompt. The goal is to get you feeling safe and secure. How do you know when you are safe? How does this feel in your body? Try to be as descriptive as possible. This will be a great prompt to return to when you are having a stressful day and don’t feel secure. You can read what you wrote to help you bring those feelings of safety back to your body.
Stress is so debilitating to our physical bodies. There has been lots of research done on this. By practising feeling calm and secure, you will help mitigate the damage of stress.
What tools can you use to feel more secure?
I’ve mentioned affirmations and music to help you feel calm and secure in your body. What else can you do? Some examples include spending time with loved ones and pets, going for a walk, or reading a book. This is your chance to brainstorm all the things that create a sense of safety and security for you.
What is your definition of financial security?
For this prompt, you can start to think about your finances and what financial security means to you. Don’t worry about what the financial professionals say it’s supposed to look like. Focus on what it means to you. For example, for me, I know that having a ton of savings for the future when I have debt to pay off, isn’t a reasonable expectation. So, my version of financial security is having the funds to pay my current bills as well as make payments on my debt.
The more we focus on changing our thoughts, the more we can appreciate things around us and attract more of the good stuff we have in our lives. It’s the same with financial security. Be gentle with yourself and realize it will take time to shift your thoughts. Money can be associated with some pretty strong emotions (fear, greed, power). The stronger the emotions, and the longer you’ve associated them with money, the longer it will take to shift your beliefs. Keep working at it, using your affirmations, and writing in your journal. The work is worth it. If you’re struggling, imagine your future self and how good you feel having made these thought changes.
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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.