Money Anxiety? Start Small to Overcome Financial Dis-ease
I’m a part of two groups - each encourages me to move forward in my business and writing. One is a group of financial coaches the other is a group of people building their own platform - this group has a range of platform content and styles.
One evening, not too long ago, this group discussed the need to be our own salespeople. One of topics we discussed was the fear of talking to people about our platform.
One of the group members described her start, in which she simply cold called people she thought might be interested in her product or might know people who they could tell about her product. Her story highlighted the anxiety that often accompanies stepping into unfamiliar territory. As we talked, we laughed about how intense it can feel to cold-call people and how much anxiety we feel.
This discussion came at the same time I was teaching about anxiety, phobias, hoarding, and OCD in my abnormal psychology class.
I mentioned exposure therapy, in which professionals help people overcome their anxiety by gradually helping the client face their fears until the fear loses its emotional power.
I pointed out that it is one of the the best and most effective interventions in psychology and counseling.
Many of us live with low-level anxiety. We manage it, but often our strategy often involves avoiding whatever triggers it. Common sources of this anxiety are our health or finances. These concerns simmer in the background, unresolved, because we’re hesitant to confront them directly.
Once upon a time when I subscribed to Noom, the first thing that they required their subscribers to do was weigh themselves every day. That was the first and only thing they had them do, and there wasn't anything added to it. You weren't supposed to add changing your diet or exercising more. You're just simply to get on the scale and get off. The simplicity of this task was intentional. It’s about facing the reality of where you are without adding extra pressure of change - especially when it feels as though if you add more change, you’ll fail immediately.
The same principles applies to financial health. Often, we feel as though we need to make immense changes to be healthy. But if we follow the perception that we have to make big, sweeping changes, we often overload ourselves with change and end up giving up.
Instead, we just need to look either at our checking account and see what is going on, or simply look at our budget.
Just opening it and closing it. Because, the more we look, look, always look, the less scary the problem becomes.
That's because fear thrives on the unknown. We’re afraid of those things that might be there - but we don't know what is there.
In my group example above, the exposure was just making the calls. The group member that talked about doing cold calls said that after a while she didn't feel fearful about doing it anymore. Eventually, she knew what to say and she could figure out what the most common questions were. She had practice what the answers were.
Often we don't want to do the thing that is making us a little bit anxious.
So today, if something—whether it’s money, health, or something else entirely—is causing you unease, try looking at it. Take that first small step. Open the account, step on the scale, or make the call. Face it, even if it’s imperfect. Over time, the thing you’re avoiding will lose its grip on you, and you’ll feel more confident and less anxious.
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