by Lois Keay-Smith
(Lois attended one of our Advanced EFT workshops in Perth and has gone on to achieve excellent results for herself and her clients since integrating EFT into her approach. The excellent distinctions Lois offers in this article should help you on your own road to financial freedom and freedom from financial worries.)
"Money ranks with love as man's greatest source of joy and with death as his greatest source of anxiety." John Kenneth Galbraith
Money...finances...investments. These words alone can often elicit a strong response in a person. Oddly enough, this state is reserved not only for those who feel they lack money or wealth. Wealth is relative - what is a pittance to one person may be a fortune to another. Generally, what I have found is that those who don't have much money are anxious to gain more, and those who have accumulated wealth are worried about losing it!
Often, just thinking about the current state of your finances, such as your net-worth (assets minus liabilities), credit card balances or yet-to-be-filed tax returns can elicit a response to start your tapping sequence on.
The means by which we make our income can also elicit negative emotions. Over six months ago I had a problem about choosing whether to reduce my hours of part-time employment, in order to have more time to devote to building my consultancy business. Whenever I came to thinking or talking about forgoing part of my steady income, I would get a feeling in my gut, which I would rate on the scale of a 6-7 in intensity.
At first I started to tap on the sensation I was experiencing, which reduced it's intensity, and then proceeded to identify some core issues surrounding these anxious feelings:
"I would be putting my family in a financially precarious position. I shouldn't do this now, when there are bills to pay (when are there not ???)"
Even though I am irresponsible, I deeply and completely accept myself.
Even though I worry that I'm putting us in the poor house...
Even though I am creating financial stress for our family...
Even though I am being selfish...
After a number of rounds of tapping, I was able to reduce the anxiety level down to 1. I continue tapping as issues arise from time to time, but am much calmer and I've made the decision to reduce my employed hours and devote that time to my business. I now feel excitement, rather than trepidation, when I think of my work, income and planning my next steps.
(Six months on.... there have certainly been testing times, anxious moments, and at times, cash shortages. Yet with the use of EFT, these feelings subsided, allowing me to focus on positive actions and subsequent successes. A spin-off was that my self-employed husband saw the benefits in using EFT himself too. The use of The Cash Catcher (see below) also helped me to manage my cash resources during this time. Using this tool together with EFT to handle the emotional issues that arose proved to be a powerful combination.)
Some of the statements that I have found are commonly evoked when people are faced with money issues are:
Even though I should have $000's at this stage of my life, I fully and completely accept myself.
Even though I am a financial failure...
Even though I never have enough to pay my bills...
Even though I'm no good with money...
Even though I think that rich people are bad people...
Even though wanting more money is greedy...
Even though I am hopeless with finances...
Even though I am stupid when it comes to money...
Even though I spend more than I earn...
Think through some episodes from your past that involved money. It may have been shame at standing at the cash register being told that your credit card has "insufficient funds", or even being caught with your fingers in the till (or Dad's wallet).
You can begin by tapping on the feelings that come up as you remember the incidents in your life, using Gary Craig's "Run the Movie" technique (www.emofree.com).
Women's Money Issues
"Money, money, money... it's a rich man's world", ABBA
Through my work in teaching finance and investment to both men and women, I have found some profound gender differences. In particular, many women hold a strong belief in their innate inability to handle and understand finances.
Beliefs about money - earning it, spending it, saving and investing it, start early in life and are usually learned from our parents and siblings. Perhaps our love had been bought with money from an absent father. Or we have been raised to equate money with something unfeminine, even dirty.
Here are some additional examples of statements to do a sequence of tapping on, which may especially resonate with women.
Even though I am stupid when it comes to finances...
Even though I am waiting to be rescued...
Even though I am intimidated by financial talk...
Even though I hate anything to do with finances...
Even though I am not responsible with money...
Even though I spend all my money on (shoes, clothes...)...
Even though I want to be taken care of...
Even though I am scared of being poor...
Even though I am scared of making a mistake...
Even though I shouldn't have to do this myself...
Even though I don't deserve to have wealth...
Even though I won't be accepted if I have money...
I'm sure you can add some more of your own - get tapping on those too!
Lois Keay-Smith
About Lois: Lois Keay-Smith has worked in the finance industry for 15 years - much of that time as a financial educator for the Australian Stock Exchange. Lois now helps people to discover and pursue work that they love, whilst addressing money issues. Lois works with individuals and groups as a career consultant and speaker.