Unravelling Your Unconscious Projections About Money

I was recently interviewed about 'Unravelling Your Unconscious Projections About Money' by an Accountant whose values and 'cake-infused' approach to tax I like. Rosie Slosek runs a 'Cake and Tax' Community (really) at One Man Band Accounting. Rosie, a tax return coach, specialises in helping freelancers in the UK become unstuck about tax returns, so they feel free to grow their business. I found the questions Rosie asked interesting, told my inner critical voice that tells me not to self-promote, to keep quiet and have decided to share the interview and links to the handout 'Create an empowering relationship with money in 3 simple steps' below: Rosie: If you treat money and numbers and your tax return like a bear, you can go through as much grass, water and mud as you please, as soon as you see the bear you'll run away, and bang goes growing your business and your sanity.

So, this week I have the fabulous Cleona Lira here for you. She's a completely normal IFA type (independent financial advisor) who can help with mortgage and pensions and investments and stuff - but more importantly for today, she totally gets all those things we carry around in our heads about money. (She also isn't a white middle-class man in a suit who patronises you - you know the type!).

Money is essential for all of us and making a profit is one definition of business. I include Money Mindset Resources in my retreats and How To Do Your Tax Return Course as it's an area many of us find challenging. Cleona Lira is an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) and helps inspire people to enjoy a more conscious relationship with money. Cleona, could you talk us through the work you do; I would describe you as a money consciousness mentor - and why is our money mindset important? (And why we don't need to be scared of it?!)

While I have worked as an IFA, I have enjoyed countless conversations with numerous people from various economic and cultural backgrounds about money. These discussions have helped me gain a deeper understanding of peoples’ fears, misconceptions and projections around money.

I became curious about my relationship with money a few years ago and what I found was that getting more conscious with money was very liberating for me. Becoming conscious about money is important because money is important in our lives. We need it to pay our bills. We all want ease and convenience in our lives. We don’t often stop to examine our relationship with money.

Our relationship with money may be confusing, unconscious, turbulent, harmonious, energising or draining or another word I haven’t used. Think about it for a few minutes. I invite you to reflect on what is the dominant flavour present in your relationship to money? And more importantly, what would you like it to be?

My experience in working with others in exploring stories, judgements and projections around money myths is that it is not scary; it is liberating. Through direct and intimate conversations with people, I have come to realise that our unquestioned beliefs and thoughts around money can severely limit us.

 Yes, money awareness and positivity is a journey for all of us. It's often the unconscious money blocks we have that are holding us back. So how do you discover what the blocks are?

Ah, the short answer is by doing some inner detective work. Learning to understand yourself by looking at a timeline of your life with a focus on money-related conversations or experiences. And then, exploring how the beliefs about money play a role in your life.

My journey included a lot of introspection, journaling and examining of my thinking around money. I also found it helpful to attend a weekend workshop inspired by the work of Peter Koenig, author of 30 Lies about Money: Liberating Your Life, Liberating Your Money. I found it very helpful to have someone trained to facilitate and support my exploration; it was also inspiring to see other people having similar transformations around money.

 So what you're saying is it's unravelling our unconscious projections about money that allows us to flow and to attract more money into our lives. How did you do this in your life and business?

Ah, it is attracting more money if that is what you discover you want. My first realisation about my unconscious patterns with money came when I started my own financial advisory business. It was the first time that I felt real freedom for myself and yet I felt so held back. For example, I was scared to spend money although I had comfortable savings and a steady flow of clients. I developed feelings of scarcity or ‘not enough,’ which I realised had little to do with how much money I had. I accepted financial support from my husband. He paid for the house-related bills to ease the pressure I was feeling. Receiving this funding was very challenging for me. I was raised to be an independent woman by a single parent mother, and it took some work to see the messages I had internalised. I grew up in India and witnessed a lot of poverty around me as a child. I could not understand it. I had some guilt around this to shift too. Once I saw the patterns that I was reacting to, it became easier for me to transform and change them.

One of the biggest shifts for me is that I do not have to suffer to earn money. That work can be fun and feel wholehearted; it feels liberating to have this clarity. Another shift is through my practice of Nonviolent Communication; I gained the understanding that money is only one strategy of several to meet our needs. I elaborate more on this in my blogs.

 I completely understand. It's about clarity, isn't it? Knowing yourself and what you want for your life and your business is what motivates us to get the sink plunger out and apply it to the gunk that's bunging up the flow of money.

Yes, clarity is important. In getting the plunger out, you will flush out some barriers that you carry to freedom around money. In the process of being curious about this area, I was truly able to access the peace, wholeheartedness with work and living with financial integrity that I had wanted for many years. This money work, I found, also helps to shift guilt, shame or sense of obligation around spending or earning money, including strong judgements around people with more or less wealth than you.

What is the next step people can take to unravel their unconscious money projections? (sink plungers at the ready! )

I invite your readers to subscribe to my Newsletter for tons of resources on this topic. I also offer an initial consultation (at my cost) which is an exploratory meeting, should any of your clients need financial advice such as investments, pensions or a mortgage.

So, I hope you enjoyed reading this interview. Click comment to share any money projection Aha's; I am curious to know. And don't forget to subscribe for resources to help unravel your relationship with money.