I have been a financial professional for the last 16 years, working on the dealing floor of a major investment bank for 10 years and then retraining to become a chartered financial planner. I have been a high earner during my career, but, in order to be successful, I had traded my time for money!
Despite being an expert with money, I haven’t made the most of it.
I wish I discovered the POWER of financial coaching sooner!
I stumbled across financial coaching in 2019 when I decided I wanted to create a bigger impact on people’s lives earlier on in life, when it really mattered. This desire led me to becoming a certified life coach, before I decided to specialise as a financial coach. It was at this stage that I was told I needed to speak with Catherine Morgan, founder of the Money Panel.
Had I been living under a rock? How had I been giving financial advice for years and not even heard of financial coaching?
Financial coaching is an unregulated industry so you don’t need to be certified to be a ‘money mindset’ coach. When I discovered that the Money Panel offered a certification programme that would be recognised in the financial services industry, I knew I had to sign up.
How financial coaching changed my life
Throughout my training I uncovered that my own relationship with money was not serving me well. I discovered that I am fiercely independent when it comes to money. This stems from a belief I learnt as a child growing up that ‘you should never rely on anyone else for money’. You learn your financial beliefs by the age of 7!
During my career I have worked extremely hard to make money, often at the expense of time with my family. I then saved as much as I could each month because I feared losing my money. Perhaps this fear stemmed from my parents splitting up when I was just 7 years old and me witnessing both parents losing wealth as a consequence?
On the outside I appeared to have strong financial habits. In reality, I needed the SECURITY of having all of my money in savings account. Despite working with investments I didn’t invest into the stock market until my mid-30s. I missed out on the London property boom because I didn’t feel confident to buy! Having savings made me feel safe. I can see now how this has led to me missing out.
Had I invested just £100 a month for 10 years and earned 4% each year, annually compounded, my £12,000 saving would have been worth £14,774. Instead, sat in the bank, it was worth the same amount as I put in because interest rates have been almost zero for over a decade (even less due to the impact of inflation).
My biggest lightbulb moment came when I realised that I had sabotaged my own success during my career. I uncovered, as I trained with my cohort, that I had an income ceiling. Every time I broke through it, it made me feel uncomfortable. When my earnings went over a certain amount I resigned or changed jobs. I didn’t realise I was doing this until I unpicked it during a coaching session. I discovered that I felt like an imposter in a male dominated world. I didn’t feel I deserved my role.
Financial coaching can change your life too
It really is the small things you do each and every day with your money that will have a far bigger impact on your wealth over time. It’s not just about getting a pay rise or coming into a lump sum, such as winning the lottery!
The reality is that you can be rich, earning a lot of money and not be wealthy. Everyone’s definition of wealth is different, but if you consider where the meaning of wealth comes from, wellbeing, having lots of money doesn’t mean you have financial wellbeing. You can earn a little, make the most of it, be smart and become wealthy over time! It is what you do with your money that truly matters.
After all, how many lottery winners have you heard of that have wasted their win? Why is this the case? If you are used to spending your money, you will likely spend more when you suddenly have a lump sum in your bank account. If you aren’t used to having money, you may find yourself trying to give it away! Unless you work on your relationship with money!
90% of your financial decisions are made by your emotions, not by logic.
Therefore, you need to create the right mindset to support your behaviours so that, overtime, you become the person you want to be, without any effort. In the heat of the moment your money leaks show up. For example, when you pop into Waitrose to buy a loaf of bread and end up spending £100 on things you didn’t intend!
Financial coaching helps you to form healthy financial habits that will transform your relationship with money and re-write your Money Narrative™. It is those daily habits that will have an atomic impact on your wealth over time. By learning how to make the most of every £1 you make, plugging your money leaks and investing for your future, you are laying the foundations for your ultimate success.
The Money Narrative Clearing™ Process is a proven framework to help you change your relationship with money from one of financial anxiety to one that serves you.
Just doing the Money Panel’s financial coaching training programme has changed my life. I now run my own successful financial coaching business, Emma Wright Coaching. I no longer work ridiculous hours for a big corporate. I work for myself, around my family and I do all the things that I would be advising my clients to do with their money. I invest and spend on the things that I value.
Imagine what it can do for you? You too can achieve financial freedom if you first work on your relationship with money.
Resources:
Register for my FREE Financial Coaching Masterclass
Join The Money Circle
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