By It’s so common to avoid what you’re anxious about. We all do it. But you won’t be able to deal with your financial concerns until you address these uncomfortable feelings. Whether you realize it or not, that anxiety is influencing the decisions you make.
“When it comes to making decisions, we essentially have two different brains that think very differently: a thinking brain which is driven by reason and logic and a feeling brain that is driven by emotion. [Roughly] 90% of our decisions can be made at a subconscious level within the feeling part of the brain. Guess what activates this part of the brain? That’s right, anxiety,” says Brent Weiss, who is a founding member of Facet Wealth and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER(TM) professional. “And money is the No. 1 cause of anxiety and stress. The simple thought of it can trigger anxiety which triggers the feeling brain which can lead to unhealthy behaviors. It’s a terrible domino effect.”
Weiss notes that the trigger of anxiety is different for every person–but is often shaped around our childhoods, how our parents’ dealt with money, any money-related trauma we’ve experienced in the past, and so on.
“Not everyone feels all of this, but we all feel some of it, and these feelings are driving the decisions we make every single day,” Weiss explains. “And overcoming anxiety isn’t about eliminating it entirely. Rather, it’s about controlling it and channeling its power to make better, healthier decisions.”
So if the first step is acknowledgement, what follows? How can we actually take those poor feelings and turn them into prosperity? So glad you asked.
