4 Mental Shifts Necessary to Develop a Positive Money Mindset

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If you’re used to operating with a negative money mindset, you’re going to need to make some mental shifts to develop a positive one. This is true even if your mindset isn’t negative per se, but it still doesn’t allow you to embrace your ability to create wealth and abundance for yourself.

These mental shifts will likely not be easy to make since you’ve been operating under other beliefs for so long. But if you’re ready and willing to do the mental work necessary to change your money mindset, you can.

Just to get you started, here are four mental shifts that you’ll have to make to develop a positive money mindset.

4 Mental Shifts You Have to Make to Improve Your Money Mindset

1. Shift from a scarcity to an abundance mindset.

   Many people were raised with a scarcity mindset when it comes to money. It’s the kind of mindset that shows up in phrases like these: “There’s never enough money to go around,” “Money doesn’t grow on trees,” and “I can’t afford [INSERT SEEMINGLY UNAFFORDABLE PRODUCT OR SERVICE].”
   
   The thing is, this just a way of thinking. And if you would like to develop a positive money mindset, you’ll have to develop a new way of thinking. You’ll have to approach life as if money and wealth are abundant, because they are. The vast universe we live in has an infinite supply of money and wealth that’s just waiting to be claimed. But so many people are operating with limiting beliefs about money that they’re not willing to receive all that the universe would like to give them.
   
   To have a positive money mindset, you have to look at money as an abundant resource, a concept I talk about in this post. Replacing those scarcity mindset phrases with abundance mindset phrases like the following can help: “Money is abundant,” “All the money I spend comes back to me multiplied,” and “I can afford anything I desire.”
   
   It may not feel natural or comfortable to say phrases like these initially. But if you say them to yourself often enough and strive to really believe that they’re true, they will become your reality.

2. Shift from a fixed to a growth mindset.

   This is a concept from the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. The idea is that people can operate using either a fixed or a growth mindset when performing certain tasks or approaching certain situations.
   
   The fixed mindset makes people think they’re not capable of changing or improving. The way they are is the way they’ll always be. The growth mindset, on the other hand, makes people think that there’s always room for improvement. They can learn, they can change, and they can grow.
   
   If you’ve been operating with a negative money mindset, you might have some beliefs like these: “I’m not good with money,” “I don’t know how to make money,” “I’m terrible at managing my money.” While these may be statements that seem to accurately reflect your current situation, they limit you because they don’t allow you to see your potential to grow.

   
   Instead of saying, “I’m not good with money,” for instance, why not try telling yourself, “I’m good with money.” Saying that will allow your brain to consider that maybe there are ways to figure out how to be good with money. And then you might actually feel capable of doing the research required to improve your skills with money. This is the growth mindset, and it’s essential if you would like to have a positive outlook towards money.

3. Shift from “What’s in it for me?” to “How can I serve others?”

   When it comes to making money, it’s important to remember that the nature of business is to solve problems in people’s lives. Now, one can argue that some businesses aren’t really solving problems. (I’m not sure how candy bars loaded with sugar and empty calories really help anyone.)
   
   But in general, businesses exist because they help people solve their problems. Plumbers help people solve their plumbing problems. Interior designers help people solve problems with decorating their homes and interior spaces. Restaurants help people solve the problem of finding delicious, already-made food to eat.
   
   The thing is, too often when people approach business or making money, they’re thinking about what’s in it for them. “How can I get what I want? How can I get rich?” But the truth is that if you really want to make money—and especially if you would like to become wealthy doing so—you actually have to look for ways to help people solve their problems. It can’t just be about you.
   
   Focusing on helping others is a mental shift that will help you develop a positive money mindset because you understand that the money you’re receiving comes as a direct result of you having added value to someone else’s life. This is a way to view money in a positive light.
   
   If you would like to also practice social entrepreneurship where your main goal is to help society, that adds another layer to the “helping people” part of business. But even without that aspect, if you want to have a successful business, you have to be in the business of helping others.

4. Shift from “I can only make money this way” to “I can make money however I want to.”

   Sometimes when people have been working at a particular job for a long time, they might start to think that they can only make money using the skills required by that job. They may even think they can only perform that same job, although they may be able to do it for different companies. And if a person has a degree in something, they may think they can only do work tied to that degree.
   
   Also, if people don’t see themselves as being entrepreneurial, they may think they can only make money by working for someone else. These are all ways of thinking that limit a person’s potential to make money.
   
   Of course, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to use job skills you already have to make money or wanting to choose careers tied to a degree you’ve already obtained, especially if you enjoy using those skills or working in that field. But if you would like to start welcoming more money into your life, you have to be open to the idea that you can receive money from anywhere.
   
   For instance, if you’re already a teacher, you don’t have to confine your skills to the classroom. You can teach online courses where you share your knowledge. And you don’t have to only share the knowledge you teach in the classroom either. If you’re passionate about other subjects and know them well, you can teach about them.
   
   Or you can write ebooks where you share your knowledge and sell them. You may have to learn some other skills to become successful at selling other things, like sales and marketing skills, but that’s not the same thing as thinking you can only make money teaching in the traditional sense.
   
   This kind of limiting belief can also affect artists of all kinds who may think they can only make money through their art. But, like everyone else, they can also make money however they want to.
   
   In addition to selling their art, artists can make money by teaching their craft, by creating a membership site where they give members exclusive content, by creating courses, by writing ebooks, or by doing anything else their creative minds can think of. And artists, like all people, would do well to consider having multiple sources of income.
   
   Understanding that money is abundant, which I talked about in #1, is a way to open yourself to various options for inviting more of it into your life. And this is an essential mental shift to make if you want to have a positive view of money.

Final Thoughts

The idea behind having a positive money mindset is to bring positive thoughts and feelings to the concept of money. These mental shifts help you do that by opening yourself up to possibilities and realizing how beneficial money can be to you and to others.

It may take time to make some of these mental shifts stick, especially if they’re deeply rooted in your subconscious mind. But in time, you can develop a positive money mindset and be prepared to receive all the wealth and abundance that the universe would like to give you.

Now I turn it to you. What mental shifts do you think are necessary for someone to improve their money mindset?

~ Ashley C.

Note: The advice presented here is for informational purposes only. If you’re in need of professional financial advice, please see a qualified professional.

Last updated: June 21, 2024