How to Prevent Your Money Worries From Holding You Back

If you’ve got some type of phobia that’s preventing you from getting your financial house in order, then it’s time to take steps towards improvement. Any worries about money, just like worries about anything else, can be handled with a little bit of know-how and some self-discipline.

Here’s how to prevent your money worries from holding you back.

Assess the Extent of Your Fears

The first thing you need to understand is exactly how much you’re worrying over money. Remember, if you’re planning for the future or saving for the proverbial “rainy day,” you’re not someone who’s giving in to a phobia. You’re someone who’s making a sound financial decision. There’s nothing wrong with that.

On the other hand, if you’re saving irrationally because you’re overly fearful of an economic collapse, then maybe it’s time to reassess. If your neglecting to purchase items that you need because you’re obsessed with tucking money away in a savings account, then it’s probably time to reevaluate your financial habits.

Admit Your Phobia

The first step to getting over any problem is admitting that you have one in the first place. To that end, you have to acknowledge to yourself that you’re too worried about money and it’s time to take some corrective action.

If you can’t admit that you’re dealing with a phobia, it’s not likely that your financial habits or stress levels will ever improve.

Think About the Future

What often happens when people acknowledge a shortcoming or some character flaw on their part is that they begin to feel ashamed of themselves. That’s perfectly normal, but part of the process of emerging from your phobia is to think about the future, not the past.

Sure, you made some mistakes. There’s nothing you can do about those mistakes now. It’s time to look ahead and make the necessary changes to overcome your fears so you’re not tempted to feel that level of shame or stress again.

Take Baby Steps

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Your financial worries aren’t likely to be conquered in an hour.

Take baby steps to get out of your fear. Start by reaching for a fairly easy goal. For example, you might finally get a credit card so that you can start building a better credit history and improve your credit score. You can opt for an American Airlines credit card or a great offering from some other company.

Once you’ve taken baby steps, it’s time to move on to something bigger and better. Eventually, you might even get to the point where you’re comfortable enough to become a first time home buyer. That’s a significant financial commitment and if you reach that goal, you’ll be doing exceptionally well for yourself.

The point is that you don’t want to give yourself a baptism by fire. Work your way out of your phobia a little bit at a time.

Financial phobias can prevent you from reaching some of your personal and professional goals. Fortunately, you can take steps to get rid of those phobias and enjoy life a lot more.