Investing, managing, saving, spending and earning money - these linear, left brain aspects of our money relationship offer plenty of potential for challenges. But it’s when we delve into the other dimension of our relationship with money, our feelings, that things get really tricky and mighty interesting.

Our feelings, that messy and confusing aspect of our relationship with money will often hold us hostage to our egos and prevent us from feeling the fulfillment and peace of mind we so desire. Way too many of us live our lives with feelings of scarcity and poverty consciousness. Instead of money being our servant, it becomes our master.

Instead of harnessing the powerful feelings of hope and enthusiasm, we often dwell in the low energy feelings of fear and greed. Even when we have more than enough money in the bank to create the lifestyle we desire, it often doesn’t stop us from feeling something will go wrong and therefore we must be in a constant state of worry and stress over money.

As a financial planner that practices his craft with a soulful and holistic approach to money management, my goal is to help clients reach financial success by going beyond the surface, beyond the numbers and into the realm of emotions and their relationship with money.

Gaining a deeper understanding of what triggers you emotionally around money, what causes you to sabotage your relationship with money, why you become emotionally hijacked around money issues; to gain knowledge of yourself in this way is one of the most effective tools for increasing your financial happiness and satisfaction.

Becoming more emotionally self-aware is the secret sauce when it comes to a happy or happier relationship with money. By increasing your emotional intelligence, (EQ) you learn to understand and manage your emotional triggers around money. And very often it’s this newly acquired self-awareness that leads you on the path to authentic and lasting money harmony.

Although happiness is an emotion we enjoy experiencing around our money, obviously, that’s not always a given. Happiness: Getting Our Priorities Straight- is a great article from Daily Good to check out for further reading on how you can increase the level of happiness in your life and in your relationship with money. 

7 Keys to a Happier Relationship with Money

1. Being Fully Present

Being fully present means you’re able to appreciate where you are financially right now in life. Not where you’re going to be financially five years from now and not where you were financially five years ago. It’s making peace with the past and being grateful for all you have right this minute. To delay your happiness until the right job comes along or you have x amount of money saved up is to cheat yourself of this divine gift called happiness.

2. Knowing Your Enough Point

To know when enough is enough, financially speaking, is powerful self-knowledge to possess. How much is enough money is a very intimate and personal decision that deserves your full focus and attention. The sooner you figure out your enough point, the sooner you’ll experience the feelings of abundance that come with this self-knowledge.

3. To Thy Own Self Be True

People suffer when they pursue a life or dream that does not belong to them. You could be making a million a year, but if you are doing what you think you should be doing instead of what you want to be doing, all the money in the world will not bring you authentic happiness. Listen to your intuition, that inner voice that offers you divine guidance and you’ll know the truth.

4. Your Financial Integrity is Non-negotiable

Aligning your core values with your money and your life is the foundation that forms a genuinely happy and fulfilled relationship with money. If you feel like you have to negotiate your sense of financial integrity to achieve financial success, you are committing an act of self-betrayal. This is costly to your heart and your soul. It weakens your spiritual connection to divine power. As a result, you feel drained and emotionally exhausted.  Instead, follow your heart, tune in to your inner voice that’s telling you to pay attention to what you’re feeling. Please, attempt to never compromise who you are or who you want to be in order to achieve financial success. If you do, there’s a good chance that one way or another, you’ll find a way to sabotage your success.

5. Practice Detachment

Where you are today financially may be totally different from where you are next year or ten years from now. But if your personal happiness is dependent on the amount of money you have in the bank, the type of job you have, the house or type of car you drive, or any other type of personal possession that you are clinging to very strongly, then be mindful that you are giving your power and happiness away to something you have very little control over.

6. Make Peace with Your Money Demons

Whether we like it or not, we all have our money demons to deal with. Some refer to it as our money shadow, that dark side of our relationship with money. Call it what you will, but know that the longer you avoid confronting your money demons, whatever they may be, the longer they’ll have unlimited power over you and your relationship with money and the longer you’ll feel powerless. Reclaim your power and shine a light on the darkness.

7. Be Fearless

To have a sustainable happy and peaceful relationship with money requires an awareness of your money history. Often times, this self-exploration is painful and very scary. Yet the sooner you become an inner-warrior and become fearless on this financial self-exploration mission, the sooner you’ll know and revel in what it feels like to have a relationship with money that makes you feel happy and one that you’re mighty proud of.

Image credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/ganesha_isis/