How do you create a healthy relationship with money that serves you? Today, we’re talking with Bob Wheeler, author of The Money Nerve, about how to create radical abundance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YczbRpnO0E4

Bruce and I recently had the pleasure of joining Bob on his podcast, Money You Should Ask, and we just knew we had to share him with you. After all, how many CPAs do you know with a great sense of humor? We hope you’ll enjoy our delightful and humorous conversation with Bob about the feelings we have about money. 

So if you want to feel good about your money… tune in now!

Table of contentsThe "Money Nerve" Behind the MoneyAn "External" View of Money(There is No Finish Line)Abundance is About PerspectiveWhat is a Money Nerve?Overcoming the Money NerveAbout Bob WheelerBook A Strategy Call

The "Money Nerve" Behind the Money

When Bob initially became a CPA, what he found was that people continuously made money decisions that weren’t in their best interest. They would receive advice, then do the opposite. Bob himself wasn’t doing well financially and he was making seemingly simple mistakes. So he decided to do the internal work and look at his emotional motivations, so he could learn why he was seemingly “self-sabotaging.” 

[4:35] “It all started to become really clear to me that we’re all working on these unconscious, emotional money beliefs and money blocks that we’ve been carrying since we were probably five, six years old. And we have to unpack that, for many of us, to go forward.” 

This research has helped Bob unlearn his own emotional blocks, as well as improve his client’s views of money, and break down the stigma and money shame so prevalent in our world today. And it led to his book, The Money Nerve.

An "External" View of Money

Beyond shame and guilt, the way we view other people’s money needs a huge overhaul. How many times have we judged someone by their home, or their car, and placed a certain value upon that? Not only do we believe that people with more must be happier, and label things as a solution to our problems. We also believe that at a certain income level, problems will cease. 

Yet this doesn’t really address the root of the problem—and that is, once again, the way we as a society feel about money. A certain income level does not define wealth, although it is easy to believe—true wealth involves what you can do with what you have. 

[6:23] “Social media, and our culture, really cultivates this [idea] that you have to be successful and you are your assets, you are your accomplishments...I think what happens is, we don’t stop and take a look and say—Wait a minute. That person with that jet and that fancy mansion also has incredible debt or something. Or they inherited it, and they feel incredibly shameful, and guilty, that they’ve taken on all these assets that they don’t deserve.”

Social media is an arena we use to show the best of ourselves. Most people don’t share their credit card debt or how close to bankruptcy they are on Facebook. So we can’t judge by what we see on social media. Even the person with the best life you know has carefully cultivated their online presence. 

(There is No Finish Line)

[9:25] “Everybody’s trying to get to the finish line. The thing is, I don’t want to get to the finish line—that’s my last breath. I want to have as much fun on the way to the finish line. For me, that’s where life exists, is on the way to the finish line. I think with athletes and these folks that can be in the moment, they’re conscious of that. I think most of us are unconsciously thinking—I gotta get there, I gotta do this, I gotta hit my mark—and so we’re unconsciously trying to get there instead of realizing... we’re here.”

Abundance is About Perspective

Abundance thinking is a bit of a misnomer, because so often people attach a number to abundance, and attempt to quantify it. What’s truly great about abundance thinking is that there is...