Episode 7: Alex makes a lot of money–but still struggles with money fear and scarcity, daily. How can he help himself live in more trust and enjoyment of what he works for?

Your takeaways: 

• Money anxiety can rob us of so much presence, peace, and freedom in our lives.
• If money anxiety is NOT linked to actual life circumstances, money anxiety generally doesn’t get better no matter how much money we make.
• If we don’t address the deeper insecurity around money, the goalposts can simply move. We find that no amount is enough to truly feel secure.
• Persistent money anxiety sometimes point to deeper, more unconscious feelings of not enoughness, or lack of safety in the world. If this sounds like you, where might these unconscious feelings be coming from?
• If you're feeling anxious right now, what are you assuming about your financial situation in the present or the future--that may not even be true?
• Life contains uncertainty. Focusing on your financial reality just for today is a powerful way to fight against the urge to control or be psychic about what the future will bring.
• Hiring a financial planner can be a powerful external world move to help us offload money anxiety. Creating a plan is a way of “coping ahead” for the uncertainty that life can bring.
• Pendulation is a somatic tool where we move from thoughts or sensations of distress to pleasant thoughts, images, or sensations to help our body detach from painful narratives.
• Money is not just for survival. It is also for fun, self-expression, and life enrichment. We are allowed to live beyond survival!

Content note: In this episode, I talk about my own history with money anxiety, including a long-standing catastrophic fear I’ve had around homelessness. I want to be really clear up front that I’m sharing this from a place of significant privilege — I’ve never been unhoused, and I am very far from that lived reality. 

I’m not sharing this to equate my fear with the very real experiences of people who are facing housing insecurity. I’m sharing it to explore how anxiety can latch onto worst-case scenarios, even when they’re unlikely.

And I also want to acknowledge that, in a world where many people are living this reality, hearing it talked about this way might feel uncomfortable or activating.

So please take care of yourself as you listen, and trust whatever comes up for you.