Psychology of Money

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Prejudices

I'm going to start this post with myself, but maybe someone will see some of my own traits in this. This is going to be a short life story where there was a lot of prejudice about everything, but most of all about money. We're all capable of learning very quickly about anything, but only if there's no inhibiting factors that we can overlook. It can happen all our lives. It can even cost us our lives if we are stubborn or arrogant enough. I was somewhere in the middle of that scale, so I kept asking myself questions. Why do I think this way? Am I thinking the right thing? What does a rich person have that I don't?

Since I wasn't interested in simple answers, I sometimes came up with lots of excuses for my failures. I even found many examples where I was smarter, better, or more honest than the rich. Over time, this led to me quickly acquiring a huge number of prejudices that screamed directly at me: Wealth is evil, money is dirty, luxury is ugly! I had to go through many years with these beliefs until I began to think cleanly. This is the path I would like to talk about today.

Money is Evil

I was born in a country where there are still stories about millionaires who made their first money in the 90s by looting state property, racketeering, and trivial scams by both businessmen and ordinary people. It was very difficult to grow up in such an environment with the idea that money is good. If you were brought up in a normal family with values of kindness, honesty and love, it was unthinkable. I heard all the time that somebody rich either stole or cheated or took those millions from somebody else. And you know, in those years, 90% of it was true! Years later, when the truth came out, it really was 90% true. But there were 10% who achieved their goals through their hard work and persistence. But my brain refused to see the 10%. I happily pointed out that I was right and money was evil! And who would want to pursue evil?

I wanted to be on the side of good and on the side of the majority. But the majority can be wrong. And they are wrong most of the time. And evil is not directly related to money. The poor can also be evil, and the rich can be good. The two words don't correlate enough to draw a conclusion from it. It's just that we're more likely to hear about blatant evil from television than we are to hear about the everyday good. No one will be interested in news stories about a rich person or a poor person donating money, feeding the homeless, or simply moving an old lady across the street. But everyone will watch with excitement about the search for a criminal or a serial killer. The focus of this world has shifted. But good and evil are not about money. It has only to do with people.

Fear. Risk. Loss. Pain.

I constantly heard stories from my grandmothers, parents, and relatives about times when there was not enough money for clothes. And sometimes there was nothing to eat. And even more colorful are the stories when the only house that Ivan had built with his own hands burned down along with all of his possessions. People lost everything but what they were wearing. Fear is a very strong feeling. I think it rules this world. Fear of losing everything is the nightmare of many people, including me.

Going back to money, my parents were always very careful with money. They taught me to be frugal and thrifty. But the flip side of that coin is a lack of knowledge about investing and risk. The risk, but the opportunity to multiply your capital. Work and save, or you could lose everything. Then there were several stories that ended with either losing all the money or losing your health. Or both. So I developed a fear of losing even small amounts of money. Even if that amount was equal to a sandwich, it felt like I had lost a finger of my right hand. 😅 Well, how can you think of a million if you're afraid of losing a dollar?

A lot of rich people's stories are about risk, fear and loss. Some have had it once, but lost everything. And some have had it 100 times and lost more than I would have imagined. But both embraced their fears and took risks, knowing they could lose everything. We, on the other hand, are sometimes afraid of losing someone's understanding or respect, so it's enough for us not to do anything. Fear of future pain is scarier than the pain itself...

But the pain at the end of life can be worse if we haven't done or tried something, right? I already regret many things I didn't even try to do at certain points in my life. If I realize it now, it will be at the end of my life as well. The pain of missing time is greater than the pain of falling. A fall that never happened...

Wealth is boring

I recall hundreds of stories where the rich went on such a rampage and consumption that there wasn't a single thing they didn't try. And beyond that, they got bored, I reckoned. Imagine, there isn't a single thing you can't buy or afford. To me, it was tantamount to say that life was over and there was nothing to strive for. Why learn anything when you already have everything? That's what I thought. That's why so many of them end up very badly and with sad faces get caught up in strange stories...

My brain refused to look for other stories of other people who are still doing wonderful things for themselves, their loved ones, and the world. It was enough for me that there were bad stories. That's how my brain worked. The fear of boredom and finality in life itself is scarier than even risk. In other words, it's the fear of getting things done. And again, the fear of what hasn't happened yet...

The bottom line is that it's boring and scary to live with no money for all the contingencies. And sometimes there isn't any for the obvious. The only thing that is obvious is the prejudices that keep me from moving forward to take risks, make mistakes, fall down, get up and do it all over again. I've already gotten rid of a lot of it now. The only thing ahead is what I will do, not the stories of other people's mistakes!

Psychology Everywhere

Nothing matters as long as there are prejudices that keep you from doing what you're really capable of doing. Psychology is everywhere, but more importantly, psychology is in you. As long as your inner world isn't friends with you, no stories are going to help. Everyone has a story that goes against all that world, if there's enough desire, confidence and interest in what you're doing. Just do it from the heart and don't question it. Or at least just do it!

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