Train yourself to be more equanimous in the face of financial ups and downs, as this will lead to making better decisions and reduce anxiety and stress about money.
Identify and reframe long-held, often subconscious beliefs about money, which can otherwise cause suffering and lead to unfortunate decisions.
Use the RAIN practice (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture/Non-identify) when anxiety about money arises, to feel and acknowledge difficult emotions without judgment, allowing wisdom to emerge for better decisions.
Regularly practice the “enough” contemplation to defy the cultural current of “more,” training your brain for present contentment and accessing wisdom for financial decisions by reducing grasping.
Engage in a “reframe meditation” by recalling childhood scenes of inherited money messages, offering compassion to your younger self and the adults involved, then imagining the message you wish you had received to loosen the grip of old beliefs.
Cultivate sympathetic joy (Mudita) by wishing well for others’ success, which helps quiet the comparing mind, reduces envy, and can transform relationships and personal success.
Offer compassion to yourself for past money mistakes and your current financial situation, as this helps to heal judgment and self-blame, fostering a more nurturing relationship with your finances.
Engage in generosity, not just with money but also with your presence, attention, resources, or skills, as this letting-go practice counters grasping, signals sufficiency, and can lead to abundance and happiness.
Slow down and begin with awareness of every spending, saving, investing, and giving decision, because money is often laden with emotion and speed, leading to reactive choices.
When facing financial decisions, imagine you are advising someone else with your exact situation to access common sense and wisdom, which can be blocked by personal emotions.
Engage in a gratitude practice, especially before making a big money decision, by appreciating what you already have, shifting your mindset from fear and scarcity to a sense of enoughness.
Intentionally consider worst-case financial scenarios, either alone or with a trusted person, to realize that even extreme negative outcomes are often manageable, reducing paranoia.
If in dire financial straits, courageously talk to friends or colleagues, asking for feedback on your strengths and potential opportunities to earn more money, as this fosters courage for action.
Diversify investments by spreading money across many different categories and thousands of companies, embracing an attitude of “don’t know” about future market predictions, as this generally leads to more success.