Dear Africana Woman,
Are you aware that you actually do not want to be rich? So many of us have declared war against poverty out loud but our subconscious counters that with a limiting belief. Limiting beliefs are sneaky because we often do not know that we have them. According to research the brain can have 50 000 thoughts per day. 95% of those thoughts are repeated continuously in our minds. Our thoughts turn into beliefs and our beliefs become our mindset which then fuels our actions, which create our reality.
Many limiting beliefs formed when we were young and were not necessarily able to process what we saw and learned. Here is the thing, if you do not become aware of what your limiting beliefs are, then work to tell your brain what to believe instead, no matter how well meaning you are about a certain situation, your brain will work to self sabotage and make your limiting belief a reality.
The easiest example I can give of this is how, many of us have declared a desire to be rich. However, in our society, how many times have you been told stories of how some rich person attained their wealth through witch craft. This may or may not be true but the fact is society perceives 'rich' people as satanic worshipers. Therefore, your limiting belief could be 'To become rich you must practice witchcraft.' As the God fearing Christian that you are your brain does not want you to be a satanist, therefore, whenever you try to amass money your actions self sabotage. That is, you find yourself spending all of your money until all of it is finished. You could be buying frivolous items, or giving it away to friends and family who you know will never return it.
Babe, you can have a well paying job, really nice car and house, but every month end your account is at zero two days after being paid. There you are with your fancy car asking friends to borrow a K100 ($5) to buy gas and you cannot help but think , 'why does this keep happening to me?' To be honest I am also guilty of this behaviour. I am certainly not trying to point fingers at you as if I am a saint or I am an expert with my money. However, over the years I have decided enough is enough. I had to learn why was I always broke when I clearly had capital coming in. Whilst there are many behaviors that cause mismanagement of funds, one of the root causes is our limiting beliefs. Here is another one. Money is the root of all evil. You have heard this said over and over whether in church or by elders and it has sunk deep into your psyche. The actual verse in 1 Tim 6:10 states it is the love of money, not the money itself, which is the root of all evil. God has always asked to be loved FIRST, then all other things can be given unto you. It is not in his nature to be anything but first. So love Him first and because He wants you to have an abundant life (John 10:10) He will provide exceedingly above all that you can ask for. Is money included in the exceeding, yes, if that is what you need. Anyway, I digress, this is a conversation for another day. my point today is that your brain has been trained to fear money and your actions are desperately trying to prove that you are not evil.
Fortunately, once we KNOW what we are thinking and actually believe, we can become more intentional about what can work for our benefit. I want you to try this exercise to re-frame your mindset wherever you are.
List 5 things that you believe about money. Be honest with yourself, no one is looking over your shoulder to check your answers. But you have to KNOW what is playing on repeat in your mind.
When you have your list decide whether any of those beliefs help you to build your wealth. If you find you have a limiting belief about money, the next step is to write a counter belief. For example my counter statement for I believe money is the root of all evil is I believe money can help me pursue my God given purpose without worrying about my daily needs.
Then the last step is to say out loud that new statement every day. You are then training your brain to think new thoughts, that turns into a belief, that turns into a mindset, which will then become actions that work for you and not against you.
To be honest you can do this exercise for other areas of your life too, however, for this purpose we are focusing on finances. Please come back and share with your fellow Africana Women in the comments at least one of your limiting beliefs about money AND the new statement that you are choosing to believe about money. And so here launches the new series about generational wealth. I think talking about money is so hard in the African culture, but for us to do better with money we have to address it head on. We expect our leaders to negotiate multi-million dollar contracts that will work for the benefit of the country, yet they themselves fear money. Because of their limiting beliefs their actions are determined to spend it all. Truth is we need to be mindful of the relationship our children cultivate with money as they are the leaders of tomorrow, but that healthy relationship with money first begins with us as individuals.
That is all from me for now. Please do subscribe to Africana Woman, comment and share with 5 friends. You know I love you, so I want you to fall in love with yourself, flaws n all, and attract the life that your deserve. I am also inviting you to my weekly live conversations on Instagram every Tuesday 4pm CAT on a segment called A Taste of Culture. I have candid conversations about life with Africana Women from all walks of life from across the world. Make sure you catch past episodes. Darling, have a fantastic week. We will chat soon.
Lots of Love and stuff
Chulu
Shibswali gurl yes He does want an abundant life for us. Thank you for dropping a comment.
Our thoughts on wealth are our barrier, we must free ourselves from these limiting mindsets. Thanks for sharing these ideas , Chulu. They're empowering, and from a Christian perspective too, God wants us to have life, joy and everything in abundance.