If you have felt broke and depressed lately, forget trying to improve your financial situation. First, work on your attitude. Research shows pursuing happiness through money alone results in a life of decreased happiness, increased waste, and increased anxiety, depression, and substance abuse.

BUT you are not going to get depressed while pursuing money if you have an attitude of gratitude baby!

Those people who are materialistically motivated, have a positive attitude and practise gratitude are less affected by pursuing material gains than those who have a negative attitude and do not practise gratitude.

The absolute worst place to be in is to want more than what you have already, without first wanting what you have already.

(Pennie, B, Kelly M, An examination of generalised implicit biases towards ‘wanting more’ as a proxy measure of materialistic behaviour: A Relational Frame Theory (RFT) perspective The Department of Psychology, National University of Ireland Maynooth, Maynooth, Co. Kildare)

What causes you to choose how you invest your energy on a daily basis?

I have been manifesting for years. I have countless of journals and notebooks spread around my house, filled with goals and to-do lists. The dreams extend back to when I was married, when I was separating and all the ‘maybe man’ relationships since.

There is a clear trend. I want for all the same stuff. And I continue to not achieve my goals. Why is that?

Are my goals wrong? Or am I living my life all wrong, which stops me from getting my goals?

So my goals: To buy a house, to travel with my daughter, to be a life coach, to have a successful business, to be financially secure.

Its been 9 years. I have not achieved any of those goals.

I examined the values that underpin my goals and came up with the core ones of love, authenticity and growth. I have many more, but these are the key ones I go back to daily.

Do my goals have anything to do with my values? Yes, but I have forgotten to allow the links to occur. Because of emotion.

I have been distracted so often by love. I have loved so hard, I have become driven by my emotions. I have forgotten about building financial stability, I was busy mending broken hearts and dreams.

I have grown, but I have not fully appreciated or planned for how my growth is to fit in with my goal of buying a house. My growth was lessons learnt about what NOT TO DO, instead of what to do.

I wrongly believed my emotions were my authenticity. Instead, my authenticity is my strength and my life. Not my responses to the dramas in my life.

All the energy I have spent on trying to navigate emotions and relationships has really stopped me from focusing on achieving my financial goals. How the hell am I supposed to achieve financial goals when my emotional wellbeing seems to require so much of my attention?

I have decided to focus on not letting my emotions bully me. My values are going to run the show and the output will be financial security.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton