Imagine this.
You wake up an hour before your alarm goes off.
You want to turn over and go back to sleep but you just remembered that the previous night you went to bed wondering how you were going to pay this bill that has been giving you trouble.
The tightness in your chest is noticeable and it grips you in a way that spreads throughout your bones.
You toss, turn, check the time, repeat until your alarm goes off.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
You just wan't 5 more minutes, so you hit snooze.
5 minutes turns into 15, then 20, then -
Oh shoot! You're going to be late for work. You drag yourself out of bed not feeling rested and you get started on your day, rushing and falling behind.
You can't focus on the tasks ahead of you because you still feel the tightness in your chest.
Somehow you manage to swallow it down with the rest of your breakfast until it's nothing but a dull ache.
"I'll deal with this later" you say...
This article kicks off Mental Health Awareness Month and how appropriate to follow a powerful April filled with financial literacy. I've been busy reaching out to local and not so local organizations to line up programming for these last two months that address matters of the psyche related to money and the ways in which individuals can identify and protect their physical bank accounts, and the bank accounts of their minds.
If you’re reading this I’m probably on a plane I'm headed to Virginia in partnership with Experian to deliver a workshop on Money, Emotion & Empowerment. I’ve also decided that starting next month (June) I’m going to be offering pro bono financial counseling to my local library patrons as a way to give back and get involved with the local community. This stemmed from a decision to renew my library card!
Want to bring me to your organization this month? Click HERE and I'll get back to you asap.
The example outlined above might sound familiar to you. Sure some of the variables can look slightly different but that choke hold our financial anxiety might have on us is eerily similar from person to person.
While it may be easy to suggest that the source of financial anxiety is tied into poor financial decision making, there are many instances of this anxiety surfacing in high income earning and relatively "responsible" adults. That is why the transition between financial literacy month in April, and mental health awareness month in May is a one-two punch that I can get behind.
Because what good is all that product and strategy knowledge if you're waking up with chest pains mulling over your financial woes?
Did You Know?!
Believe it or not there is a huge misconception about people who work in financial services...It's the assumption that because someone works for a financial company they are automatically financial educated and financially well!
Sadly, this is simply not the case. Even with high levels of financial literacy, employees of financial companies are not imperious to financial stress, financial anxiety, or financial trauma.
If anything, that education can exacerbate those issues with feelings of shame or guilt about where they are in their financial journey without the proper outlets and resources to understand and address those feelings.
Our financial health has a direct impact on our mental health which has a direct impact on our physical health.
If health is wealth then addressing our financial stressors, anxieties, and traumas are part of the wealth building process.
Although I am booking for speaking engagements, workshops, and more this month, I am still accepting financial therapy and financial counseling clients. If you’re interested in having a conversation about the impact of your finances on your mental health, or you simply want to improve your financial plan you can click HERE to get started.
For inquiries and booking information to have me speak for your Employee Resource Groups, Executive Teams, Students, etc. for Financial Literacy Month and Mental Health Awareness Month. Email Partner@RahkimSabree.com or visit my website at www.RahkimSabree.com
I’ve really benefited from your writing on the intersection of emotion and financial literacy. What do you think of the book “You Only Live Once” by Jason Vitug? Do you recommend any books/sources for folks who aren’t ready to work with someone like you, but still want to make progress on healing financial trauma? Thanks so much for all you do ✨