Happy first Friday! Hope your day is off to a good start.
I thought I’d take the opportunity to introduce this project.
If you’re getting this email you’ve either opted in to this Substack directly through one of my links, or you opted in to an email list I’ve since discontinued. Either way, welcome, but don’t feel pressured to stay. In this newsletter I’ll be focusing less on my personal brand and the various projects I’m involved in, and more on diving into this taboo intersection between money and mental health that is financial trauma.
My goal is to give you the vocabulary to describe and identify financial trauma, as well as the tools to overcome it. Of course I do this through the lens of my own experience and can in no way give you medical or financial advice through email.
Feel free to comment directly on the posts or reply in a private message any feedback you have . Also don’t hesitate to share with friends, family, or colleagues that might benefit from this work.
So what is financial trauma?
Financial trauma is any instance observed or experienced that has a negative impact on the way you view, interact with, or believe about money.
That can be something small or “little t” trauma like overhearing someone’s bad experience with credit cards *cough Dave Ramsey*, or severe “Big T” trauma like enduring an eviction, repossession, bankruptcy, or job loss. It’s about how that experience big or small impacts your relationship with money.
I often ask my clients “How would you describe your relationship with money?” and I get responses that sound like “I’m a good saver” or “I’m a shopaholic” or “I need a budget”. While this level of self awareness is great, it doesn’t exactly answer the question about your relationship with money as much as it tells me about your habits with money.
So the purpose of this newsletter is to get you to do a deep dive into how money makes you think or feel, and how those variables influence your behaviors financially.
A common misconception about money trauma is that you have to have experienced poverty to have it and this couldn’t be further from the truth. I’d argue that there is MORE stress, MORE anxiety, and MORE fear, to navigate as someone who’s earned a high income or has always had the means financially.
Remember that as much as it’s about the money, it isn’t.
-Rahkim
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