In this article you will find out:
✅ What is the actual source of the money mindset
✅ What is the most effective way to teach your child about money
✅ Exactly how you can do it
✅ Examples of common teaching “mistakes”
Our money mindset is often a carbon copy of how our family handled money or what beliefs our parents had around abundance when we were growing up. It will also be influenced by the cultural norms we were born into – what stories about abundance we grew up with. Therefore your child will learn to fear poverty or create abundance from you, their parent.
Have you noticed how younger children have no concepts of financial limitations? We often feel it’s not grounded in reality and try to fix it by teaching scarcity. It’s always a good idea to watch that, be aware of what you’re teaching because this might be setting up some limiting beliefs resulting in a financial glass ceiling for them.
So, how do we teach our child about money?
Your son or daughter will learn about money from you, by osmosis. This means that your own beliefs about scarcity or the ability to hold the energy of money will naturally sip in straight into their subconscious mind. Your child watches you all the time and feels your emotion (energy) when you deal with your own wealth. That is what they will most likely replicate. If you’re seeing it as a problem, keep reading.
The best place to start
The best place to start is to let go of ANY feelings of guilt or concern, just for now. Then, take a deep breath and think of your current efforts at teaching your child about money. Do you give a monthly allowance? Did you set up a chore schedule and linked it to weekly payments? How are you explaining the value of money to your child? That will give you major hints about where you stand in terms of your beliefs around abundance.
The next step
The next step is to connect with your feelings. You may ask: How am I feeling when I dispense the allowance? How am I feeling when I receive money? What are my hopes? What I’m trying to teach my child? What if she/he will not get my lesson and remain “careless”, “unconscious”, “not grounded” about money?
Check out these examples:
I’m bringing up guilt when teaching my child about money, because it’s a good way for them to get the lesson. – you are attaching wealth to pain, which might choke the energy of joyful abundance for them.
I want to protect my child from poverty by teaching them how to hold on to money so that they are safe in the future. – here, you would be connecting money with fear, and you might be locking them up in the poverty/survival stage.
I want my child to understand that the more they work, the greater the financial gains. – it doesn’t always work this way and the grind mentality tends to take away much joy from life.
I agreed to pay my son for daily chores, but I keep forgetting to give him the money. It’s not a big deal. – you might be teaching that honouring a deal is optional.
Money is interwoven into many beliefs about who you are and how you perceive the world. It’s a very powerful and usually deeply rooted concept. It can trigger lots of wounds, especially those linked to survival or self-worth.
We all want the best for our children, but we often forget that the real teaching happens through osmosis, not words or not even through inspiring speeches (I’ve done quite a few of those in the past). If your deepest desire is for your child to do well, live happily, you can teach them all that. It has to begin with YOU first.
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