We are encouraged not to talk about it. And with that, we tend not to learn about how it works and end up not enjoying it even when we have it. And this is what we often unthinkingly pass on to our children.
Kids tend to pick up their parents’ points of view about everything, including money and finance, and business. So, if we believe for example that money is the root of all evil, or we don’t want to have too much money because we will have to share it, these points of view will be picked up and adopted by our children. Beliefs like this will surely limit the amount of money you and your children can have, but also your feelings about the amount of money you have.
To bring clarity to this often most unclear of subjects, I will start by talking about poor, rich, and wealthy (and some of it may not be what you think!) and then give you some practical, pragmatic tips for educating your kids so that they have ease and enjoyment in this area of their lives.
Being poor seems obvious – not having enough money, or just having enough money to survive. I know all about that. I grew up in a village in Scotland, without enough food to eat, and without enough money for heating and warm clothes in the bitterly cold winters. And yet there is more here.
It is also about how you think – do you function from a poverty mentality? This is the place where you expect the worst, where you are unwilling to receive anything, the sunshine, the forest, the kindness of a stranger. You are shut down by the world around you.
Rich also seems obvious. It is that place where you have money, where you can have a lifestyle where you are not just surviving. However, rich people often have some of the same limiting beliefs and lack of ease around money as poor people. They do not have ease with it, they are constantly afraid they will lose what they have.
And this is where wealthy is different. When we are wealthy, we are willing to have money, not just spend it. It is not just about money, it’s about receiving all the good things in life, including money. It is the space where you become aware of possibilities and are more alive, You function with a generosity of spirit, where you know and trust that the world is an abundant place, and you will be looked after. When you are willing to receive more, you will find that people seem to want to gift to you, and so you receive even more. The universe will put people and things in your path to help you create what you are asking for.
So, how do we become wealthy, and what can we do to teach our kids how to become wealthy?
First off it’s about you. Kids will pick up your points of view about money, wealth, and receiving. However, ninety percent of our opinions and thoughts are not cognitive. So, to become aware of where you are functioning with money requires becoming truly present with your thoughts and your choices with money.
To help you to see what may be going on for you, let me give you some common examples of limitations people have around money. Money is the root of all evil. I need to be looked after. I don’t want too much money, I will have to share it. Struggling is the only thing that motivates me to create. If I have more, someone else will have less. Having more is indulgent, selfish, and greedy. I don’t deserve it.
Just starting to become aware of all of this is the beginning of changing it, and being willing to have more money and more of all of the good things in life.
One of the aspects of wealth is being willed to have money. Teach your kids, from when they start to have money of their own, to put away ten percent of all the money that comes in. This money is an honoring of them, and it creates in their life the energy of the willingness to have money, and somehow attracts more money in. You can also teach them how to use this money to create even more money as they get older.
Also, show your kids that they can create money for themselves. They can sell cookies or lemonade, print t-shirts, wash cars, walk dogs, or whatever else they can think of! Teach them to be willing to do anything that will create the money to get what they would like to have in their lives. This will serve them as kids, young adults, and throughout their whole lives.
Teach your kids how to spend with the generosity of spirit, to gift to other people, and to enjoy gifting. This can be inviting a friend to the cinema, or giving them some money for a treat and encouraging them to share it with a friend too.
Also, share with them the difference between receiving and taking. When someone truly receives a gift, there is gratitude in their world that is a function of being wealthy. When someone is gifted something, and they are not truly able to receive it, they take it. This taking is devoid of gratitude and can feel to the giver like a slap in the face. Often, the giver makes themselves wrong at this point and shuts down the capacity to give. Teach your kids that this is not personal, not to do with the person gifting, but with the other person’s ability to receive.
And you can show your kids gratitude for money. What you are grateful for will show up more in your life.
Having money is also an honouring of you. Show your kids that when you are willing to honour you, you will have the money for more expansive choices: a long haul first class ticket, or a beautiful, soft cashmere sweater that allows your body to feel nurtured and cared for. Similarly, being wealthy allows you to create a future. If you only have enough money to just about get by, you stay stuck in the present, with the future happening to you.
