How it can pay to watch your words
THE words we use when talking about finances could be costing us money.
Our words shape our thoughts and actions, says financial coach and author Jennifer Cramer Lewis, so we should avoid saying things such as “want” and “try”.
“Rather than speaking in terms of trying and possibly failing, talk confidently about what’s going to happen,” Ms Cramer Lewis said.
And get rid of “can’t”, “maybe” and “never” too.
She said using “never” shut out possibilities, while the word “maybe” prompted indecision and carried negative energy.
“If you have ever been around a negative person who has nothing nice to say about anything, you will know how that can impact your physical and mental health,” Ms Cramer Lewis said.
“I hear people in tough money situations saying all kinds of things that are essentially sending messages to their brain that say they’ve accepted this is how it is.”
People should also use the word “love” more, she said.
“I am hard on my clients when they tell me they want something. I suggest they replace that word right away with the word ‘love’ – ‘I love that car’ or ‘I love having $10,000 in my bank’, even if they don’t have it yet,” Ms Cramer Lewis said.
She also does not like the word “budget” because people’s subconscious translated it to mean getting by on less, she said. Instead, use “capital improvement plan” or “profitability improvement plan”.
“Change your mindset on the word ‘budget’ and incredible things can happen. I’ve seen it in my own life and with the people in my classes,” she said.
Catapult Wealth financial adviser John Lawler said using positive words helped people make good decisions.
“If you don’t have a positive mindset, that tends to create indecisiveness,” he said.
Mr Lawler said people often spoke about big decisions and large financial goals that might seem unattainable.
“What you should be doing is making little decisions and making them often. That mitigates a lot of the timing risk when it comes to investing,” he said.