Howdy <<First Name>>,

On Monday night, I moderated a workshop called "Finance Your Dream Life," intended to help demystify the world of money and personal finance. 

It was a fascinating two hours with panelists—Ashley Feinstein Gerstley of Knowing Your Worth, Jill Ozovek of Jill Ozovek Career Coaching, lifestyle coach Danielle Mercurio and Michelle McKinnon of Payne Capital Management—talking about mindfulness and money, tracking spending and the nuts and bolts of investing.

"Don't put money on a pedestal," Ms. Mercurio said, offering the alternative of viewing yourself as "equal to money," and thinking of money as "something that supports you." 

Ms. Gerstley noted that "money is very emotionally charged."

Ms. Ozovek recommended having knowledge of what money is coming in and what money is going out. In order to do that, Ms. Gerstley proposed tracking spending in a money journal for three weeks, including experiences before and after buying things. After the three-week period, that data can be used to create an annual view so you "see the total impact" of each expense, Ms. Gerstley said.

Participants created their own personal mantras/freedom statements that they can call on whenever fear around money strikes. One attendee declared: "Money is my best friend." Another participant said, "I can come from a position of strength whether or not I have $1 in my pocket."

As Tony Robbins says in his newest book, MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom: "What makes most people just dreamers versus those who live the dream is that dreamers have never figured out the price of their dreams."

Change Emanates From Crisis

The power of habit—defined as a repeated behavior that tends to occur unconsciously—has long been a topic of interest to me, and even more so now that I am reading "The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business," by Charles Duhigg. The book offers a fascinating look at habit formation and change in settings from boardrooms to the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous to the sidelines of the NFL. 

In a chapter about "the power of a crisis," Mr. Duhigg talks about how among companies and institutions change is generally possible "only once a sense of crisis takes hold." 

Among many of my individual clients, this seems to hold true, too. They seek out a coach once they are sick and tired of being sick and tired of doing what they're doing or living as they are living. Desperation breeds willingness. 

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