I believe the way you talk to yourself about money shapes your reality. Not in a write-it-on-the-mirror way, but in a practical one: the sentence you say in your head decides what you do next, and what you do next is what often ends up on the bank statement.
I’m 25 and I have multiple six figures saved and invested. The sums matter, and I write about them every week. But the sums came after the my money beliefs started shifting, and if you asked me what changed everything, I’d start here.
So I thought it would be helpful if I shared with you the money beliefs list. The four things I will never say to myself about money, what each one is really saying, what I say instead, and the rewrite to run on your own sentences, because I’m quite sure you have some too.
In this issue:
The four sentences I’ve banned, and what each one is really saying
What I say instead, word for word
The money mantras log: old sentence, new sentence, what changes
The £100 test: how to tell “I can’t afford it” from “I don’t want it”
The one I used to say
Why normal is the wrong target, and who to compare yourself to instead
The rewrite: the log to run on your own sentences
Where it goes wrong
A note on who this is for: none of this is aimed at people who are genuinely struggling. If money is tight in the real sense, the sentences aren’t the problem and I won’t pretend they are. This is for the rest of us, whose balance is fine and whose language about it isn’t. Everyone’s circumstances are different, so take what’s useful and leave the rest.
The four sentences
If you’ve heard me say these before you’ll know them. If not, this is the whole list in four lines:
“I’m broke.” Said most often by people who aren’t.
“I can’t afford to.” A statement instead of a challenge (“Can I afford to…?”)
“Doing that by 25 isn’t normal.” Despite it being true, it’s not the point.
“Must be nice.” The one I used to tell myself.
Identifying this list is the easy part. Anyone can stop saying four sentences for a week. The hard part is what you say instead, because if you don’t give your head a replacement it goes straight back to the old one.
