Eleanor Roosevelt has become a favorite “mentor” of mine because she made such huge contributions to our country in the second half of her life.   During the Depression she brought the Whitehouse to the people on the streets increasing trust in government, advocated for mine workers and other laborers working in unsafe conditions, and helped found the United Nations.  She did these things by focusing on her desired outcomes and facing her fears.  One of my favorite quotes of hers is:

“We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face.”

Right now given our current economic situation we have a tremendous opportunity to “look fear in the face.”  We can do that starting wherever we notice we are most concerned.  Money is an easy place for me to start and perhaps for you.  Over the last year, thanks to Diane Gasal who has been a terrific financial management coach for me, I have made some real headway in dealing with stuck places around money.  My relationship  with money is still not where I intend to have it be, there are still areas of uncertainty and fear.

The awareness of those fears coupled with a realization that I along with many Americans am called to dig deep around what is working and what is not in our lives is motivating.

Credit cards have seemed like a real mixed blessing to me for a long time.  I have made real progress in paying them off.  However, it wasn’t until I heard my credit card interest rates would be going up significantly, without any provocation on my part, that I decided a new approach is required.  Take all of your credit cards out of circulation is the advice given.  I have taken some of my credit cards out of circulation.  And the ones I keep I will pay off monthly.  I will pay for what I get, or I will not get it.  In the meantime, I will put more into savings.  That will be the place I go to pay for larger expenses.

Barbara Stanny is one of several valuable resources for information on how to cultivate a more powerful relationship with money .   She is author of “Secrets of Six Figure Women” and “Overcoming Under-earning,”   and I heard her speak at the PSCA Regional Coaching Conference (February 2009).  That workshop and her free article on Developing a Respectful Relationship with Money may provide you, as it did me, with the added impetus and information to change.   One of the points Barbara makes is that credit cards often provide a false sense of financial capability.  Read her article and learn more.

What are your fears around money? 

What other resources will help you dig deep to address those fears?

What have you found has helped you face your money fears and move beyond them?

Note:  Even as I wrote this post, I could feel concern rise in me.  What about that next larger, unexpected expense?  Sure enough, last week my faithful printer expired.  Thanks to a colleague, I quickly found what sounds like an ideal replacement.  However, given my other expenses this month and depleted savings, I may not be buying the printer this month.