What is your baggage around the idea of money? What money-related behaviors would you like to change in your life?

Perhaps you grew up in a family where the budget was tight and there was little extra money and so you developed a picture around money that had a big “SCARCITY” sign attached to it.

Perhaps you were part of a relationship where frivolous use of money (sometimes also coupled with extraordinary debt) made you nervous about money.

Maybe you’re at a point in your life where you are wondering if you will ever get beyond living paycheck to paycheck.

I want to let you in on a secret: It’s not simply how much money we make (or have), but our baggage around what money is and how we behave with the money that flows through our life that matter. 

Personal finance has been a growing interest of mine for some time now. My thoughts have been shaped by Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, Joe Dominguez’s and Vicki Robin’s Your Money or Your Life, Andy Stanley’s Fields of Gold and How to Be Rich: It’s Not What You Have. It’s What You Do With What You Have. Most recently, I have been captivated by Francis Chan’s sermon in this collection: The True Value of Money (Faith Builders Book 3).

One of my favorite quotes from Dave Ramsey is that succeeding with money is 20% head knowledge and 80% behavior. In my own financial journey, I have found both aspects to be important, but behavior trumps knowledge every time. This week I invite you to consider both.

Take the questions below, write them on a notecard, and discuss them with those closest to you:

1. What things did I grow up learning about money that I no longer believe to be true?

2. What behaviors surrounding money would I most like to change in the next six months?