In the work that I do with clients, I spend as much time listening to clients tell me about the guilt, the shame, the worry, the fears that they have around money. Just last week I was reviewing a client’s income and expenses worksheet and she was struck by how much anxiety she was experiencing when we tallied the numbers. She talked about the fear of being judged, the worry about facing reality, the shame of not being further along financially than she was, her fear for the future.

Another client I worked with had a large family inheritance but was overwhelmed with a sense of responsibility to “do the right thing” with the money. She described how she felt like a child with her mother still watching and monitoring what she did with the money.

These are the kinds of stories I hear all the time and I’m sure you have your own money story. So long as it’s kept hidden within you, the influences will likely show up somewhere in how you relate to money and often times these factors limit your ability to be successful with money, and more importantly, with your life.