When you practice Positive Money, you apply the principles to daily financial decisions with mindfulness and compassion.
The seventh principle of Positive Money focuses on how to apply the principles in mindful and compassionate ways. Like most practices, it starts with an interest in or a need for what the practice promises and a commitment to try it out. If you like what you see or feel, especially if it fills a void or speaks to you in a certain way, you’re inspired to do more either on your own or with a teacher or community that helps you move toward a practice.
If you’ve ever started or adopted a practice, this process may sound familiar. When I got serious about yoga in my early forties, I’d already dabbled in it years before and was looking for something physical and spiritual. I decided on Ashtanga yoga, took a few classes, and eventually signed up for a year and went regularly. Little did I know how much that decision and practice would get me through the next 20 years. Those classes were a sanctuary and an opportunity to reflect on what I brought to the mat. Not only was I learning about yoga, but I was learning about myself; how I did or didn’t compare myself to others, how I navigated a bad knee, and what it meant to show up.
Today, I’m grateful that my yoga practices sustained me through difficult times and reminds me of how much I rely on mental and physical fitness for my mental health. I can’t imagine functioning without it. I wonder if you can relate. What practices do you rely on that keep you grounded and connected? How did they come about? Did a friend invite you to be a running partner and now you count on those runs to do more than build and sustain leg muscle? What about that morning ritual of journaling or praying?
This is why the practice of Positive Money is also the final principle. It’s a long game played daily. It’s many conversations we have with money, not just one. It’s a call to action grounded in the idea that we get more bang for our buck when we invest our buck in something we value.
You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist. - Indira Gandhi