7 Easy Strategies to Cope With Financial Anxiety
Financial anxiety impacts more than 70 percent of American adults. If you've spent your childhood listening to your parents argue about money, or you've felt as though you're drowning in debt, or you've worried about whether you'll have enough for retirement, then you've probably experienced financial anxiety. You may have felt financial anxiety if you feel depressed when you think about money, if you overspend, if you're obsessed with being frugal, or if you depend entirely on others to figure out your finances. There are things you can do to take control of this anxiety and manage your finances again. Let's look at some of them now. 1) Face The Problem: It's too easy to bury your head in the sand when you feel overwhelmed with financial stress, but this is one of the worst things you can do. Schedule time with yourself or your spouse to look over finances and talk openly about strategies. Also, address your feelings about your finances and support yourself and your spouse with positive encouragement.
2) Practice Mindfulness: Pay close attention to your feelings and your body responses as you study your finances. When you check in with your body, you're better able to acknowledge and control your emotions related to money, rather than being controlled by them. 3) Find the Positives: When you're overwhelmed with negative feelings about money, a good way to change your thinking is to find the positives. Even if there are very few positive things, acknowledge them as often as possible. This can make a huge impact on the amount of stress you feel, and can help you approach money with less apprehension. 4) Change What You Can: Even if your situation looks dismal, there is always something you can change. Create a budget, or have a closer look at your existing budget to see what expenses you can cut. Pick up a side job or address any spending problems you may have. Perhaps it's time to return to school to qualify for a higher paying job. Whatever change needs to occur, it's time to make it happen. 5) Seek Help: It may be difficult to justify spending money to help save money, but professional finance counselors can make a huge difference. Many of these people also offer free consultations, and there is a wealth of debt management information online. 6) Hypnosis: Hypnosis is effective as long as you allow it to be. Don't look to hypnosis to change your behavior, but rather to change your outlook and your thinking patterns. Allow the suggestions to coach you out of an anxious mindset and into confidence and peace. There are many YouTube videos with hypnotic suggestions that will help ease your stress. 7) Self-Care: Physical and mental health are vital to stress management. Eat healthy meals as often as possible, maintain your personal hygiene, get enough sleep, and exercise as much as you're able. Poor self-care will only increase your stress levels.
Mark Angelo co-founded the Investment Manager in August 2009.