The first step toward financial freedom is a step back in time to the earliest moments you can recall when money meant something to you. When you truly understood what it could do, when you began to see that money could create pleasure--and also see that it could create pain. When you understood money was money. You will find that the actions we are taking now are designed to maintain the family dynamics of your childhood.

Exercise
Where did you learn about money? Friends, the newspaper, the movies, TV, magazines and neighbors are all sources of information about money. Where else did you learn about money? What have you learned? Everything you learn about money is important; however nothing is as important as your childhood memories.

Exercise
What are your earliest money memories?

What are your memories of money from the age of 3-5, 6-9, 10-14, 15-19?

What were the best presents you recall receiving when you were a child?

Did your friends have things you didn’t?

Did you get money every time you went to see your grandparents?

Were you ashamed to bring your friends home to your house?

What were the special treats of your childhood?

Did you have to be good in order to earn them?

Did you feel like your friends had nicer clothes than you did?

Did your friend’s parents have more expensive cars than yours did?

Did you feel ashamed of having more then your friends did?

Did you hear your parents fight about money?

Did you receive money as gifts, instead of a handpicked present?

Was shopping for school clothes a ritual you looked forward to every year?

Did you steal--from piggy banks, your parents’ wallets, or the dime store?

Do you remember the very first wallet you ever had?

Was it given to you empty, or with a penny in it, or a dollar?

Did you get less of an allowance than your friends or siblings?

Did you have to work for it, or was it given to you as your right?

What did you do with it - spend it or save it?

What is the biggest amount of money you ever saw as a child?

Did you get money for your birthdays?

Did someone tell you what to do with it?

What did your parents tell you about money that made you feel good?

That made you feel bad?

Exercise
What is the most powerful memory of money you have? When one memory keeps coming back and it feels true and important, that’s the one you want to focus on. What did it mean to you then? What does it mean to you now? After you have spent some time thinking about this memory, write down everything you can remember about it. Do not censor anything. The truth will set you free

On To Page 5

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