Have you ever been in a pinch and tried to come up with new ideas about a project? It doesn’t matter if it’s for work or at home. If you’re really worried about it, what happens? 

Often the ideas struggle out of my brain. I’m worried and have a hard time focussing. I feel urgency and want results now.  I find that if I’m under enough pressure, I look back after making the decision and realize there are about 14 things I hadn’t thought of that didn’t make it into a project idea or into that proposal or off to that client.

On the other hand when I take time and open up space and spend some time relaxing,  ideas just come to me – out of the blue. Brilliant ideas for projects, services and products – so many that I can’t follow up on all of them.

Financial pressure is a lot like that.  There are plenty of places that talk about money as a river or stream or flowing water and that use the metaphor of a faucet. My experience is that worry is akin to turning the faucet down or even off.

But why?  I’ve heard it talked about in terms of energy and there is something there. But in terms of psychology, what we see is that people get and do what they focus on – they find proof for their stories.  That’s why advertising works. You see an ad for toothpaste over and over and pretty soon you’re standing in your bathroom wondering how this this toothpaste you’ve never tried before got into your house.

Things that we imagine often come to pass – positive, negative or otherwise: because our brains are looking for them. Our brains are trained to find patterns and so the patterns you put into them is what you eventually find. It’s why we seem to have similar relationships over and over – and that’s part of why affirmations work. We tell our brains to look for certain ideas and hooks and it does. So I talked about affirmations and and how to write them, now is great time to review them if you haven’t in a while.

In an ideal world you would have a Financial Map of  Intentions – a review of what you’ve been spending and clear projections about what you intend to spend moving forward, month by month. That way you can review your monthly spending and make clear decisions in advance of financial crunches. 

But that’s not always possible and things change – so no sense in making yourself feel worse than you already do. In fact now is a great time to be grateful for your financial prowess – you see what’s going on, you’ve come to look for support and now you’re going to change it! Way to go!

So what to do about financial pressure right now?

If you’re feeling pressured about money, the first thing to do is to take a deep breath. (And notice when the last time was that you did that.) Just take a moment to relax and come back into your body. Sometimes it takes a few breaths or more to come back – a walk outside in the fresh air, a hug, looking at something beautiful, a nice long, hot bath. But take that time – it’s well worth it and really supports making sound decisions.

Second do a real assessment: are you in danger? What are the real dangers in this situation?  Often we worry about financial pressures that might happen – in days, weeks and months from now. If those things aren’t here, take another breath and notice that more than likely you really are safe right now.

Then create a plan. Not just for the crisis or thing that has come up that you’re worried about, but look at the bigger picture. Decide what really wants to be done here – is this an obligation that you want to continue with? Is this mortgage something you can handle? What is coming up over the next few weeks that can effect this piece of your financial reality? And how can you effect positive change from right here. 

Remember in creating change you want it to be in alignment with your values. So if you value ease, think about what you can do to bring more ease into this situation.  How do you want to feel about this obligation and what can you do to bring more of that emotion into this situation?

Keep breathing and move gently focusing on staying home in your body and making positive changes that support the overall effort of your life. It might take time, but putting into place a plan for you financial success is well worth the effort.