We’ve all witnessed the ups and downs of the stock market. Recently, it seems there have been more “downs” than “ups.” There are a number of ways to respond. We’ve heard from many people that they’re afraid to open their quarterly statements.
In another Bigg Success Show Expert Session, we talked with Joan Sotkin. Joan is the creator of the popular web site Prosperity Place and the author of the award-winning book, Build Your Money Muscles. Joan has been helping people understand and improve their relationship with money for over 25 years.
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Hear clips from Joan's Expert Session with George & Mary-Lynn on The Bigg Success Show! Click the purple player: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Hear clips from Joan's Expert Session with George & Mary-Lynn on The Bigg Success Show! Click the purple player: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download___
5 Feelings People Associate with Money
Joan has an interesting take on money. She says that the emotions you bring to your money – those underlying feelings you have – greatly impact how you manage your money.
During our Expert Session, Joan told us about the five major feelings that people associate with their money:
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What you bring to your numbers is based on who you are – how you think, what you believe, and how you feel. In my book, I identify the five major feelings that people act out through their money – anger, shame, deprivation, a sense of being trapped, and a sense of aloneness. One of the main feelings people act out with their money is their sense of aloneness. “I can’t run out of money; I can only run out of people, because money is always attached to people. So if I owe you money, you won’t forget about me.”
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We found this very interesting. Owing someone money may enter our minds as a good thing, because it means we have a relationship.
Another thing we like about the Expert Session is Joan goes into the feelings about retirement plans. She digs in deeper to explore feelings of anger and fear.
Why more money may bring more struggles
A lot of people find that the more money they make, the more difficulties they have. Why is this? Here’s what Joan says:
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There are nine exercises in my book. I start with turning the toilet paper around in a new direction so you can get used to changing. People have to adapt to the process of change because it’s very uncomfortable. When you change, you go through a period of disorientation. When you move from one house to another house you want to be in, stupid things happen. You don’t where anything is. You lose your keys or your wallet. You bump into walls. I call those the “moving stupids.” When you start changing how you “be” in the world – when you start responding differently to things – your life is going to change. That gets uncomfortable. I spoke to someone the other day who said, “I’m just at that place again. Every time I start making more money, something happens and I get back to the same old point again.” Because you have to learn how to deal with more money. It feels different. It’s amazing how much feeling comes with money — $10,000 feels different than $1,000. It’s that disorientation of change that makes people give up what they’re doing and go back to their old ways of doing things.
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Even before this financial turmoil we’re going through kicked in, we read that there is the psychological profession is experiencing growth helping people understand the psychology behind their money decisions. We applaud Joan for being ahead of her time, because she’s been looking at this for years!
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| We dig even deeper in our Bigg Success Show Expert Session called Finding Peace in Financial Chaos. |
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In addition to what we’ve already discussed, Joan talks about how your financial identity and the vocabulary you use affect your results. You’ll also learn how to connect to your feelings so you manage your money better. And there’s so much more in the forty minute discussion in one easy-to-download track!
Next time, we’ll talk about time vampires. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!
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What inspired you to write your latest book?
I work with entrepreneurs and people who have been downsized, and I’ve found one thing that’s consistent. People know they could do better, work less, and make more money, but without someone stimulating their imagination, it’s very difficult to go through a change. So the book is designed to help people realize that, no matter what’s going on in their life, if they take one step or enroll one person at a time, they can change anything that isn’t the way they wanted it.
When we talked before our interview, you said that this book goes beyond where 
