Do You Have a Fear of Money?
December 12th, 2007 | by Molly's Brother |Although there has been much talk about “poverty consciousness” and the “law of attraction,” the question I ask is rooted in psychological reality. If you have a fear of money, you suffer from chrometophobia.
People who suffer from chrometophobia have undue levels of anxiety as a result of persistent and abnormal fear of money. Chrometophobes (really) worry that they might mismanage money or that money might actually bring out the worst in them.
How much of a chrometophobe are you?
I think this fear of money operates on many levels. Friends of mine are afraid to have children because of the financial implications. Friends have decided not to go back to graduate school because they are afraid they won’t have enough money during those two years.
Often times, our fears get in the way of our paths.
Take my friend who wanted to go back to grad school. He would have gone to a state school. Would have paid in-state tuition. In order to go back to school, he would have needed to quit his full-time job and work part-time and earn money through odd jobs. Overall, not including any loans he would have taken out, he would have probably seen a 70% pay decrease.
So he never went back to school.
Now, we’re seven years down the road. During five of those seven years, he could have been making more money with a graduate degree. There would have been no telling what heights his earnings potential would reach.
But he didn’t go back to school. He was afraid of the money that he would not have made during those two years. His fears focused him on the short-term and took his focus off of long term–and necessary–goals.
Shed your money fears. Think of the possibilities–they really are endless.
