The closer Thanksgiving gets, the more most people start thinking about what they’re thankful for in their lives. This is also known as practicing gratitude, and a lot of life coaches recommend doing it regularly because of the all the benefits it offers. People who practice gratitude tend to feel more positive, have less stress and some even claim their health has improved.
However, the benefits of practicing gratitude also extend to your finances. You might think it’s a little odd that being thankful could have any effect on money, but the truth is that your money and your mindset are intertwined in some very interesting ways.
Gratitude Leads to an Abundance Mindset
The biggest benefit of thinking about what you’re grateful for is that it eradicates a scarcity mindset. In other words, it helps you stop worrying about whether you don’t have enough of something. For example, if you’re constantly worried about whether you’ll have enough money to pay all your bills, your attitude towards money is a scarcity mindset.
You might think that more money could solve this problem nicely, and in some cases it might. If you have a scarcity money mindset, though, you’ll still be worried about whether you have enough money regardless of whether your biweekly paycheck is $500 or $5000.
If you have a scarcity mindset, you’ll almost certainly form two habits that can wreck your finances. First, you’ll avoid putting any money in your savings or the risks of investing since you’ll be more concerned about keeping it available for any future expenses. Secondly, a scarcity money mindset can cause you to splurge, because you’ll want to use the money you have to get something nice before you have to spend it on an unforeseen expense.
Practicing gratitude, though, lets you start to develop a positive money mindset, also called an abundance mindset. You won’t worry so much about whether you have enough money, and once you’ve stopped worrying about whether or not you’ll have enough money to get by, you won’t feel the need to splurge before your money is gone again. You’ll even be able to start thinking about the future and saving for your financial goals since you’re not so focused on what will happen in the present.
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Gratitude Lets you Know When you Have Enough
Going out and buying things is always a lot of fun. As time goes on, however, the thrill of buying new things can start to fade. Economists refer to this sensation as diminishing marginal utility. In other words, the more someone gets or does something that makes them feel good, the less happiness they’ll get from it.
This can lead to a vicious cycle, where you feel as though you have to buy more things in order to feel the happiness you used to have. Fortunately, you can protect yourself against this simply by being content with your life. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that the best way to do that is to practice gratitude.
Being content with your life doesn’t mean you’ll never want to buy anything ever again. However, it will help you realize when you have enough, and when you can recognize that you’ll feel less compelled to spend money in order to be happy.
Gratitude Gives You a Better Perspective about Money
Constantly feeling as though you never have enough money can lead to you valuing money itself. While that’s understandable, it can lead to people wanting to have more money for its own sake. This feeling is better known as greed.
As previously mentioned, though, gratitude can help take your focus off the present and allow you to think more about the future. This helps you stop thinking about accumulating wealth as your final goal and instead keep money in its proper place as a tool to let you achieve your financial goals.
Gratitude Helps you Stay Open to Opportunities
A scarcity mindset doesn’t just lead to you mismanaging money. It can also lead you to passing up opportunities. If you’re focused on keeping what you already have, you’re not going to be receptive to doing something new, like getting a personal loan to fund a home improvement project, even if the rewards will give you more financial success than you had before.
When you practice gratitude, though, you become less scared of losing what you have. That leaves you more open to take risks, and it also gives you the objectiveness you need to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each opportunity
Take Advantage of an Abundance Mindset With First Alliance Credit Union
When you start to practice gratitude, you start to focus on the things you have instead of what you don’t. That shift in attitude can benefit your life in several ways, including your finances. Practicing gratitude can make you less prone to impulse spending, help you focus on the future and even make you more likely to take advantage of opportunities when they arise.
If you want to take advantage of all the benefits that practicing gratitude provides, become a member of First Alliance Credit Union today. You can use a traditional savings account to set aside money for the future, sign up for a loan and even download guides that will help you achieve financial goals such as moving to a new home and starting your own business.
