We’ve likely all had our fair share of worries about money. And when you’re carrying worry, you may feel overwhelmed or stuck. That tricky territory is what a financial coach specializes in: helping you get from one stuck point to another more active, empowered point.
The work that a financial coach will lead you through will help you take action, harnessing both your attention and your intention in order to move from a negative focus to a positive one.
Like a good coach would in working with athletes or other kinds of teams, a financial coach should take the time to get to know you: your stories, your beliefs, your unconscious biases. She should explore with you not only the decisions you tend to make but why you make them, to help you pause and assess what’s behind your actions—or inaction—around your finances.
Building upon this background, a coach will help you figure out a financial system that is made for you, made by you, that you are therefore motivated to follow through on. This method is quite different from prescribed programs that are one-size-is-supposed-to-fit-all, in which you may feel like you’re failing if you can’t get on board or keep up.
A mindset focused on struggling or failing fosters shame and judgment, feelings which manifest about money for many people in many ways.
- Maybe you’ve received an inheritance and don’t feel deserving of it.
- Maybe you’re eager to accumulate more wealth and feel guilty about that.
- Maybe the money you earn is conditional, inextricably tied to feelings of love or worthiness or being good enough.
- Maybe you don’t have much—maybe you don’t have enough to get by—yet still feel undeserving of what little you do have or undeserving of more.
- Maybe you make plenty of money but can’t seem to figure out how to save it up.
- Maybe you’re struggling to get on the same page financially with your partner.
- Maybe you’re worried about how to help set your children up for success.
These kinds of concerns can run the gamut from the wealthiest among us to the poorest. Even just acknowledging and remaining aware of them can change the way we behave.
Your financial coach is there to help you recognize those patterns—without shame or judgment—and then learn how to work through them.
There’s a lot of power and reassurance in mastering your money in these ways, gaining not only peace of mind but confidence.
And, of course, you don’t have to master it all—that’s why you’re working with an expert; that’s what your coach is for. But she will help ease your worry and boost your comfort level.
Financial coaching is less about the particulars of setting up a cash flow plan and more about dealing with the internal struggle that prevents you from setting up a plan to begin with.
The conversations you’ll have with your coach will also help inform and prepare you for other difficult conversations you may be facing about money. They’ll help you take control, build trust, and shift to a forward-thinking mentality.
If it’s time to bridge the gap between how you feel about money and how to build wealth, it’s time to talk with a financial coach.
Ready to dive in?
Fingerlakes Wealth Management and Managing Partner Melissa Vanderhoof are proud to be leading the way in this new form of financial advising. A more integrative understanding of your money and your mindset, coaching is well aligned with our holistic approach to financial wellness.
It’s one more way in which we’ll help you build financial plans around your family, your values, and your goals.
Learn more about Financial Coaching services at Fingerlakes Wealth Management.
