What is Your Relationship with Money???

Many of us who have grown up in the western world are taught that in order to get by in this world we must make money. While it is true that money is our medium of exchange, rather than trade and barter as it was in the past, money does not make you who you are. So, how can you learn to have a healthy relationship with money?

1. Realize that what you make for a living does not define who you are. In other words however much you may make a year for your income whether it is $20,000 or $100,000, if you make $100,000 that does not mean that you are somehow more worthy as person than the individual making $20,000. Money is just a medium of exchange for products and services that's it.

2. Work towards loosening the grip that money has on your self-esteem. Sit down and make a personal inventory of all that is good and wonderful in your life. Things like our spouse, our children and our loved ones can also be a sign of wealth. You can have all the money in the universe but if you don’t have loved ones what good is it?

3. Work towards not feeling guilty when you spend money on yourself. This is another item that has to do with our self-esteem. Many times we don't feel worthy of the money we make and we feel as if we somehow are not deserving of the pleasant things in life that our money allows us to afford. Don't do that to yourself. I'm not suggesting you should go out and spend your entire savings account, but there's nothing wrong with buying a book by your favorite author for example.

4. Pay attention to the exchange between money and services and products. Work on visualizing this exchange and seeing your money turn into whatever it is that you are buying. Teach yourself to enjoy this exchange, because the more you enjoy the exchange, the better your relationship with money will be. If you find yourself unable to enjoy the exchange and it is something that you do not need, then stop buying that item or service and start using your money for things you really savor purchasing.

5. Consider trading services and things with people you know. You'll get a whole new outlook on money if you start trading services and items for other services and items. It can be a real eye opener. The nice thing about trading too is that you can get some very nice things by doing it. My favorite trade is for services. For example, I often give away free books in return for book reviews. Sometimes trading is the best way to go and since it does not involve an exchange of money, trading products and services can actually save you money!

6. When you get paid, pay yourself first. After all, what is the point of earning money if we cannot use any of it on ourselves? If you only feel you are worth it when you spend on bills and groceries and such and that you don't deserve to have money for yourself, then you are probably never going to have a healthy relationship with money.Learning to have a healthy relationship with money is very important because it also helps you to be more stress free.

If you follow these tips you can have this healthy relationship in a matter of weeks!

A Healthy Relationship With Food

Many people have an unhealthy relationship with food. Food often means much more to us than simply satisfying our physical hunger. Therefore, trying to lose weight or eat healthy usually requires more than changing our diet. Few people know what it is like to have a healthy relationship with food. People today don’t have role models for healthy eating habits. We have unhealthy examples all around us; media and advertising remind us daily of our old loves (cookies, potato chips, ice cream). They tell us how much happier we would be if we continued that affair. Despite these challenges, it is very possible to develop healthy eating habits. There are some fundamental behaviors that help us improve our relationship with food. As you prepare to instill these behaviors, it helps to visualize yourself successfully adding the behavior into your life habits. This can be easier and more effective than seeing yourself removing an unhealthy behavior.

Is Your Relationship Good for You?

We all want to be in healthy relationships. But sometimes it is hard to know if a relationship is healthy or unhealthy. Healthy relationships help us feel better about ourselves and about our place in the world. They make us feel happy and safe. Unhealthy relationships make us feel unhappy, insecure, or even unsafe.

• Everyone deserves to feel happy and safe in their relationships.


• If a relationship has unhealthy qualities, you can work to make it better or choose to end the relationship.


• We can all learn ways to make our relationships healthier.

We can work to make all our relationships; with family members, friends, romantic partners, food, finances and others as healthy as possible. And we can learn how to tell when a relationship is not healthy and how to improve it or end it.

Reprogramming Your Habits...

So, how do you establish a healthy relationship with food? Learn how to diffuse the emotional power food has in your life. If we understand the triggers and temptations that prompt us to eat reactively, we will become aware of our patterns. Out of that self-awareness, we can begin to alter our eating habits and work toward eating for physical reasons instead of emotional ones. Having a healthy relationship with food is possible. Eliminating your frustrations in relation to food is possible. Here are five steps to help you get on the right track.

1. Start believing that you can have a healthy relationship with food. You might feel stuck but you aren’t.


2. Learn the difference between emotional and physical hunger. Write the definitions on a piece of paper so you have to think about what they mean. You’ll be more likely to remember them and differentiate them as they occur.


3. After every meal and snack this week, jot down whether you ate it out of emotional or physical hunger. This will help you get in touch with your physical needs and your emotional cravings.


4. For every meal and snack, use a scale of zero to 10 to measure how hungry you are. Zero is not hungry and 10 is ravenous. Concentrate on eating the majority of your food when you feel between six and eight on the hunger scale.


5. Start a journal and spend 10 minutes every day writing in it. To keep in touch with your emotions, write about your day and how you feel.

By implementing these steps, you’re already on the path to greater self-awareness and to positive change in your eating habits. As a result, you will reach your ideal body weight and you will gain control of your eating habits. Start right now.