At a recent workshop, I was asked to keep track of what I thought about during the day and from that information I calculated the percentage of time I spent on each topic. The interesting thing? Money was way up there on my list of topics—I hadn’t expected that.

Now maybe I’m different from most, but I really thought I didn’t pay enough attention to my money and that it wouldn’t make the list at all.  And now I find out that I actually obsess over money.  When I order dinner I make my choice based on cost—not what I really want to eat.  I multi-task trips in my car, not to save gas but to save money (I just tell myself it’s about being green).  I even go so far as to get that last penny of ketchup out of the bottle. Worst of all, the last thing I would call myself is frugal, so it is clearly obsessing.

Maybe because I spend time avoiding the big issues, it is always in my subconscious nagging me.   We need to be conscious with finances but not in this nagging “always on my mind” way.  Instead we need to be conscious in a productive, well thought out way that gives us a clear picture of where we are and where we want to be.  Then, we can make money decisions easily and clear our minds of the clutter of unconscious money management.

So what do you say? Do you choose when, where and why money is part of your life—or—is it always on your mind?

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