My first money memory is of my Dad and I. I am 3 or 4. We are sitting on the floor in our living room and he is teaching me how to count. My Dad and I are playing pretend, using pennies to represent kids getting on a school bus and sitting down in pairs of twos, row by row. We move the pennies around on the carpet, organizing them as we imagine a school bus. I remember being proud that I was learning how to count, and wanting my Dad to be proud of me too.
My first money memory is a thread that weaves together much of my relationship with money in the decades that followed. I was counting money in my first memory and I became an accountant. Rather than choosing a major I had a genuine interest in, I chose something my Dad approved of.
A lot of my other money qualities and behaviors resemble my Dads. Some are very advantageous, strong and helpful, and some I have consciously worked hard to change, because they were holding me back from living a joyful financial life.
What is your first money memory? Close your eyes, take a breath in and a breath out. What comes to you? Take a moment to write it down. Write the feelings that accompany the memory.
What thread does it weave? What is helpful and what isn’t? This self study is an important first step in healing your relationship with money.
