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Financial Wellness
What does financial wellness look like to you?
Financial wellness can be understood as feeling a sense of peace around your finances, and the ability to participate in your chosen everyday pleasures of life, such as spending time with your family or paying for a Pilates membership. This idea of wellness in your finances is a fairly new concept, and comes as people start to embrace the notion of holistic wellbeing.
In the wake of COVID-19, data shows that there are greater numbers of Australians feeling stressed about their finances, and worried about their ability to meet their commitments. With research on the strong impact of financial stress on a person’s wellbeing, and an established link between financial stress and mental distress, there has never been a more important time to consider how you can improve your financial wellness and thus your overall health.
Whether you’re looking to repair your relationship with money, or wanting to break free from tying your self-worth to your net worth, we’re here to help.
At SoulAdvisor, financial wellness to us looks like:
Freedom. To us, financial wellness is not about how much you earn, but about creating a healthy relationship with your finances – one that doesn’t induce stress when you think about it, and where you have the freedom to make choices that are best for you.
Life throws up twists and turns, and incomes fluctuate, but we want to help you build the capacity to be in control of all aspects of your finances – from how it comes to you through your career, to managing it wisely, and ‘paying it forward’.
We firmly believe there is no one-size-fits all approach, so we’re not here to tell you to cut out all discretionary spending and live off two-minute noodles. Rather, we’re advocates of money as a means of mindful self-expression. While we all know (at some level) that money cannot bring us happiness, emerging research has found that spending in a way that aligns with your personality and values can bring you higher levels of life satisfaction. What this means is that money may be able to bring some happiness, if we put mindfulness and intention behind it.
What to expect...
In this section on financial wellness you can expect to see honest stories, advice and thought-leadership on topics such as:
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Career: Our careers are the way most of us are earn our income, and so it makes sense to make the most we can of it. We’ve got tips for you, whether you’re looking to establish some career goals, find some balance in work and life, or negotiate a better salary.
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Money: We hope to lift the veil of secrecy that surrounds money. We all need money, so why are we so awkward about it? Learn how to talk to your partner about money, how the way you grew up influences your money mindset, and how money and our identities are tied together.
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Social Good: Money is a tool, and can be used to do many powerful things. People have many personal reasons in using their money for social good – for some it may be out of obligation and for others it may be altruism. Despite the reason, what science shows is that giving can make us happier, and promote our personal growth.
We hope these facets of financial wellness resonate with you. Financial wellness is foundational to a healthy life, yet having money discussions at the dinner table still carries a stigma. We’d like to make sure we talk about the aspects of financial wellness that help you the most (particularly if your friends aren’t talking about it yet), so get in touch if you have stories to share or there are other elements of financial wellness you’d like to hear about.
If you’re searching for more on any of the above topics or for extra support on your wellness journey, have a look through our Therapy section where our articles provide information about the evidence-based benefits of relevant traditional and complementary therapies and allows you to search by symptom.
When you’re ready to take the next step, book a free discovery call with the therapist of your choice and let us help you on this journey to financial wellness.
References
Melbourne Institute’s Survey of the Impact of COVID-19 in Australia | Melbourne Institute
Finances | Australian Government: Department Of Health
Money Buys Happiness When Spending Fits Our Personality | Yale University