The Science of Spending
How Your Mind Shapes Your Money Habits
You’ve probably heard that our beliefs and attitudes impact our behaviour. You may not be aware of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). NLP is an approach that focuses on how you communicate with yourself and others and how this impacts your behaviour. It offers incredible insights into financial habits and is a valued tool in CFG coaching sessions.
Have you ever considered how your brain influences your relationship with money and how you spend it? Let’s explore the science behind spending and how understanding subconscious programs can transform your approach to money and help you achieve your financial goals.
What Are Subconscious Programs?
The way you think and behave is held deeply within your subconscious mind. In there are programs that you’ve developed for almost everything you do. These are internal scripts or strategies formed from experiences and influenced by the environment and people around you.
Programs help you achieve specific outcomes without having to consciously think about all the steps involved each time, like making breakfast, getting dressed or getting to work on time (giving your brain a rest). Behaviours become subconscious programs through repetition and are reinforced by getting a desired outcome. For example, on day one of a new job, you’d need to consciously map out what time to set your alarm and the steps required to get ready and travel to the office. After testing it out a few times (and probably without consciously thinking about it), you’ll know that if you set your alarm for 7 am, you’ll have enough time for brekkie and to catch the train. You’ll have created a ‘home to work’ program to achieve punctuality. If you’re constantly running late, it might be time to reassess and make changes!
Programs can be positively or negatively reinforced, leading to helpful or unhelpful behaviour patterns. The power of unlocking your subconscious programs means you can consciously alter or ‘re-program’ unhelpful behaviours by installing new ones that will give you a more desired outcome.
The Power of the Subconscious
Your subconscious constantly scans your surroundings for what you’ve deemed important and presents that to you. What you deem important is pre-determined by things you’ve heard people say, especially influential ones (like your parents when you’re young), your culture or past experiences.
The subconscious mind doesn’t process negatives. For example, if I were to say, “Don’t think of a bright pink elephant,” chances are your brain jumps straight to picturing that large mammal! It will also bring your attention to specific things, such as the model of a car you’ve decided to buy or to particular numbers. Your Reticular Activating System (RAS) is doing this work, it’s a handy feature of your brain that stops you from becoming overwhelmed.
Understanding the RAS
The RAS is a nifty bundle of nerves at the top of your brain stem. It acts as a gatekeeper for all the data your senses pick up, letting you focus on what’s essential while filtering out the rest. With the ability to process a whopping 11 million bits of information every second, the RAS ensures you only take in what you’ve told it is relevant to you.
If your beliefs are rooted in negativity—like the idea that "money is hard to come by", your RAS will help you find evidence to support that belief. This evidence could be overhearing a conversation between strangers on a train using similar language or seeing an article in the newspaper about the challenges of the cost of living. It’s not that these examples are wrong, but the negative association will ping your “money is hard to come by” program and will reinforce it.
How you talk about money with yourself and others deeply impacts your perceived confidence. If you tell yourself, “I’m bad with money”, your brain will reinforce this by looking out for examples, even avoiding examples of “good habits”. If you flip the script and focus on the positive, even small things, you’ll start to notice more good stuff around you. Focus on your strengths—like you’re taking steps to learn and improve your financial situation, and you’ll start to see signs of progress.
Reprogramming: Cultivating Positive Financial Patterns
Programs are unique to each individual and are neither wrong nor right. At CFG, we refer to them as ‘helpful’ and ‘unhelpful’ in terms of helping you achieve your version of financial success. An example of a helpful program is always paying off your credit card balance in full each month to ensure no interest is charged. An unhelpful program example could be signing up for multiple entertainment subscription trial periods and forgetting to cancel them before being charged.
But here’s the kicker: just because you’ve developed certain programs or habits doesn’t mean they’re set in stone. You can change them with a bit of conscious effort. By identifying your existing helpful and unhelpful programs, defining what behaviours will help you achieve your goals and practising new, positive financial behaviours, you can gradually shift your overall mindset and the resulting behaviours.
Taking Control of Your Financial Future
Everyone’s doing their best with their resources they have, and recognising your desire to change is the first step. By becoming aware of your subconscious programs and how they impact your spending, you can reshape those habits for the better.
Embrace the journey of understanding your financial mindset. Register for a free 15-minute chat to find out how Cash Flow Goals can help you reprogram your unhelpful money habits and create a plan for achieving your version of financial success.