Wheel of MissFortune*
For the past few years, I’ve been thinking, listening and engaging in conversation about capital. Not just as currency for investing in ventures, or the many (unfair) systems on how capital flows, but my personal and individual emotional connection and response to money.
Last week, I participated in one of the SheEO(un)Learning Circles on Finance. The topics of these circles focus on “Understanding Financial Systems for Breakthrough Impact”. The audience was women and non-binary folks keen to understand how we can use capital to change the status quo.
We had a very insightful and interactive conversation with Joy Anderson of Criterion Capital who challenged us — nay — invited us to ponder what Financial Imagination means. Not often do you pair Imagination (to me a concept of creativity that excites me) with that of Finance (a concept of complexity which sometimes confuses if not scares me). We were reminded that imagination must come before implementation.
“It’s not enough to be aware if you’re not willing to use your power to challenge those systems of power.” — Joy Anderson, President and Founder of Criterion Institute
While this workshop focused on systems and the macro lens of money/capital/finance, I had an internal nagging telling me to pick up the microlens and revisit my uncomfortable relationship with money as an individual. I do love the “systems conversations” as I’m keen to understand the ones that aren’t working for everyone and design new ones. However, until I dig deeper into my own relationship with money will I gain more confidence to confidently create new ones.
Enter Imagination — Creativity — and the Wheel of MissFortune
A few years ago, my friend Jen Baxter and I took a workshop through Creative Live called “Make More Money Discover Your Worth”. (We were part of the audience that day so if you do take the workshop — it’s worthwhile — you might see us — but I digress). After the day-long workshop, I was both inspired and frustrated in understanding my emotional relationship with money.
The workshop talks about eight areas (‘misfortunes’) that illustrate where people find issues with money. It gave me a framework to understand my relationship with money, the issues I struggled with and how to reframe negative behaviours and mindsets. Once I tapped into this, it lessened my fear and increased my ability to learn more about complex finance systems.
Since this workshop was essentially for creatives to gain confidence in valuing our own work, I decided to put on my creative hat immediately following the 4-hour workshop and do a photo shoot on the beach that illustrated each of the issues and the antidotes. Doing creative projects also gets me into a flow state and out of stuckness.
*MissFortune spelling is intentional.
We learned How To Value Our Hard Work And Stop Getting In Our Own Way.
These photos are my illustrations of how I interpreted the Wheel of Misfortune, its descriptions and antidotes.
Which ones resonate with you? Which ones are you working on?
Avoidance — You may be overwhelmed and just don’t want to look at it. You may not be allowing yourself to know the truth because it’s too painful. You may be apathetic about money convincing yourself money isn’t important so you don’t need to give your attention to it. You may put your money into someone else’s hands so you don’t have to deal with it.
To overcome the issue of Avoidance when it comes to money, the antidote is Action.
- Look at your bank account every day
- Honor your money by paying attention to it.
- Shine the light on your situation. You created it. You can fix it.
- Taking action and fixing what you created will empower both your money and all areas of your life
Shame & Guilt — Feeling of being undeserving and unworthy. You may feel guilty about having more money than you think you deserve or need. You may feel guilt due to an internal conflict around spiritual teachings and money. You may feel guilty for moving up and away from the class level of family and friends. You may feel shame thinking you are a bad person for wanting more money. You may feel shame due to feelings of unworthiness.
To overcome the feelings of Guilt & Shame.
Align your beliefs. Recognize where you act honorably.
Practice:
1. New beliefs.
2. Look for proof.
3. Hearing and healing
Not Receiving — The feeling where it’s better to be the Giver than the Receiver. In order to receive, whether it’s money or love or compliments, you have to believe you are worthy to receive these things. If you don’t believe you are worthy you will block or slap away the gift because you are unable to accept it.
The antidote to not receiving is say ‘thank you’. Gratitude opens you up to giving and receiving.
Practice:
1. Say Thank You
2. Sit with your feelings
3. Cultivate gratitude
Over Giving — It is easy to see all giving as just a good deed. But giving is really a heart issue. Ideally, you give joyfully, out of your abundance, without drawing attention to yourself. But you can also give money you don’t really have in order to secretly get something in return. What we want in return is not always money. It can be respect, control, admiration, feeling of importance, a need to be seen, respected, be the caretaker, or to achieve a feeling you are lacking.
Build your Self Esteem — Antidote to Over Giving.
Practice:
1 — Identify the feeling you’re looking for,
2 — Tell the truth,
3 — Build confidence
No Boundaries — You may feel unable to say “no”. You may like feeling generous but it comes at the expense of taking care of yourself. You may have enough money coming in but feel like it always slips through your fingers and you can’t hang onto it. Frustration with someone is the warning light you have no boundaries.
When you don’t have boundaries, you are letting the money flow out without any containment, you often don’t stick up for yourself, and there is a blurred line between you and other people when it comes to YOUR money.
Say No — Antidote to No Boundaries.
Practice:
1 — Set the boundary a few steps before,
2 — Decide in advance what you will say,
3 — Say THEIR objection out loud.
Overspending — If you are an over spender, you likely have the feelings that you never have enough. You always want more, but in a way that feels out of control. Overspending is buying more than you need with money you don’t really have. To get a feeling that is fleeting and ultimately gets you deeper in debt and trouble.
Acknowledge your feelings — Antidote to Over Spending.
Practice:
1 — Awareness,
2 — Feel the feeling, create new behavior sometimes
3 — Act on the new behavior all the time.
Resentment — shows up in all parts of the wheel. Most people do not realize they are being resentful. Resentment is the feeling that you’ve been treated unfairly. We resent people taking from us, yet we over-give to them. We resent people not paying us and not making us worthy when we don’t step up to feel worthy. We resent ourselves for over consuming. We resent people who avoid, yet we avoid. We resent ourselves for not speaking up, but then we resent people for stepping over our boundaries.
Get your power back — Antidote to Resentment.
Practice:
1 — Take responsibility (creating it, re-energizing it),
2 — Forgive yourself for giving up your power,
3 — Have compassion for others,
4 — Forgive them.
Tight Fisted — Being Tightfisted means you hold onto money so tight that there is no flow of money in your life. Feeling that money will provide security. As with anything stagnant, it is a breeding ground for things you don’t want. In order to have a healthy relationship with money, there must be flow. Fresh money comes in and money flows out in order to create more new money.
Antidote to tight-fisted — Say YES with Generosity
Scarcity v. abundance. Creation v. Competition. Let go of the idea that there isn’t enough.
Practice:
1. Gratitude
2. What do you want to create?
3. Say yes!
I encourage taking this workshop from Sue Bryce and Tiffany Angelese. They provide excellent discussion and a valuable workbook.
Thank you Gail Wong for your great article “How a 6 year old disrupted capitalism which inspired me to post this!
