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I’m at my local Starbucks in Los Angeles. Instead of writing a movie script like the person sitting next to me, I wanted to take the time to write about money scripts. The idea of money scripts is our psychological approach to how we handle money throughout life.
This week, a recent podcast episode on NPR’s Hidden Brain got me thinking about money scripts. In the episode, Money 2.0: Rewrite Your Money Story, the host interviewed Brad Klontz. Klontz is a psychologist with a specific focus on money. He’s written books on the subjects and is one of the most insightful people to follow on Twitter.
This episode of Hidden Brain is my favorite to date and examines the puzzling effect of our thinking around money.
What a Money Script Is
On a movie set, the stage lights are burning and voices are shouting as people zoom in to be in the appropriate location. What unites them is a common goal, acting out the screenplay as seen through the eyes of the director.
Money scripts on the other hand are:
Money scripts are your unconscious beliefs about money, often rooted in childhood, that affect your adult behaviors and perspectives.
On the movie set, you can take different roles to your approach to money. Are you going to be an actor and act out the script? Or are you going to be the director and find a new angle to tackle an old problem?
Common Money Scripts
Klontz has termed four types of money scripts:
Money Avoidance
Money Worship
Money Status
Money Vigilance
Avoidance has a few common scripts like, “Money is the root of all evil,” or “Poor people are purer than rich people.” Worship includes statements like, “Money is power.” Status features scripts like, “I will fall behind if I don’t own the latest coolest item.” Lastly, Vigilance practitioners are the savers of life with statements like “Never buy anything on credit.”
The Parental Impact of Money
We pick up our money habits from our parents. For example, Klontz cited his mother’s lack of trust in big banks due to Klontz’s grandfather losing a majority of money in the great depression.
Personally, I grew up in an apartment (for a few years) and was privileged to eat hot dogs for dinner most nights. This experience placed me into the Vigilance category where I understand the value that we should live modestly as possible.
My father had an enormous impact on my current money habits. Some money scripts he introduced to me in childhood include:
“Work smarter. Not harder.”
“The system is a game ready to be played.”
“Sometimes the hardest worker doesn’t get rewarded.”
“Risk means big wins.”
These money scripts were foundational for how I handle my paycheck today.
This week, ask yourself what you think about money. Some of the scripts above are common throughout American society and believing in the wrong ones can set you back. In the podcast, Klontz stated that some money scripts will keep people from advancing into a different economic class entirely.
I’m dropping off a piece of further reading here as you head into the week here around money scripts.
Have a great week,
Jordan
Great post. I enjoyed it. I was able to identify my script right away! Vigilance. But it took me a while to get here. Keep up the good work!