If you want to solve your money problems, there’s no magic wand (sorry!). But you can start to challenge the status quo by examining your "money messages". If you have negative or non-productive emotions attached to money, it's time to replace them with positive ones.

To change our negative beliefs, we first need to identify what they are. To understand your money beliefs, two areas worth examining are:

1. Childhood
2. Your own self-esteem

While self-examination can be tedious and even difficult, it’s a necessary process to understand who you are today and how to change your subconscious messages.  

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Childhood Learning

Beliefs are formed during your impressionable childhood years. As a young person, things we see and hear become imprinted on our subconscious. Think about what you were exposed to as a child. How did your parents talk about and treat money? Let’s not blame your parents. Being a parent myself, I believe we do the best we can at the time, but we all have our blind spots. It's quite possible that through your childhood training, you have inherited their habits.

See if you can identify any negative habits, mantras or messages you picked up in your past that hold you back today. Take a few minutes to think about this and write down your observations.

Here are some of mine:

• Money doesn’t grow on trees
• I don’t have money to burn
• Do you think I’m made of money?
• We can’t afford that
• Oh, so that’s how the other half live: successful, wealthy people were seen as smug,‘wanker’, selfish and generally in a negative light - they weren’t celebrated or admired.

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Self Esteem

Often negative money beliefs stem from having a poor self-esteem and feelings of unworthiness. Money is often bound up with our identity and how we see ourselves.

Do any of these below sound familiar?

• I am not good enough
• I don’t deserve to be successful
• What’s the point, I’ll probably fail anyway
• I’ll never get a high paying job
• I’ll never get ahead, a bill or expense always comes up just when things get better
• I’m no good with money
• I can’t ask for that much
• Rich people don’t have any true friends, just users
• I’ll always be poor
• I’m not lucky

If none of these resonate with you, think about what messages are in your own head. Your money beliefs and stories you replay about money didn’t happen overnight. They came about with regular reinforcement through sound, sights and feelings over many years.

Once you've taken some time to articulate what your own messages are, you will have better awareness of them. You'll be able to understand where and who they came from. At this point, you’re ready to start a cleansing process. Start disassociating yourself from these stories and replace them with your own positive messages, thoughts and aspirations.

Here are a few to inspire your own new positive thoughts and create your own money messages:

• Money is a reward for the value I give others
• I can learn everything I need to know about money
• Rich people get rich as they see opportunities where others see obstacles
• I love money and money loves me
• Rich people are in a better position to give to others
• Making money is fun
• Money gives flexibility and choice
• I earn as much money as I need
• I am aware of every cent that comes out of my pocket
• I enjoy using money to buy me pleasure and fun
• I always have money
• Making money is easy
• I am proud of myself for being rich
• There is plenty of money out there and it is coming to me every day
• I invest wisely and carefully
• I learn from rich people
• I deserve to be happy, healthy, wealthy and successful
• I am able to create the life I want for my family and myself
• The more money I have, the more I can give to charity
• Every day, I build my financial future for my family and myself
• I am happy, healthy and wealthy

There’s a power in positive thinking and focusing on what you really want. Try it and watch your money problems disappear.