Managing your money means choosing to take responsibility for earning, spending, saving and investing money according to your own personal and financial priorities.  While there are a lot of actions involved in managing money, the common thread through all of those decisions is that they are things you choose to do because you want to be the one taking charge of your own life.  You understand the value of the time spent doing that.  Managing money is not simply a set of unrelated actions – it’s a mindset and determination that drives actions.  You need to believe…

• you are worth the money you make
• you are worth the time it takes to understand finances
• you are worth the effort involved in investing for your future 

Having a positive financial mindset doesn’t mean that you won’t have financial difficulties from time to time, or that you will even like to do the things necessary to manage money.  What it does mean is that you are willing to do those things and navigate your way through hard times because you are intentionally, mindfully choosing to take on the responsibility of managing your own personal finances. 

As with any other role you choose to take on in life (friend, daughter, employee, etc.) being a money manager for yourself will require time, energy, and some self-education.  In order to make good financial decisions for yourself, you need to be active, learn from others, ask for help and even hire professional assistance or advisors.  But if you take this role seriously – if you stay committed to learning and applying what you learn – you will be in a far better position to realize some of your life goals and feel more confident about your financial future.