[The Psychology of Money with Dr. K & Akash (Dr. K's Brother) | MEMBERS' LIVESTREAM](https://www.youtube.com/live/18y_XMddUWY?si=mx6SnQyekhr19q8I) - Exercise: Engage in an activity, roleplaying as if you were an exemplar of that activity. EG an elite athlete when doing exercise; an accountant when reviewing finances - Avoidance of Finances: Many people will engage in "classic avoidance" in response to their finances. - Education getting in the way of Finance: - Feeling: "I need to get it perfect" = shut-down / avoidance. - Budgeting's necessity depends on who you are. - When amygdala activated (anger/fear/anxiety): Brain cannot come up with solutions; all it can do is enact solutions it already knows. Explaining psychological defence mechanism of regression. - Generational trauma associated with money. - Exercise: imagine yourself as “king of yourself” with different voices being your advisors. - Often: we listen to the minister screaming the loudest. - King must decide rationally, not listen to loudest voice. - Even the parts we don’t like serve valuable function in the kingdom. - Budgeting - Don't have to budget to be financially responsible, - Person needs to budget if at the end of the month if they are asking: Where did all my money go? They're not making difficult decisions on a daily basis about how they are spending money. - If you are naturally living within your means you don't need to budget. - Entitlement: Expectations for things which you don't have / haven't earned. - To make exceptional wealth: It requires exceptional sacrifice that other people are not willing to make. - Money is often a proxy for: Pride, status, freedom, self-worth, etc - Balancing Trade-offs between financial wealth and meaningful work / - Societal deteriorating Forces - Inequality - Integration (lack thereof between different social groups) - Isolation: Breakdown of community bonds, increased psychological distance between individuals. Exacerbated by economic and digital structures. - In your career: you will make mistakes. It's better to take action / risks; rather than be caught in inaction. - What is money? - Debt: A track record of who's done what for who. - Humans prefer a static level of bad, over decline in good. - Humans more sensitive to change than absolute trends. - Important to understand you + your partner's values around money. - Holding space for my partners reality. Accepting that it is real to them. - Not necessarily right/wrong, but framed by context. [The Psychology of Money Pt. 2 | MEMBERS' LIVESTREAM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm_ZXEJN0dU&list=PLfgqSr5I-3escXJuYoyq1gVOU34-_fJiG&index=3) - How to avoid dealing with money in the wrong way. - Money = a means for other things. - Object Relations Theory - Objects can be people; when I interact with that thing, what happens in my mind? - Some households determine value of a person based on money they are making. - People may learn: “if I don’t feel good about myself, the antidote is to make more money”. - Mechanism of materialism: learn money = value, therefore, more money = more value. - If money comes to meet psychological needs, hard to replace. - Q: what does money mean to you? - Q: if someone wealthy/poor, what judgments do you make about them? - Reaction formation: defence mechanism, something in me I don’t like, will externalise + attribute to other. - With money: people can go “I failed at this” so I’m going to devalue it + say that people who haven’t are spiritually weak. (Dr K perspective) - Q: any time money shows up in your life, ask: “what does this mean to me?” - Money should serve as a MEANS, not as an END. - Pleasure is not the problem, attachment to pleasure is. - It can be hard to transcend material desires unless they are met in the first place + see the emptiness of them. - Wanting freedom with money (to do what you want); and freedom FROM money (attachment/associations of it). - Can have all 4; once you do your dharma/duty = have strength to do hard work = capacity to be more productive / financially successful = don't feel like sacrificing things = don't get caught up in hedonism, can pursue spirituality. - Recognise symbol (EG security, freedom) that money represents, pursue that instead of money. - Focusing on daily routine is most effective way to cause financial success (and success in other dimensions). - Suggests start day early; dividing day into 8 90 minute blocks. - 5:00AM: - 90 min Prepare for the day - 90 min Studying / Learning. - 90 min Exercise/Self-Care - 90 min Reflect on the day - 90 min Recreation - 90 min outdoor time - 90 min prayer, recreation, prep for bed/ - Information does lead to success - Everyone uses Google / AI. = very easy to access. Financially viable information is inversely proportional to accessibility. - Using mainstream info = will be chasing the pack. Need to find the most "hot" info. - Avoid UNCESSARY conflict. - Contested resources require far more effort than uncontested effort. - One of the earliest things as a psychiatrist, is you have patients who don't want to be there, and convincing them to be there is really hard to do. - Friendships - Don’t base friendship on circumstance; but people who care about you + competent. - Associate with older people - 6 enemies of wealth - Lust - Anger - Greed - Vanity - Haughtiness - Excessive joy - Conclusions - If money is a proxy for something else, EG Love. Gain that thing directly otherwise money will never be enough.