Money is a very complex issue. Money is a tool that was invented by mankind as a token of bartering. When money was first invented, coins were stamped with images of divinities and were considered divine – money was seen as a gift from God. This is because the divine aspects of money represent freedom and integrity.

Interestingly, money’s prime purpose is as a tool to systematically put a value on goods and services. It is a language in its own right that facilitates a consistent way of putting a value on something irrespective of time or location.

Money is also a store of wealth; a cow will die, a silo of grain will rot or become food for mice, but a coin lasts.

Money can be exchanged for goods and services, it can be given freely as a gift or can be used to buy gifts, it may be used to make charitable donations to help those less fortunate than ourselves. In short, money is what enables people to share and exchange and is a powerful tool of communication.

Money, therefore, represents a fair method of exchange – a payment that says “Thank you” for goods or services received a gift that says “I want you to share in my good fortune”.

We’ve been too long conditioned to viewing money as “the root of all evil” – a divider of humankind into the rich and the poor – the “haves” and the “have nots”. We need to readjust our attitudes towards money if we are going to enlist its help in achieving the freedom that we deserve.

Developing a more balanced attitude towards money will bring us to a state where we have true Knowledge of money and its functions – we can then begin to use money in a spirit of generosity and integrity that will benefit our own lives and the lives of others.

For the entrepreneur/small business owner, this can seem to be an insurmountable task – after all, we must devote much of our time towards running our organization in order to ensure a steady flow of money.

However, we need to learn to balance the four aspects of our lives:

• Life
• Time
• Money
• Business

Developing a true Knowledge of money will allow us to realise that we deserve to be rewarded for our skills in delivering useful resources to others. It’s a two-way beneficial relationship – we benefit from receiving income, they benefit from receiving goods or services that they need in order to balance their own lives.

Without enough money, we are caught in a “money trap” where insufficient resources will prevent us from doing what we want to do. Whether that is starting a business, spending more time with family, learning new skills – all of these need us to have money coming in to allow us to spend the time on doing something other than amassing money. Money is what will make our hopes and dreams possible.

We will never be truly free until we find financial freedom. Being able to approach money with true knowledge and integrity will put us firmly on the road towards leading the life we deserve to lead. It will give us the confidence and opportunity to move out of our comfort zone and aspire towards a more adventurous lifestyle.

Knowledge of money will help us develop a more balanced attitude towards it and spread this attitude towards others that we deal with.

Life is all about freedom and our relationship with money can be our means of achieving and cultivating that freedom.

Doing this gives us the freedom to concentrate on our personal development, our integrity and our relationships with the rest of humankind.

We will learn ways of disciplining ourselves to stay on track with our money. Not only will we have enough money to do the things we want to do, we will be able to be the persons that we want to be.

By harnessing Knowledge of money, we will gain a deeper understanding of ourselves. We will see that we have a meaningful purpose in this life and that our values and our aspirations will go hand in hand with money as a means of setting us free to lead the lives we deserve.

At Planning for Life, we help you to achieve the balance you need in order to truly free yourself from the constraints of insufficient funding. We will help you to plan your finances in a way that takes into account that you have other, equally important aspects of your life.