Managing Money-Related Anxiety

If you’re someone who struggles with anxiety, your morning may go something like this: You wake up and immediately begin reviewing the previous day. You stress over a presentation that went poorly or something you said while at happy hour with a co-worker. Your mind starts to fill with self-doubting statements, and already, the day ahead feels exhausting and unmanageable.

These thought patterns – or “hot thoughts,” as they are known in cognitive therapy — can be particularly destructive when it comes to thinking about money. You may obsess over particular aspects of your financial situation, and as a result, your money decisions are driven by stress and frustration instead of a clear, unclouded perspective.

If this feels true for you, you can better manage your stress by restructuring and challenging these thoughts, and in so doing, you will have a healthier relationship with your finances.

To start, avoid imperatives and self-limiting statements such as ‘I could never…’ or ‘I’ll always…’. For example, “I should be making six figures by now. What’s wrong with me?” Instead, try replacing these statements with actionable alternatives:

• “I wish … so I will…”
• “I would like… so I’m going to…”
• “It would be great … so I’ll found out…”

One way you could restructure the exemplar statement is by saying, “I would like to earn more money, so I’m going to go to extra trainings at work.”

As you replace unhealthy thought patterns, you’ll start feeling more excited and optimistic about the future and what you can accomplish. Challenging unhealthy automatic beliefs and replacing them with more constructive ones is known as cognitive restructuring. 

The first step is recognizing when you’re engaging with a stressful thought pattern. You may feel your heart rate increase or your breath become shallower.

When this occurs, start by calming yourself. Meditation or deep breathing can be particularly useful. You can find a ton of free ones on youtube or in podcasts on iTunes. Here is a helpful one for when you experience money-related anxiety.

Then identify the situation that triggered these thoughts. What were you doing? Where were you at? Who were you with? What were you talking about or feeling at the time?

Next describe how you’re feeling now and how you were feeling during the situation. Were you feeling anxious, nervous, excited, ect.?

Afterwards make a list of the automatic thoughts you experienced during the situation. These may include some of the self-limiting or imperative thoughts discussed above.

After you’ve identified the thoughts, list evidence that support the truthfulness of these automatic thoughts as well as the evidence that contradicts the thoughts. Try to think of perspectives other than your own. Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes will help you be more objective when analyzing your thoughts.

Finally, analyze supporting and contradictory evidence and write down more balanced thoughts you could engage with in a similar situation. Consider using some of the actionable phrases discussed above.

When you’ve finished, assess your current mood and decide if there’s any action you need to take in the moment.

To help you with your cognitive restructuring, check out this worksheet that follows the steps listed above. Through consistent use of this tool, you will find you’re approaching situations in a healthier manner and are more prepared to make strong financial decisions.