Bullshit Stories Begone
Mar 08, 2024
As-Salaam-Alaikum everyone! Welcome back to Muslim Women Invest.
Today, we are going to be discussing bullshit stories we tell ourselves that keep us from taking “risks”…including investing.
I know that it is quite the topic to talk about—and that you must be surprised by me using curse words!—but there is no better word to describe what they are.
If we want to start investing, we need to rid ourselves of these stories. Here’s how…
The Brain Desires Safety
First, I want you to think back to a time where you talked yourself out of buying something, going on a trip, or anything else related to money.
We have a lot of money beliefs that have been ingrained in us since our childhood, and we tell ourselves a lot of BS stories to keep our environment familiar. To our brains, familiar is what’s safe…even if it keeps us from the things we want most. (For instance, we can’t start investing if we tell ourselves the story that it’s too risky or we’ll lose all our money.)
Why do we lie to ourselves like this? Because the function of the brain is to keep you safe, and the belief is that by taking minimal risks and staying in a familiar environment, you can stay safe. But in reality, you’re not staying safe—you’re staying comfortable.
Uplevel Your Circle
Comfort feels like safety. But in reality, we keep ourselves in a consistent environment where there is absolutely no growth it is quite detrimental for us.
So, how do you retrain your brain to go for growth so you can finally start investing?
Firstly, you need to understand that you are telling yourself a story…and you have the power to change it. And secondly, you need to place yourself in circles where you can receive positive examples.
For example, one of the bullshit stories I used to tell myself after failing fourth grade math was that I was bad at mathematics. Not only that, but I equated mathematics with anything to do with numbers.
So how did somebody who had failed math and ended up with a fear of mathematics start investing?
Because I had a practical example provided by women in my family.
The opinions of the women in my family regarding investing were highly regarded. In fact, they were leading investors. They made many investment decisions, so I had plenty of strong female figures that inspired me to start investing.
If I hadn’t had that example, I might not have believed I could start investing myself.
Not only that, but scientifically speaking, your personality is the sum of the five closest people to you. Think about those people and ask yourself: do they push you to grow? Do they give you examples of what might be possible for you to achieve? Or do they encourage you to stay right where you are?
We often choose people who are a lot like us to keep close. So when we go to our trusted circle with a risky or new idea and ask if we should pursue it, they often tell us not to risk it.
There is a danger to existing in an echo chamber. Any ideas you have about something that may not be true will never get challenged inside an echo chamber, and you’ll never grow past them.
For instance, a lot of people who come to me have a preconceived notion that if they start investing, they're going to lose all of it. Most of the time, this idea has been influenced by the people who they trust the most; when they go and ask their friends if they should start investing, those people quickly discourage them from doing so.
You cannot be what you cannot see. If you have never seen a successful investor, guess what? This bullshit story that every person who invests loses money is going to stick, and you’ll never start investing.
Furthermore, there is another danger to getting stuck in a bullshit story: you are bound to tell that same story to your children. And if nobody breaks that generational curse, the stories that you are creating in your mind will have a generational effect.
Be Careful How You Think
So be very careful about how you think. Be very careful about the precedent that you set. All of us have fears, but we must encourage ourselves to work past them.
You, my friend, have a choice: you can either break this generational curse of bullshit stories, or you can destine yourself and your children and your grandchildren to the same stories.
As we’re heading into Ramadan, I want you to promise yourself that these bullshit stories are going to go away.
Ramadan is given to us to slow down, to take a break, and to consider what new habits we can form. And one of the biggest habits we should be forming is the habit of breaking these cycles.
Fasting itself actually provides us a wonderful opportunity to rewire our brain so that we're not always thinking about food. It gives us an opportunity to form new habits without the extra distractions.
So hopefully this Ramadan, you are going to break through the bullshit stories you are telling yourself about investing. And if you’re unsure what those stories are, I am working on a quiz to help people like you discover the beliefs they have about money and investing.
You can currently sign up for the waitlist, which will give you access to the quiz when it’s ready. Not only that, but I will be offering two versions—a free version and a paid, upgraded version—and if you get on the waitlist, you will receive the upgraded version entirely free!
You can find the link to the waitlist below. This quiz will give you a roadmap to discover the bullshit stories that are keeping you from achieving financial freedom…and help you start on the path to reversing them.
WORK WITH MIRAL:
Sign up for my investing quiz waitlist: https://www.invest4lifemk.com/quiz-waitlist
If you're ready to transform the trajectory of your life and the lives of your family members through investing, book a consultation with me: https://www.invest4lifemk.com/services
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