The Five Best Journal Prompts to Identify Your Money Story

Most people think their issues with money are about financial literacy or discipline. They are not. 

All issues about are from your money story. 

Your money story is the set of beliefs and values you absorbed about money.  

The beliefs you absorbed about safety, worth, success, what is available to you, and what you should and shouldn’t do.  

Period. 

This story running in the background and is one you did not consciously choose. 

You absorbed them through your family, your environment, your experiences, and all of the emotional moments tied to money along the way. 

And whether you realize it or not, your money story shapes: 

How you earn 

How you spend 

What you allow 

What you tolerate 

And most importantly, what you believe is possible 

What matters about your money story is this: Until you see it clearly and make a more conscious choice, nothing changes.  

Not with more income.  

Not with more education.  

Not with better financial strategies or plans. 

And  

It all starts with awareness.

So here are five of my favourite journal prompts to help you identify your money story.

1. What did money represent in my household growing up? 

Was money associated with stress? Control? Freedom? Scarcity? Power? Shame? Conflict? Or was money just never discussed.  

Think about how money was talked about, fought over, avoided, hidden, or rewarded.  The key is to try and notice patterns without judging them. 

Finish this sentence: 

“In my family, money meant __________.” 

2. What emotions come up for me around money today? 

Money is emotional, because it is tied to so many things. 

It is tied to worth and value and status and on and on. 

Ask yourself: 

How do I feel when I check my bank account? 

What emotion follows spending. Do I feel relief, guilt, anxiety, excitement? When I think about earning more, what shows up first, desire or fear? 

Write honestly. Don’t edit yourself. 

Money doesn’t create these emotions.  

Money reveals them. 

3. What do I believe people “like me” are allowed to have? This is a big one. 

What you say you want and what you believe is possible are two very different things.  Ask: 

What level of income feels normal for someone like me? 

What feels like “too much”? 

What feels irresponsible, greedy, or unsafe?

We all have an upper limit and it has nothing to do with skill or effort and everything to do with identity. 

4.How do I behave when I feel financially uncomfortable? 

Your money story shows up most clearly under stress. 

Do you: 

Avoid looking? 

Over-control? 

Spend impulsively? 

Freeze? 

Hustle harder? 

Shut down? 

Write about a recent moment of financial discomfort or even financial anxiety and describe exactly what you did.  

Again no judgement. 

Your behaviour will reveal your beliefs. 

5. What would feel unsafe if my relationship with money suddenly improved? This question is interesting. 

Ask yourself: 

If money was easy, what would I have to face? 

Who would judge me? 

What expectations would change? 

What identity would I have to let go of? 

Final Thought 

Awareness is the beginning. 

You can not change what you cannot see.  

If money has felt heavy, confusing, or has been a constant source of anxiety in your life, you are not alone.  

Trust me. 

You’ve been living inside a story you didn’t consciously write.

But like all stories, this one can be rewritten.