Are Your Emotions Running Your Finances?

Hannah Chapman graduated with a degree in flute performance, but started working in finance right out of college. 

When people ask her how that happened, she tells them they’re actually very similar. Music and math both use the logical part of your brain. 

As a musician, she learned that diligence and attention to detail helped her improve at her craft, but her music didn’t really come alive until she brought her emotions into it. 

Now as a financial coach and planner, she sees the role our emotions play in our finances as well. 

When Hannah first started out in a practice in 2007, she was great with details. She created really beautiful plans, to-do lists, and charts to help her clients achieve their hopes and dreams. 

But she started to see a big difference, especially among business owners, when she could help people get to the emotional heart of their financial issues. 

This became her superpower. 

She started helping people connect to what was happening in their bodies and what emotions they were experiencing around their money situation. 

As a result, they were able to make better decisions for themselves and their businesses. 

Eventually, she launched X2 Wealth Planning where she works with business owners, including a lot of attorneys, who have big vision and want to make a difference in the world. 

I asked her how we can become more aware of what's happening in our mind and body when it comes to money. Here’s what she said: 

Our “money stories” stem from our experience as children, adolescents, or even early adulthood. A lot of our most tender, deeply held stories come from ages 0 to 7. That’s when, developmentally, we’re not rejecting very much information.

We don't always know what money is at that age. We might learn what dollars and coins are, but we don't know what it means on a fundamental level. 

What we do recognize is if we feel safe or secure. We notice if we have food on the table every day. We recognize if our neighborhood is safe. We notice if our caregivers are stressed out or calm and able to respond to us. 

So all of these factors leading to our own safety and security are coming from money. 

When we go through age 7 to 14, that next developmental stage, that's when we start noticing more of what money means. We start to understand the implications of having money or not having as much money as other people. We pick up on our caregivers’ different ideas about what we should do with money, how available it is, and what money means. 

Here are some examples of Money Stories: 

Money doesn't grow on trees. 

Money is the root of all evil. 

Rich people are bad.

Poor people did something wrong. 

We get imprinted with the money stories of the culture we grew up in. We don’t necessarily realize it until we take the time to step back and allow ourselves to see what’s at our bedrock. 

I asked her for a couple of tips for unraveling our stories around money. Here’s what she said: 

Awareness is key. 

I do a guided meditation where you ask your 10-year-old self what they know about money. What is coming up for them? What do they experience with money? A lot of times, the story that comes up has a link to whatever your biggest challenge is right now. Whatever comes up, trust it. 

Don’t steamroll over acceptance. 

Once we have awareness, we tend to want to fix it. But when we do that, we steamroll the acceptance part. We skip the part where we feel the emotion and allow it to move up and out of our body so we can make a clear, conscious choice about what's next. 

Instead, trust whatever comes up. Allow yourself to see how that's true and give your 10-year-old self so much love. Say things like, “I see you. Thank you for sharing.” 

The acceptance makes the aligned action so much more powerful, because you're moving from a place of clarity, not from a place of fear. 

I’m so thankful I got to sit down with Hannah and talk about this topic. 

It’s something we don't talk about enough - especially as entrepreneurs and high achievers. 

So many times we want to shame past versions of ourselves like, “You should’ve known.”

But it’s not fair to hold our past selves accountable for what we know now or steamroll our emotions when they come up. We have to take the time to understand why we’re feeling a certain way so we can heal it, and meet ourselves with grace and compassion. 

Where to find Hannah: 

X2 Wealth Planning Website: x2wealthplanning.com

Expansive CEO Website: Expansiveceo.com

LinkedIn: Hannah Chapman