Wise & Wealthy: Talking money and mental exercises to lower stress

Welcome to Wise & Wealthy: A weekly newsletter full of proven ideas to become smarter and wealthier. I send this every Monday.

#117 – March 25, 2024

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Wise: Taming stress and anxiety

I recently read an alarming statistic about the health of workers in The Netherlands. Compared to before the pandemic, 13% more people took sick leave due to mental reasons.

While we can never avoid stress and anxiety, we can find ways to tame it. In my new article, I share 5 mental exercises for that.

One effective strategy to manage this is the “5-minute worry time” strategy.

Every time you worry about something, only give yourself 5 minutes to sulk in your negative emotions.

During those 5 minutes allow yourself to think about all the things that are causing you stress.

Give yourself permission to worry. By acknowledging our worries, we can better manage and control them. But once the time is up, move on to something else.

↳ Mental Exercises to Help You Tame Stress and Anxiety


Wealthy: Money talk

The topic of money was always taboo in our household because every time it came up, my parents got into a fight.

This is not uncommon. No wonder why so many of us are allergic to talk about our finances, especially with our loved ones.

But research showed that people who talked about money at home while growing up didn’t struggle as much with impulse buys or maxing out credit cards. In fact, the researchers found that if you’re brave enough to share your financial goals with your friends, you’re more likely to hit them.

Talking to your peers about your financial goals improves your chances of actually executing them.

Science also supports this. The odds are higher that you will do better financially when you become more comfortable talking about money.

In my new article, I share more about the research and give tips for those of us who find it difficult to talk about money.

↳ Why We Should Talk About Money More Often


One interesting thing

A quote from the investor, Carl Icahn, about loving the process:

“Coming up with a new idea to beat the competitors, that gets me excited. The money is just a goal. It’s like the explorers, why do they keep doing it? They believe in going for the gold, like Cortes and these guys. But I think the actual finding and doing is much more exciting than having it.”

We all know that’s true. We just need to remind ourselves to enjoy the journey when we obsess about the destination.


Thanks for reading! I hope you found this edition of Wise & Wealthy useful.

All the best,

Darius

Join the 5-day Financial Freedom Challenge

I created a 5-day email course you can do alone or together with a group. It’s called the Financial Freedom Challenge. And it will help you to gain control over your finances.

Most people try to calculate their way out of poor finances. But money problems aren’t rational. They’re emotional. Manage your emotions well, and you’ll manage your finances better.

Financial Freedom Challenge

How to Unlock the Financial Freedom Challenge

You can join the challenge for free. For five days, you’ll receive a short email with a small challenge that inspires you to improve your relationship with money.

I highly recommend sharing it with your friends/family so you can go through the program together. It helps bring perspective. And it’s more fun that way too.

Join here for free: dariusforoux.com/financial-freedom

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