Many people make more money and somehow feel more afraid. Afraid to decide. Afraid to lose. Afraid to look foolish. Afraid to miss out.
https://www.youtube.com/live/00ErZ7MiuEM
This isn’t a fringe problem. It’s everywhere.And it’s solvable.
Bruce and I recorded this episode to hand you a simple tool you can use to reframe fear and build the kind of financial life that runs on clarity, certainty, and stewardship.
Overcoming financial fear starts hereWhat Financial Fear Really IsMake Financial Fear Work For YouScarcity vs Abundance With MoneyWhy Typical Financial Planning Fuels AnxietyTraditional Planning Builds CertaintyPut Money Back In Its PlaceHow Media and Culture Feed FearThe Practical System To Overcome Financial FearTypical Planning vs Traditional PlanningTypical PlanningTraditional PlanningOvercoming Financial Fear: From scarcity to abundance – your next stepBuild certainty, not anxiety – listen in and take your next stepBook A Strategy CallFAQ – Overcoming Financial FearWhat causes financial fear?How do I overcome financial fear fast?What is the abundance mindset with money?Is money good or evil?Why does typical retirement planning increase anxiety?How do cash flowing assets reduce financial fear?How does whole life insurance help with financial fear?What is traditional financial planning?
Overcoming financial fear starts here
If you’ve ever hesitated before a money decision, second guessed yourself after signing the paperwork, or stayed stuck because the “what ifs” grew louder than your purpose, you’ve met financial fear.
This article will help you:
Understand what financial fear really is, and why even high net worth families feel it.
Swap a scarcity mindset for an abundance mindset without pretending fear disappears.
See why typical planning fuels anxiety and how traditional planning builds certainty.
Put money back in its place as a neutral tool and elevate stewardship.
Take practical steps today to move from reaction to intentional design.
If fear has been in the driver’s seat, it’s time to move it to the passenger side and make it serve your mission.
What Financial Fear Really Is
Let’s start at the root.
Fear is not your enemy. It’s a God-given alarm for imminent danger.
As Bruce says, fear can save your life when a car barrels toward you. You don’t want to pause and philosophize. You jump.
The problem is when that same survival response starts running your money decisions. You either freeze and hoard, or you sprint from shiny object to shiny object because you’re afraid to miss out. Different behaviors. Same scarcity.
I’ve watched fear show up in two common ways:
Fear of running outThe miser mindset. White knuckles. No generosity. No strategic investment. Just “hold on or else.”
Fear of missing outThe constant upgrader. Bigger house, better boat, newer thing. Always chasing, never satisfied.
Both are scarcity. Neither is abundance.
Abundance isn’t reckless. It’s not denial. It’s a settled conviction that value creation is limitless, and that you can make wise, long range decisions because you are a producer, not just a consumer.
Make Financial Fear Work For You
The most successful people don’t lack fear.They refuse to let fear set the agenda.
They put emotions under the leadership of a renewed mind. They use fear as a prompt to prepare, to do the work, to practice courage, and to move anyway.
Here’s a quick loop Bruce and I use:
Name the fear. Say it out loud.
Interrogate it. What’s the real risk, the real timeline, the real magnitude?
Reframe it. What productive action can this fear fuel today?
Act. Small, specific steps beat ruminating every time.
Review. Talk to yourself like you talk to a friend. Record wins. Build evidence.
Courage is a muscle.Train it.
Scarcity vs Abundance With Money
I like to picture a continuum with scarcity at the bottom and abundance at the top. On both ends of the bell curve, scarcity looks different but feels the same.
On one end, scarcity hoards and hides.
On the other, scarcity spends to soothe and signal.
Abundance sits at the top and does something else entirely. It designs a system where money can be saved, used, enjoyed, replenished, and directed toward a bigger mission. It recognizes that money follows value, and value flows from serving people well.
Abundance knows this truth:
Money is neutral.It’s a magnifier of the soul.
Put money in the hands of a wise steward and it multiplies blessing. Put money in the hands of a fool and it multiplies damage. Money did not change the heart. It revealed it.
This is why character formation, family culture, and clear guidance are not side notes in finance. They are the engine.
Why Typical Financial Planning Fuels Anxiety
Typical planning was built to end your productivity.Work until X. Stop. Spend down the pile. Hope you don’t outlive it.
Because the goal is “stop,” t