Overcoming fear of money as a Social Sector professional

Was there ever something that was bothering you for years and you didn’t understand the origin? Was there ever something that was an underlying fear, like a low hum in the back of your mind that spiked up around certain triggers?

Personal wealth, money and finance was one of those fear factors for me. It took me until my late 30s to finally be aware, confront and take action on these issues. Below I’m sharing some of the mindsets and clear thinking that helped me realize, confront, and move past these issues. As Social Sector professionals we deal with money all the time. In our work, we are often managing multi-million dollar budgets, and may work with humanitarian organizations that manage billions. Many of my work projects in the past have supported humanitarian organizations like the World Food Program (WFP) that received $6 billion of contributions for food assistance in 2017. So we should be comfortable with managing our own personal finances right?

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Wrong! When it comes to our own personal financial foundations we often feel fear-based avoidance and denial, and are at risk of making financial  mistakes. This limits our long term potential to contribute to the sector. This fear paralyzes us and pushes us into low performing cycles. 
Why are Social Sector professionals so bad at money?
Our field attracts do-gooders. People who want to make a direct difference in service to others with their lives and work. Our mindset attracts us to philanthropy and direct action. In the extreme, we despise the private sector and think that anything that has a profit motive must at its core be bad. 
We think of ourselves as better than our soulless private sector friends who run around chasing money all day and are part of the problem rather than the solution. We assume that if we keep on the current path and work hard every day for our social sector cause, we will be fine in the end because everything related to our personal finances l will sort itself out, since we’ve been “doing the right thing” for so long. 
We also adhere even more to the incorrect social stigma that there is something different, and unfair about people that we perceive as rich.  We would never want to be in that crowd. Talking about our salary is taboo. What step and grade we are in our social sector organization is fraught with sharing fear and kept confidential. 
We have an organizational budget understanding that is a distorted view of finance and skews our personal finance decisions. 
That all sounds harsh. It is harsh, and also the wrong way to think. 

Limiting beliefs of Social Sector professionals around money
We are afraid of so many things in this area. Here are a few of the biggest ‘limiting scripts’ or things we tell ourselves about finance:

Scarcity mindset: “There is not enough, I’ll never get enough.” We have a scarcity mindset around money that reduces our potential and makes us stay in social sector work situations. 
Not understanding how wealth creation works: “I’m not good at money, I’m a humanitarian. I don’t understand it so I’ll avoid it.” Through our own mental blocks and fears we have not taken the time to look at how money and wealth work in our modern economy. We don’t understand how individuals and families build wealth over time
Not for me: “Wealth is for other people, I work on social causes.” Thinking that it is impossible to be financially secure while working in the Social Sectors. 
Martyr syndrome: “I don’t matter; my cause is more important.” Thinking that it is ok that we sacrifice our own financial wellbeing in support of a social cause. 

Rewriting these scripts
In the past few years I’ve completely rewritten these scripts to focus on a positive view of wealth as a way to actualize as a person, as a caretaker of my family and as a Social Sector professional. 

Here are some new mental scripts: 
Self as Asset - Know that you are your own best asset. You are extremely valuable as a person but also as a financial asset. Your ideas, energy and focus create output that helps your Social Sector cause and also makes a living for you and your family. There is no tradeoff here. You are translating your work into assistance for people in need, and into financial wealth for you and your family that you need to survive. 
Financial Independence is a worthy goal for do-gooders - Financial freedom means saving and investing a percentage of your earnings so that your investments cover your basic yearly costs.  This is a crucial event that usually takes place at the end of our careers called retirement. However with a high savings rate, anyone in our field can attain financial independence before the traditional retirement age. As you walk along that path of spending less than you earn and saving/investing the rest, you gain a greater level of freedom to choose your focus, work and job. 
Understanding wealth makes you a better social sector entrepreneur - Taking time to learn about wealth, investing and money management makes you a better social entrepreneur and/or Social Sector professional. Embracing this area of study helps master fears in this area and makes you a literate manager of yourself and your social cause. 
Wealth focus is healthy for Social Sector professionals - Realize that wealth learning and action, is a good and healthy thing, something to be proud of. 
Making wealth disappear to focus on what matters - After doing some basic financial learning and setting up an automated wealth system, you can choose to let wealth and money issues recede in your life.  You actually become less money obsessed because you understand, and  have your plans in place. This frees up valuable brain space so you can put your focus wherever you want: your family, and your social sector mission. 
Knowing you number: Mapping out number values for what you and your family need to achieve your goals. Understanding what wealth you need to pursue your life and work maps, makes  work and life decisions easier to make.   

Making a system that works for you
Although there is a professional wealth management industry out there and people who dedicate full careers to this study, some strategies are simple. As a social sector professional you are already a high level performer in your chosen career. You need to apply a basic level of focus and learning energy toward this issue to set up your wealth system. Once this is in place, it takes a low level of maintenance to monitor and tune the system each year. 
Here are the resources that have made the biggest difference for me:
Understanding the big picture
Millionaire next door - The evidence based formula for accumulating wealth with a professional salary. 

Rich Dad Poor Dad - Core message: invest in yourself and accumulate assets instead of possessions and reach financial freedom. 
 
Setting up a system
I will teach you to be rich - Financial basics for setting up an automated system. JL Collins Stock Series - Index investing and eliminating your fear of the markets. 
If You Can - How Millennials Can Get Rich Slowly - Investing basics. 
Bogelheads - Index investing advice from a trusted community. 
Vanguard - Investor owned investing collective. 

Financial Independence thinking
Mr Money Mustache - Retired in his 30s. As Sector Professionals we have work we love so are not trying to escape, but can use his mental and financial frameworks in support of our work. 
Millionaire Educator - This family saved and invested teacher salaries and achieved financial independence. 
Afford anything - The real estate angle to financial independence and wider thinking on the topic. 
That’s the foundation of my system for breaking through limiting scripts around money and setting up basic systems that solve this problem, so that  I can focus on my relationships, my sports passion, and my Social Sector work. . 

Happy trails!