MOST Analysis

Mission Statement

Have you ever heard how you do money is how you do everything? Where money is concerned, you are either experiencing contraction (repelling it) or expansion (attracting it). Discover how you can clear your money clutter, so you can earn and save more money. You will obtain clarity, confidence, and freedom when it comes to money. You’ll learn a proven step by step process to allow you to take control of your financial future.

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Objectives

1. Money Legacy – Understanding your money story also known as your money legacy, is one of the most important things you can do to improve your financial situation. It’s critical to understand your current relationship with money—what you say about it, how you feel about it, what you believe about it, and how you use it. In this lesson, you will learn actionable steps to bring about positive change for your financial future including creating a new Family Money Legacy.
2. Expansion vs. Contraction – When it comes to money you have either an Abundance Mindset with expansive thoughts of (abundance, peace, freedom) or a Scarcity Mindset with contractive thoughts such as (fear, stress and lack). In this lesson, you learn how contractive thoughts can not only keep you from generating the income and lifestyle you desire but can sabotage your success in all areas of your life.
3. Clear Clutter – Having clutter in our lives can bog us down and create stress and overwhelm in lur lives. Decluttering and getting organized around money is a powerful first step to changing the direction of your money life. In this lesson, you will learn powerful steps to create a clutter free life.
4. Forgive Past – Many of us want to have a bright, shining future: filled with hope and clarity and empowerment when it comes to our financial futures. But something seems to be holding us back. As much as we desire a new future, we simply can’t move forward until we pause, looked into our past, and address the issues that are tying us to it. This course is all about forgiveness – why it’s the answer and exactly how to go about it.
5. Money Breakthrough – Your money mindset influences what you believe you can and cannot do with money, how much money you believe you’re allowed, entitled, and able to earn, how much money you believe you can and should spend, how you use debt, how much money you give away, and your ability to invest confidently and successfully. In this lesson you will lean to shift your money mindset with a money breakthrough that will allow you to instantly up-level your confidence, create a new, empowered money mindset, and feel on fire about the special brilliance you bring to the world.
6. Relationship with Money – We have relationships with almost everything in our environment, including concepts, and yes…even money. In order to be financially successful, it is necessary for you to adopt a new money mindset. This means not only removing blocks, forgiving, shifting your mindset but also creating a new healthy and empowering relationship with money.
7. Need vs Want – When creating a monthly budget, one of the most important steps is to categorize your spending by whether it is a “need” or a “want.” It is also one of the most difficult steps to take because what constitutes a need versus a want varies from person to person. It’s also easy to mistake wants for needs if you’re so used to having them that you can’t imagine life without them. However, as we demonstrate in this lesson, needs, and wants are not the same thing and why it’s critical to understand the distinction between them.
8. Financial Literacy – Many consumers today have a basic understanding of finance. Indeed, a lack of financial knowledge may be one of the reasons why many individuals struggle with saving and investing. Few people are prepared as financial decision-making becomes more complicated. That is why Financial Illiteracy is the #1 crisis in America! Understanding the value of money and how it works can significantly impact our future.
9. Money Management – Your overall wealth has less to do with how much money you make and more to do with learning how to manage your money. Whether you earn $100,000 or $1 million, developing your money management skills can help you achieve financial freedom, retire comfortably, and much more. The good news is that you don’t have to be a math genius or a millionaire to learn about money management. Money management is fundamentally about changing your mindset and developing good habits – habits we will do a deep dive in during this course.
10. Money Goals – It’s important to focus on what you want and create goals when it comes to money. Imagine what it will be like to live debt-free, achieve financial stability, and have the ability to spend your money on the things you value most. When you focus on what you want vs. your current situation it’s far easier to stay motivated and reach your financial goals. During this lesson, we will help you breakthrough your financial glass ceiling determine your freedom number, set your new bold money goal and create your “Money Mantra”.
11. Action and Accountability – Every person in the world wants a comfortable life, smooth relationships, and enough money to live comfortably, have their own house, car, and enough money to enjoy their yearly or monthly vacations. But just having a dream, plan, or vision for your work isn’t enough. To have this kind of life, the most important thing that is required is action. In order to get your desired outcome, you must take action. This lesson is all about learning what actionable steps to take to create the life and financial future that you want.
12. Money Power – Money is a metaphor for your self-worth. If you are not making the money that you desire somewhere in your life you are giving your power away. We’ve all felt as if we were at the mercy of what happened to us. However, just because you believe you are powerless does not imply that you are. When you feel powerless, it’s usually because you’ve chosen (consciously or unconsciously) to give away your power to others. The great news is that you can do something about it. In this lesson we will go through a powerful process to help you re-claim your power in your life and with money.

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Strategies

1. Learn and implement the steps to create a new Family Money Legacy.

2. Method to move out of contraction and into expansion when it comes to money.

3. Discover strategies to eliminate clutter in your life and access the 10 steps to de-clutter your finances.

4. Learn a “letting go” tool and create a forgiveness letter.

5. Adopt a new mindset with the 8-step process to improve your money mindset and method to create your own money breakthrough.

6. Learn 5 powerful ways to creating an empowered relationship with money and process to create a sacred relationship with money.

7. Learn the 5 levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and develop a strategy to discern wants from needs.

8. Identify 7 reasons why financial literacy is important to your financial success.

9. 10 simple ways to successfully manage your money.

10. Identify your freedom number, create money goals and a new “Money Mantra.”

11. Discover how to prioritize money in your life with the 7 financial priorities, learn powerful action and accountability steps as well as create a money vision board.

12. Learn the 7 Money Archetypes, 10 ways we give our money power away and a step-by-step process to re-claim it.

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Tasks

1. Go through the Study Guide and Distance Learning lessons first and make notes.

2. Identify the key relationships that need to be managed to ensure project success.

3. Determine needs, critical drivers, concerns, and interests for each relationship.

4. Ensure that these relationships are built and maintained on a regular basis, by soliciting ideas, comments, and assessing value.

5. Schedule a meeting for the participants to meet and discuss the workshop within 30 days.

6. Participants to share expectations and feedback during the workshop.

7. Set a deadline for determining and analyzing the time commitment for each of the participants.

8. Participants to demonstrate personal presence, get feedback, and make a plan for further development.

9. Participants to experience the challenges of change and apply learnings to the philosophy of leading change.

10. Participants are to complete each exercise fully, actively participate in all of the group exercises and be willing to discuss the process and results with the group.

11. Participants to complete their project by identifying and implementing changes discussed throughout the workshop.

12. Participants to review resources for inspiration and identify at least one new tool for adoption from the provided list.

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Introduction

Material wealth and financial success provide more freedom and comfort in life, as well as less stress and hardship. Many of us want to make more money and believe we have a greater potential for wealth than we do now. We may even have a good idea of how to make money, but something is still holding us back. If you don’t feel like you’ve reached your full potential for success, perhaps a change in your money mindset is in order. We can’t change our life if we’re worried about money, and we can’t be happy if you’re constantly stressed about money. Chances are, that you have something to share that offers great value or that can make a difference. If you’re worried about or conflicted around money, you won’t be able to get your gifts or talents out into the world.

This workshop – on Money Mindset dives in deep to uncover where this FEAR around money comes from and how you can shift it and begin to feel empowered when it comes to making and managing money.

With a better understanding of your money mindset, you can begin to take action to change it and transform your relationship with money.

What exactly is Money Mindset?

A money mindset is your distinct and individual set of core beliefs about money and how it functions in the world.

It is your monetary attitude. Your money mindset influences what you believe you can and cannot do with money, how much money you believe you’re allowed, entitled, and able to earn, how much money you believe you can and should spend, how you use debt, how much money you give away, and your ability to invest confidently and successfully.

Your attitude toward people, rich and poor, is influenced by your money mindset. Do you think rich people are evil, mean, materialistic, and greedy, and thus you don’t want to be like them? Do you believe that poor people are noble and virtuous, the salt of the earth – and that it is therefore preferable to be like them?

Another indicator of your money mindset is how you handle yourself in financial conversations: do you feel vulnerable and intimidated, or confident and in control? Are you comfortable asking questions – either yes because you feel safe doing so, or no because you’re shy and embarrassed? Do you have an unspoken belief that money is a man’s world and that women should not be concerned with it?

What’s fascinating about our money mindset is that it resides in our unconscious mind. And it can lie dormant for a long time. However, by becoming an astute observer of your thoughts, feelings, bodily reactions, and interactions with money, you gain awareness of your current set point and the ability to shift your mindset.

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History of Money Mindset

Many of our core beliefs about money are formed in childhood as a result of observing and internalizing money messages from our parents, friends, community, and other caregivers. Our parents, in particular.

Little children absorb everything they come into contact with. We paid close attention to how the adults closest to us dealt with money and life – did your parents fight about money, or were they cool and collected when family finances were discussed?

Why is it Important?

Understanding your money mindset and where it came from can aid in its transformation. Just as you would enter your coordinates into a navigator before embarking on a journey, you should be aware of and comprehend your current financial beliefs.

Knowing where you started helps you realize how far you’ve come as you shift your mindset. It’s like looking at the map and realizing you’ve already traveled 200 miles. The difference with money is that it is a once-in-a-lifetime journey. We never arrive at our destination. We’re just getting started. The journey is the destination.

How to Change Your Money Mindset.

Awareness is the first step toward changing your money mindset. Pay attention to your money-related thoughts, behaviors, and actions. Your feelings will be influenced by your financial thoughts. And your emotions influence your behavior.

For example, if you believe money is a scarce commodity, you will be stressed and anxious. You may lash out at family members for their financial frivolity, carelessness, or money mistakes. You are not likely to be generous, and you may even hoard money and material possessions.

We either have expansive thoughts about money (abundance, joy, peace) or contractive thoughts such as (lack, scarcity, or fear).

Most often we have made any financial mistakes that we wish we could undo. It’s perfectly normal! We’re all guilty of it. It’s a part of our financial education and maturation. Furthermore, neither our parents nor our school systems taught us anything about proper money management. As a result, we learned through osmosis and trial and error. It is essential to forgive ourselves for our financial blunders. Allow ourselves to let go of the past and let go of any feelings of shame, guilt, or stress.

It takes time, focus and a structured process to change your money mindset. It’s time to get started if you want to have a more joyful, abundant, and confident relationship with your money. The journey is the destination. Let’s begin your money mindset shift journey.

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Executive Summary

It’s a common misconception that money and spirituality are incompatible: if you’re a kind giving person or spiritual in anyway, you shouldn’t want money or people who want money are materialistic and greedy.

However, this way of thinking is extremely detrimental to our success. In fact, this couldn’t be further from the truth: money does not inherently breed greed and materialism. Money and spirituality, go very well together and can bring abundance into our lives. We will have a difficult time creating financial abundance in this lifetime if we feel (even slightly) that money is bad.

That is why having a money mindset that is based on expansive thoughts (abundance and peace) and reflects prosperity is necessary to obtain our financial goals.

The Money Mindset workshop will provide a focused structure and process to shift our money mindset and teaches money skills which will allow us to become confident when it comes to making and managing money.

There are 12 courses (or focus areas) in the Money Mindset Workshop.

Here they are:

1. Money Legacy – Understanding your money story also known as your money legacy, is one of the most important things you can do to improve your financial situation. It’s critical to understand your current relationship with money—what you say about it, how you feel about it, what you believe about it, and how you use it. In this lesson, you will learn actionable steps to bring about positive change for your financial future including creating a new Family Money Legacy.

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2. Expansion vs. Contraction – When it comes to money you have either an Abundance Mindset with expansive thoughts of (abundance, peace, freedom) or a Scarcity Mindset with contractive thoughts such as (fear, stress and lack). In this lesson, you learn how contractive thoughts can not only keep you from generating the income and lifestyle you desire but can sabotage your success in all areas of your life.

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3. Clear Clutter – Having clutter in our lives can bog us down and create stress and overwhelm in lur lives. Decluttering and getting organized around money is a powerful first step to changing the direction of your money life. In this lesson, you will learn powerful steps to create a clutter free life.

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4. Forgive Past – Many of us want to have a bright, shining future: filled with hope and clarity and empowerment when it comes to our financial futures. But something seems to be holding us back. As much as we desire a new future, we simply can’t move forward until we pause, looked into our past, and address the issues that are tying us to it. This course is all about forgiveness – why it’s the answer and exactly how to go about it.

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5. Money Breakthrough – Your money mindset influences what you believe you can and cannot do with money, how much money you believe you’re allowed, entitled, and able to earn, how much money you believe you can and should spend, how you use debt, how much money you give away, and your ability to invest confidently and successfully. In this lesson you will lean to shift your money mindset with a money breakthrough that will allow you to instantly up-level your confidence, create a new, empowered money mindset, and feel on fire about the special brilliance you bring to the world.

---

6. Relationship with Money – We have relationships with almost everything in our environment, including concepts, and yes…even money. In order to be financially successful, it is necessary for you to adopt a new money mindset. This means not only removing blocks, forgiving, shifting your mindset but also creating a new healthy and empowering relationship with money.

---

7. Need vs Want – When creating a monthly budget, one of the most important steps is to categorize your spending by whether it is a “need” or a “want.” It is also one of the most difficult steps to take because what constitutes a need versus a want varies from person to person. It’s also easy to mistake wants for needs if you’re so used to having them that you can’t imagine life without them. However, as we demonstrate in this lesson, needs, and wants are not the same thing and why it’s critical to understand the distinction between them.

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8. Financial Literacy – Many consumers today have a basic understanding of finance. Indeed, a lack of financial knowledge may be one of the reasons why many individuals struggle with saving and investing. Few people are prepared as financial decision-making becomes more complicated. That is why Financial Illiteracy is the #1 crisis in America! Understanding the value of money and how it works can significantly impact our future.

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9. Money Management – Your overall wealth has less to do with how much money you make and more to do with learning how to manage your money. Whether you earn $100,000 or $1 million, developing your money management skills can help you achieve financial freedom, retire comfortably, and much more. The good news is that you don’t have to be a math genius or a millionaire to learn about money management. Money management is fundamentally about changing your mindset and developing good habits – habits we will do a deep dive in during this course.

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10. Money Goals – It’s important to focus on what you want and create goals when it comes to money. Imagine what it will be like to live debt-free, achieve financial stability, and have the ability to spend your money on the things you value most. When you focus on what you want vs. your current situation it’s far easier to stay motivated and reach your financial goals. During this lesson, we will help you breakthrough your financial glass ceiling, determine your freedom number, set your new bold money goal and create your “Money Mantra”.

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11. Action and Accountability – Every person in the world wants a comfortable life, smooth relationships, and enough money to live comfortably, have their own house, car, and enough money to enjoy their yearly or monthly vacations. But just having a dream, plan, or vision for your work isn’t enough. To have this kind of life, the most important thing that is required is action. In order to get your desired outcome, you must take action. This lesson is all about learning what actionable steps to take to create the life and financial future that you want.

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12. Money Power – Money is a metaphor for your self-worth. If you are not making the money that you desire somewhere in your life you are giving your power away. We’ve all felt as if we were at the mercy of what happened to us. However, just because you believe you are powerless does not imply that you are. When you feel powerless, it’s usually because you’ve chosen (consciously or unconsciously) to give away your power to others. The great news is that you can do something about it. In this lesson we will go through a powerful process to help you re-claim your power in your life and with money.

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Impact for Positive Change

At the conclusion of each workshop, we will focus our collective attention on how you, as a leader, will put what we’ve learned into practice in your business. Impact for positive change means putting what you’ve learned into practice and taking action to make a significant difference. That starts with a strong desire to change and reflection on what you’re going to do differently. It’s also crucial to consider how you’ll involve people in your organization in the discussion about what you’ve learnt and make requests for what you need from them in order to succeed. Not only will your formal team be involved, but so will your cross-functional colleagues. How will you be collaborating to ensure all the women in your company have everything they need to succeed?

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Curriculum

Women Empowerment – Workshop 4 – Money Mindset

1. Money Legacy
2. Expansion vs Contraction
3. Clear Clutter
4. Forgive Past
5. Money Breakthrough
6. Relationship with Money
7. Need vs. Want
8. Financial Literacy
9. Money Management
10. Money Goals
11. Action and Accountability
12. Money Power

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Distance Learning

Introduction

Welcome to Appleton Greene and thank you for enrolling on the Women Empowerment corporate training program. You will be learning through our unique facilitation via distance-learning method, which will enable you to practically implement everything that you learn academically. The methods and materials used in your program have been designed and developed to ensure that you derive the maximum benefits and enjoyment possible. We hope that you find the program challenging and fun to do. However, if you have never been a distance-learner before, you may be experiencing some trepidation at the task before you. So we will get you started by giving you some basic information and guidance on how you can make the best use of the modules, how you should manage the materials and what you should be doing as you work through them. This guide is designed to point you in the right direction and help you to become an effective distance-learner. Take a few hours or so to study this guide and your guide to tutorial support for students, while making notes, before you start to study in earnest.

Study environment

You will need to locate a quiet and private place to study, preferably a room where you can easily be isolated from external disturbances or distractions. Make sure the room is well-lit and incorporates a relaxed, pleasant feel. If you can spoil yourself within your study environment, you will have much more of a chance to ensure that you are always in the right frame of mind when you do devote time to study. For example, a nice fire, the ability to play soft soothing background music, soft but effective lighting, perhaps a nice view if possible and a good size desk with a comfortable chair. Make sure that your family know when you are studying and understand your study rules. Your study environment is very important. The ideal situation, if at all possible, is to have a separate study, which can be devoted to you. If this is not possible then you will need to pay a lot more attention to developing and managing your study schedule, because it will affect other people as well as yourself. The better your study environment, the more productive you will be.

Study tools & rules

Try and make sure that your study tools are sufficient and in good working order. You will need to have access to a computer, scanner and printer, with access to the internet. You will need a very comfortable chair, which supports your lower back, and you will need a good filing system. It can be very frustrating if you are spending valuable study time trying to fix study tools that are unreliable, or unsuitable for the task. Make sure that your study tools are up to date. You will also need to consider some study rules. Some of these rules will apply to you and will be intended to help you to be more disciplined about when and how you study. This distance-learning guide will help you and after you have read it you can put some thought into what your study rules should be. You will also need to negotiate some study rules for your family, friends or anyone who lives with you. They too will need to be disciplined in order to ensure that they can support you while you study. It is important to ensure that your family and friends are an integral part of your study team. Having their support and encouragement can prove to be a crucial contribution to your successful completion of the program. Involve them in as much as you can.

Successful distance-learning

Distance-learners are freed from the necessity of attending regular classes or workshops, since they can study in their own way, at their own pace and for their own purposes. But unlike traditional internal training courses, it is the student’s responsibility, with a distance-learning program, to ensure that they manage their own study contribution. This requires strong self-discipline and self-motivation skills and there must be a clear will to succeed. Those students who are used to managing themselves, are good at managing others and who enjoy working in isolation, are more likely to be good distance-learners. It is also important to be aware of the main reasons why you are studying and of the main objectives that you are hoping to achieve as a result. You will need to remind yourself of these objectives at times when you need to motivate yourself. Never lose sight of your long-term goals and your short-term objectives. There is nobody available here to pamper you, or to look after you, or to spoon-feed you with information, so you will need to find ways to encourage and appreciate yourself while you are studying. Make sure that you chart your study progress, so that you can be sure of your achievements and re-evaluate your goals and objectives regularly.

Self-assessment

Appleton Greene training programs are in all cases post-graduate programs. Consequently, you should already have obtained a business-related degree and be an experienced learner. You should therefore already be aware of your study strengths and weaknesses. For example, which time of the day are you at your most productive? Are you a lark or an owl? What study methods do you respond to the most? Are you a consistent learner? How do you discipline yourself? How do you ensure that you enjoy yourself while studying? It is important to understand yourself as a learner and so some self-assessment early on will be necessary if you are to apply yourself correctly. Perform a SWOT analysis on yourself as a student. List your internal strengths and weaknesses as a student and your external opportunities and threats. This will help you later on when you are creating a study plan. You can then incorporate features within your study plan that can ensure that you are playing to your strengths, while compensating for your weaknesses. You can also ensure that you make the most of your opportunities, while avoiding the potential threats to your success.

Accepting responsibility as a student

Training programs invariably require a significant investment, both in terms of what they cost and in the time that you need to contribute to study and the responsibility for successful completion of training programs rests entirely with the student. This is never more apparent than when a student is learning via distance-learning. Accepting responsibility as a student is an important step towards ensuring that you can successfully complete your training program. It is easy to instantly blame other people or factors when things go wrong. But the fact of the matter is that if a failure is your failure, then you have the power to do something about it, it is entirely in your own hands. If it is always someone else’s failure, then you are powerless to do anything about it. All students study in entirely different ways, this is because we are all individuals and what is right for one student, is not necessarily right for another. In order to succeed, you will have to accept personal responsibility for finding a way to plan, implement and manage a personal study plan that works for you. If you do not succeed, you only have yourself to blame.

Planning

By far the most critical contribution to stress, is the feeling of not being in control. In the absence of planning we tend to be reactive and can stumble from pillar to post in the hope that things will turn out fine in the end. Invariably they don’t! In order to be in control, we need to have firm ideas about how and when we want to do things. We also need to consider as many possible eventualities as we can, so that we are prepared for them when they happen. Prescriptive Change, is far easier to manage and control, than Emergent Change. The same is true with distance-learning. It is much easier and much more enjoyable, if you feel that you are in control and that things are going to plan. Even when things do go wrong, you are prepared for them and can act accordingly without any unnecessary stress. It is important therefore that you do take time to plan your studies properly.

Management

Once you have developed a clear study plan, it is of equal importance to ensure that you manage the implementation of it. Most of us usually enjoy planning, but it is usually during implementation when things go wrong. Targets are not met and we do not understand why. Sometimes we do not even know if targets are being met. It is not enough for us to conclude that the study plan just failed. If it is failing, you will need to understand what you can do about it. Similarly if your study plan is succeeding, it is still important to understand why, so that you can improve upon your success. You therefore need to have guidelines for self-assessment so that you can be consistent with performance improvement throughout the program. If you manage things correctly, then your performance should constantly improve throughout the program.

Study objectives & tasks

The first place to start is developing your program objectives. These should feature your reasons for undertaking the training program in order of priority. Keep them succinct and to the point in order to avoid confusion. Do not just write the first things that come into your head because they are likely to be too similar to each other. Make a list of possible departmental headings, such as: Customer Service; E-business; Finance; Globalization; Human Resources; Technology; Legal; Management; Marketing and Production. Then brainstorm for ideas by listing as many things that you want to achieve under each heading and later re-arrange these things in order of priority. Finally, select the top item from each department heading and choose these as your program objectives. Try and restrict yourself to five because it will enable you to focus clearly. It is likely that the other things that you listed will be achieved if each of the top objectives are achieved. If this does not prove to be the case, then simply work through the process again.

Study forecast

As a guide, the Appleton Greene Program Title corporate training program should take 12-18 months to complete, depending upon your availability and current commitments. The reason why there is such a variance in time estimates is because every student is an individual, with differing productivity levels and different commitments. These differentiations are then exaggerated by the fact that this is a distance-learning program, which incorporates the practical integration of academic theory as an as a part of the training program. Consequently all of the project studies are real, which means that important decisions and compromises need to be made. You will want to get things right and will need to be patient with your expectations in order to ensure that they are. We would always recommend that you are prudent with your own task and time forecasts, but you still need to develop them and have a clear indication of what are realistic expectations in your case. With reference to your time planning: consider the time that you can realistically dedicate towards study with the program every week; calculate how long it should take you to complete the program, using the guidelines featured here; then break the program down into logical modules and allocate a suitable proportion of time to each of them, these will be your milestones; you can create a time plan by using a spreadsheet on your computer, or a personal organizer such as MS Outlook, you could also use a financial forecasting software; break your time forecasts down into manageable chunks of time, the more specific you can be, the more productive and accurate your time management will be; finally, use formulas where possible to do your time calculations for you, because this will help later on when your forecasts need to change in line with actual performance. With reference to your task planning: refer to your list of tasks that need to be undertaken in order to achieve your program objectives; with reference to your time plan, calculate when each task should be implemented; remember that you are not estimating when your objectives will be achieved, but when you will need to focus upon implementing the corresponding tasks; you also need to ensure that each task is implemented in conjunction with the associated training modules which are relevant; then break each single task down into a list of specific to do’s, say approximately ten to do’s for each task and enter these into your study plan; once again you could use MS Outlook to incorporate both your time and task planning and this could constitute your study plan; you could also use a project management software like MS Project. You should now have a clear and realistic forecast detailing when you can expect to be able to do something about undertaking the tasks to achieve your program objectives.

Performance management

It is one thing to develop your study forecast, it is quite another to monitor your progress. Ultimately it is less important whether you achieve your original study forecast and more important that you update it so that it constantly remains realistic in line with your performance. As you begin to work through the program, you will begin to have more of an idea about your own personal performance and productivity levels as a distance-learner. Once you have completed your first study module, you should re-evaluate your study forecast for both time and tasks, so that they reflect your actual performance level achieved. In order to achieve this you must first time yourself while training by using an alarm clock. Set the alarm for hourly intervals and make a note of how far you have come within that time. You can then make a note of your actual performance on your study plan and then compare your performance against your forecast. Then consider the reasons that have contributed towards your performance level, whether they are positive or negative and make a considered adjustment to your future forecasts as a result. Given time, you should start achieving your forecasts regularly.

With reference to time management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual time taken in your study plan; consider your successes with time-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; consider your failures with time-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to time planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your time expectations. You need to be consistent with your time management, otherwise you will never complete your studies. This will either be because you are not contributing enough time to your studies, or you will become less efficient with the time that you do allocate to your studies. Remember, if you are not in control of your studies, they can just become yet another cause of stress for you.

With reference to your task management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual tasks that you have undertaken in your study plan; consider your successes with task-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case; take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; consider your failures with task-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to task planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your task expectations. You need to be consistent with your task management, otherwise you will never know whether you are achieving your program objectives or not.

Keeping in touch

You will have access to qualified and experienced professors and tutors who are responsible for providing tutorial support for your particular training program. So don’t be shy about letting them know how you are getting on. We keep electronic records of all tutorial support emails so that professors and tutors can review previous correspondence before considering an individual response. It also means that there is a record of all communications between you and your professors and tutors and this helps to avoid any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation. If you have a problem relating to the program, share it with them via email. It is likely that they have come across the same problem before and are usually able to make helpful suggestions and steer you in the right direction. To learn more about when and how to use tutorial support, please refer to the Tutorial Support section of this student information guide. This will help you to ensure that you are making the most of tutorial support that is available to you and will ultimately contribute towards your success and enjoyment with your training program.

Work colleagues and family

You should certainly discuss your program study progress with your colleagues, friends and your family. Appleton Greene training programs are very practical. They require you to seek information from other people, to plan, develop and implement processes with other people and to achieve feedback from other people in relation to viability and productivity. You will therefore have plenty of opportunities to test your ideas and enlist the views of others. People tend to be sympathetic towards distance-learners, so don’t bottle it all up in yourself. Get out there and share it! It is also likely that your family and colleagues are going to benefit from your labors with the program, so they are likely to be much more interested in being involved than you might think. Be bold about delegating work to those who might benefit themselves. This is a great way to achieve understanding and commitment from people who you may later rely upon for process implementation. Share your experiences with your friends and family.

Making it relevant

The key to successful learning is to make it relevant to your own individual circumstances. At all times you should be trying to make bridges between the content of the program and your own situation. Whether you achieve this through quiet reflection or through interactive discussion with your colleagues, client partners or your family, remember that it is the most important and rewarding aspect of translating your studies into real self-improvement. You should be clear about how you want the program to benefit you. This involves setting clear study objectives in relation to the content of the course in terms of understanding, concepts, completing research or reviewing activities and relating the content of the modules to your own situation. Your objectives may understandably change as you work through the program, in which case you should enter the revised objectives on your study plan so that you have a permanent reminder of what you are trying to achieve, when and why.

Distance-learning check-list

Prepare your study environment, your study tools and rules.
Undertake detailed self-assessment in terms of your ability as a learner.
Create a format for your study plan.
Consider your study objectives and tasks.
Create a study forecast.
Assess your study performance.
Re-evaluate your study forecast.
Be consistent when managing your study plan.
Use your Appleton Greene Certified Learning Provider (CLP) for tutorial support.
Make sure you keep in touch with those around you.

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Tutorial Support

Programs

Appleton Greene uses standard and bespoke corporate training programs as vessels to transfer business process improvement knowledge into the heart of our clients’ organizations. Each individual program focuses upon the implementation of a specific business process, which enables clients to easily quantify their return on investment. There are hundreds of established Appleton Greene corporate training products now available to clients within customer services, e-business, finance, globalization, human resources, information technology, legal, management, marketing and production. It does not matter whether a client’s employees are located within one office, or an unlimited number of international offices, we can still bring them together to learn and implement specific business processes collectively. Our approach to global localization enables us to provide clients with a truly international service with that all important personal touch. Appleton Greene corporate training programs can be provided virtually or locally and they are all unique in that they individually focus upon a specific business function. They are implemented over a sustainable period of time and professional support is consistently provided by qualified learning providers and specialist consultants.

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Support available

You will have a designated Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and an Accredited Consultant and we encourage you to communicate with them as much as possible. In all cases tutorial support is provided online because we can then keep a record of all communications to ensure that tutorial support remains consistent. You would also be forwarding your work to the tutorial support unit for evaluation and assessment. You will receive individual feedback on all of the work that you undertake on a one-to-one basis, together with specific recommendations for anything that may need to be changed in order to achieve a pass with merit or a pass with distinction and you then have as many opportunities as you may need to re-submit project studies until they meet with the required standard. Consequently the only reason that you should really fail (CLP) is if you do not do the work. It makes no difference to us whether a student takes 12 months or 18 months to complete the program, what matters is that in all cases the same quality standard will have been achieved.

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Support Process

Please forward all of your future emails to the designated (CLP) Tutorial Support Unit email address that has been provided and please do not duplicate or copy your emails to other AGC email accounts as this will just cause unnecessary administration. Please note that emails are always answered as quickly as possible but you will need to allow a period of up to 20 business days for responses to general tutorial support emails during busy periods, because emails are answered strictly within the order in which they are received. You will also need to allow a period of up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Please therefore kindly allow for this within your time planning. All communications are managed online via email because it enables tutorial service support managers to review other communications which have been received before responding and it ensures that there is a copy of all communications retained on file for future reference. All communications will be stored within your personal (CLP) study file here at Appleton Greene throughout your designated study period. If you need any assistance or clarification at any time, please do not hesitate to contact us by forwarding an email and remember that we are here to help. If you have any questions, please list and number your questions succinctly and you can then be sure of receiving specific answers to each and every query.

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Time Management

It takes approximately 1 Year to complete the Women Empowerment corporate training program, incorporating 12 x 6-hour monthly workshops. Each student will also need to contribute approximately 4 hours per week over 1 Year of their personal time. Students can study from home or work at their own pace and are responsible for managing their own study plan. There are no formal examinations and students are evaluated and assessed based upon their project study submissions, together with the quality of their internal analysis and supporting documents. They can contribute more time towards study when they have the time to do so and can contribute less time when they are busy. All students tend to be in full time employment while studying and the Women Empowerment program is purposely designed to accommodate this, so there is plenty of flexibility in terms of time management. It makes no difference to us at Appleton Greene, whether individuals take 12-18 months to complete this program. What matters is that in all cases the same standard of quality will have been achieved with the standard and bespoke programs that have been developed.

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Distance Learning Guide

The distance learning guide should be your first port of call when starting your training program. It will help you when you are planning how and when to study, how to create the right environment and how to establish the right frame of mind. If you can lay the foundations properly during the planning stage, then it will contribute to your enjoyment and productivity while training later. The guide helps to change your lifestyle in order to accommodate time for study and to cultivate good study habits. It helps you to chart your progress so that you can measure your performance and achieve your goals. It explains the tools that you will need for study and how to make them work. It also explains how to translate academic theory into practical reality. Spend some time now working through your distance learning guide and make sure that you have firm foundations in place so that you can make the most of your distance learning program. There is no requirement for you to attend training workshops or classes at Appleton Greene offices. The entire program is undertaken online, program course manuals and project studies are administered via the Appleton Greene web site and via email, so you are able to study at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home or office as long as you have a computer and access to the internet.

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How To Study

The how to study guide provides students with a clear understanding of the Appleton Greene facilitation via distance learning training methods and enables students to obtain a clear overview of the training program content. It enables students to understand the step-by-step training methods used by Appleton Greene and how course manuals are integrated with project studies. It explains the research and development that is required and the need to provide evidence and references to support your statements. It also enables students to understand precisely what will be required of them in order to achieve a pass with merit and a pass with distinction for individual project studies and provides useful guidance on how to be innovative and creative when developing your Unique Program Proposition (UPP).

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Tutorial Support

Tutorial support for the Appleton Greene Women Empowerment corporate training program is provided online either through the Appleton Greene Client Support Portal (CSP), or via email. All tutorial support requests are facilitated by a designated Program Administration Manager (PAM). They are responsible for deciding which professor or tutor is the most appropriate option relating to the support required and then the tutorial support request is forwarded onto them. Once the professor or tutor has completed the tutorial support request and answered any questions that have been asked, this communication is then returned to the student via email by the designated Program Administration Manager (PAM). This enables all tutorial support, between students, professors and tutors, to be facilitated by the designated Program Administration Manager (PAM) efficiently and securely through the email account. You will therefore need to allow a period of up to 20 business days for responses to general support queries and up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies, because all tutorial support requests are answered strictly within the order in which they are received. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Consequently you need to put some thought into the management of your tutorial support procedure in order to ensure that your study plan is feasible and to obtain the maximum possible benefit from tutorial support during your period of study. Please retain copies of your tutorial support emails for future reference. Please ensure that ALL of your tutorial support emails are set out using the format as suggested within your guide to tutorial support. Your tutorial support emails need to be referenced clearly to the specific part of the course manual or project study which you are working on at any given time. You also need to list and number any questions that you would like to ask, up to a maximum of five questions within each tutorial support email. Remember the more specific you can be with your questions the more specific your answers will be too and this will help you to avoid any unnecessary misunderstanding, misinterpretation, or duplication. The guide to tutorial support is intended to help you to understand how and when to use support in order to ensure that you get the most out of your training program. Appleton Greene training programs are designed to enable you to do things for yourself. They provide you with a structure or a framework and we use tutorial support to facilitate students while they practically implement what they learn. In other words, we are enabling students to do things for themselves. The benefits of distance learning via facilitation are considerable and are much more sustainable in the long-term than traditional short-term knowledge sharing programs. Consequently you should learn how and when to use tutorial support so that you can maximize the benefits from your learning experience with Appleton Greene. This guide describes the purpose of each training function and how to use them and how to use tutorial support in relation to each aspect of the training program. It also provides useful tips and guidance with regard to best practice.

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Tutorial Support Tips

Students are often unsure about how and when to use tutorial support with Appleton Greene. This Tip List will help you to understand more about how to achieve the most from using tutorial support. Refer to it regularly to ensure that you are continuing to use the service properly. Tutorial support is critical to the success of your training experience, but it is important to understand when and how to use it in order to maximize the benefit that you receive. It is no coincidence that those students who succeed are those that learn how to be positive, proactive and productive when using tutorial support.

Be positive and friendly with your tutorial support emails

Remember that if you forward an email to the tutorial support unit, you are dealing with real people. “Do unto others as you would expect others to do unto you”. If you are positive, complimentary and generally friendly in your emails, you will generate a similar response in return. This will be more enjoyable, productive and rewarding for you in the long-term.

Think about the impression that you want to create

Every time that you communicate, you create an impression, which can be either positive or negative, so put some thought into the impression that you want to create. Remember that copies of all tutorial support emails are stored electronically and tutors will always refer to prior correspondence before responding to any current emails. Over a period of time, a general opinion will be arrived at in relation to your character, attitude and ability. Try to manage your own frustrations, mood swings and temperament professionally, without involving the tutorial support team. Demonstrating frustration or a lack of patience is a weakness and will be interpreted as such. The good thing about communicating in writing, is that you will have the time to consider your content carefully, you can review it and proof-read it before sending your email to Appleton Greene and this should help you to communicate more professionally, consistently and to avoid any unnecessary knee-jerk reactions to individual situations as and when they may arise. Please also remember that the CLP Tutorial Support Unit will not just be responsible for evaluating and assessing the quality of your work, they will also be responsible for providing recommendations to other learning providers and to client contacts within the Appleton Greene global client network, so do be in control of your own emotions and try to create a good impression.

Remember that quality is preferred to quantity

Please remember that when you send an email to the tutorial support team, you are not using Twitter or Text Messaging. Try not to forward an email every time that you have a thought. This will not prove to be productive either for you or for the tutorial support team. Take time to prepare your communications properly, as if you were writing a professional letter to a business colleague and make a list of queries that you are likely to have and then incorporate them within one email, say once every month, so that the tutorial support team can understand more about context, application and your methodology for study. Get yourself into a consistent routine with your tutorial support requests and use the tutorial support template provided with ALL of your emails. The (CLP) Tutorial Support Unit will not spoon-feed you with information. They need to be able to evaluate and assess your tutorial support requests carefully and professionally.

Be specific about your questions in order to receive specific answers

Try not to write essays by thinking as you are writing tutorial support emails. The tutorial support unit can be unclear about what in fact you are asking, or what you are looking to achieve. Be specific about asking questions that you want answers to. Number your questions. You will then receive specific answers to each and every question. This is the main purpose of tutorial support via email.

Keep a record of your tutorial support emails

It is important that you keep a record of all tutorial support emails that are forwarded to you. You can then refer to them when necessary and it avoids any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation.

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Individual training workshops or telephone support

Please be advised that Appleton Greene does not provide separate or individual tutorial support meetings, workshops, or provide telephone support for individual students. Appleton Greene is an equal opportunities learning and service provider and we are therefore understandably bound to treat all students equally. We cannot therefore broker special financial or study arrangements with individual students regardless of the circumstances. All tutorial support is provided online and this enables Appleton Greene to keep a record of all communications between students, professors and tutors on file for future reference, in accordance with our quality management procedure and your terms and conditions of enrolment. All tutorial support is provided online via email because it enables us to have time to consider support content carefully, it ensures that you receive a considered and detailed response to your queries. You can number questions that you would like to ask, which relate to things that you do not understand or where clarification may be required. You can then be sure of receiving specific answers to each individual query. You will also then have a record of these communications and of all tutorial support, which has been provided to you. This makes tutorial support administration more productive by avoiding any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation.

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Tutorial Support Email Format

You should use this tutorial support format if you need to request clarification or assistance while studying with your training program. Please note that ALL of your tutorial support request emails should use the same format. You should therefore set up a standard email template, which you can then use as and when you need to. Emails that are forwarded to Appleton Greene, which do not use the following format, may be rejected and returned to you by the (CLP) Program Administration Manager. A detailed response will then be forwarded to you via email usually within 20 business days of receipt for general support queries and 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Your tutorial support request, together with the corresponding TSU reply, will then be saved and stored within your electronic TSU file at Appleton Greene for future reference.

Subject line of your email

Please insert: Appleton Greene (CLP) Tutorial Support Request: (Your Full Name) (Date), within the subject line of your email.

Main body of your email

Please insert:
1. Appleton Greene Certified Learning Provider (CLP) Tutorial Support Request
2. Your Full Name
3. Date of TS request
4. Preferred email address
5. Backup email address
6. Course manual page name or number (reference)
7. Project study page name or number (reference)

Subject of enquiry
Please insert a maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Briefly outline the subject matter of your inquiry, or what your questions relate to.

Question 1

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 3

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 4

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 5

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Please note that a maximum of 5 questions is permitted with each individual tutorial support request email.

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Procedure

* List the questions that you want to ask first, then re-arrange them in order of priority. Make sure that you reference them, where necessary, to the course manuals or project studies.
* Make sure that you are specific about your questions and number them. Try to plan the content within your emails to make sure that it is relevant.
* Make sure that your tutorial support emails are set out correctly, using the Tutorial Support Email Format provided here.
* Save a copy of your email and incorporate the date sent after the subject title. Keep your tutorial support emails within the same file and in date order for easy reference.
* Allow up to 20 business days for a response to general tutorial support emails and up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies, because detailed individual responses will be made in all cases and tutorial support emails are answered strictly within the order in which they are received.
* Emails can and do get lost. So if you have not received a reply within the appropriate time, forward another copy or a reminder to the tutorial support unit to be sure that it has been received but do not forward reminders unless the appropriate time has elapsed.
* When you receive a reply, save it immediately featuring the date of receipt after the subject heading for easy reference. In most cases the tutorial support unit replies to your questions individually, so you will have a record of the questions that you asked as well as the answers offered. With project studies however, separate emails are usually forwarded by the tutorial support unit, so do keep a record of your own original emails as well.
* Remember to be positive and friendly in your emails. You are dealing with real people who will respond to the same things that you respond to.
* Try not to repeat questions that have already been asked in previous emails. If this happens the tutorial support unit will probably just refer you to the appropriate answers that have already been provided within previous emails.
* If you lose your tutorial support email records you can write to Appleton Greene to receive a copy of your tutorial support file, but a separate administration charge may be levied for this service.

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How To Study

Your Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and Accredited Consultant can help you to plan a task list for getting started so that you can be clear about your direction and your priorities in relation to your training program. It is also a good way to introduce yourself to the tutorial support team.

Planning your study environment

Your study conditions are of great importance and will have a direct effect on how much you enjoy your training program. Consider how much space you will have, whether it is comfortable and private and whether you are likely to be disturbed. The study tools and facilities at your disposal are also important to the success of your distance-learning experience. Your tutorial support unit can help with useful tips and guidance, regardless of your starting position. It is important to get this right before you start working on your training program.

Planning your program objectives

It is important that you have a clear list of study objectives, in order of priority, before you start working on your training program. Your tutorial support unit can offer assistance here to ensure that your study objectives have been afforded due consideration and priority.

Planning how and when to study

Distance-learners are freed from the necessity of attending regular classes, since they can study in their own way, at their own pace and for their own purposes. This approach is designed to let you study efficiently away from the traditional classroom environment. It is important however, that you plan how and when to study, so that you are making the most of your natural attributes, strengths and opportunities. Your tutorial support unit can offer assistance and useful tips to ensure that you are playing to your strengths.

Planning your study tasks

You should have a clear understanding of the study tasks that you should be undertaking and the priority associated with each task. These tasks should also be integrated with your program objectives. The distance learning guide and the guide to tutorial support for students should help you here, but if you need any clarification or assistance, please contact your tutorial support unit.

Planning your time

You will need to allocate specific times during your calendar when you intend to study if you are to have a realistic chance of completing your program on time. You are responsible for planning and managing your own study time, so it is important that you are successful with this. Your tutorial support unit can help you with this if your time plan is not working.

Keeping in touch

Consistency is the key here. If you communicate too frequently in short bursts, or too infrequently with no pattern, then your management ability with your studies will be questioned, both by you and by your tutorial support unit. It is obvious when a student is in control and when one is not and this will depend how able you are at sticking with your study plan. Inconsistency invariably leads to in-completion.

Charting your progress

Your tutorial support team can help you to chart your own study progress. Refer to your distance learning guide for further details.

Making it work

To succeed, all that you will need to do is apply yourself to undertaking your training program and interpreting it correctly. Success or failure lies in your hands and your hands alone, so be sure that you have a strategy for making it work. Your Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and Accredited Consultant can guide you through the process of program planning, development and implementation.

Reading methods

Interpretation is often unique to the individual but it can be improved and even quantified by implementing consistent interpretation methods. Interpretation can be affected by outside interference such as family members, TV, or the Internet, or simply by other thoughts which are demanding priority in our minds. One thing that can improve our productivity is using recognized reading methods. This helps us to focus and to be more structured when reading information for reasons of importance, rather than relaxation.

Speed reading

When reading through course manuals for the first time, subconsciously set your reading speed to be just fast enough that you cannot dwell on individual words or tables. With practice, you should be able to read an A4 sheet of paper in one minute. You will not achieve much in the way of a detailed understanding, but your brain will retain a useful overview. This overview will be important later on and will enable you to keep individual issues in perspective with a more generic picture because speed reading appeals to the memory part of the brain. Do not worry about what you do or do not remember at this stage.

Content reading

Once you have speed read everything, you can then start work in earnest. You now need to read a particular section of your course manual thoroughly, by making detailed notes while you read. This process is called Content Reading and it will help to consolidate your understanding and interpretation of the information that has been provided.

Making structured notes on the course manuals

When you are content reading, you should be making detailed notes, which are both structured and informative. Make these notes in a MS Word document on your computer, because you can then amend and update these as and when you deem it to be necessary. List your notes under three headings: 1. Interpretation – 2. Questions – 3. Tasks. The purpose of the 1st section is to clarify your interpretation by writing it down. The purpose of the 2nd section is to list any questions that the issue raises for you. The purpose of the 3rd section is to list any tasks that you should undertake as a result. Anyone who has graduated with a business-related degree should already be familiar with this process.

Organizing structured notes separately

You should then transfer your notes to a separate study notebook, preferably one that enables easy referencing, such as a MS Word Document, a MS Excel Spreadsheet, a MS Access Database, or a personal organizer on your cell phone. Transferring your notes allows you to have the opportunity of cross-checking and verifying them, which assists considerably with understanding and interpretation. You will also find that the better you are at doing this, the more chance you will have of ensuring that you achieve your study objectives.

Question your understanding

Do challenge your understanding. Explain things to yourself in your own words by writing things down.

Clarifying your understanding

If you are at all unsure, forward an email to your tutorial support unit and they will help to clarify your understanding.

Question your interpretation

Do challenge your interpretation. Qualify your interpretation by writing it down.

Clarifying your interpretation

If you are at all unsure, forward an email to your tutorial support unit and they will help to clarify your interpretation.

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Qualification Requirements

The student will need to successfully complete the project study and all of the exercises relating to the Women Empowerment corporate training program, achieving a pass with merit or distinction in each case, in order to qualify as an Accredited Women Empowerment Specialist (AWES). All monthly workshops need to be tried and tested within your company. These project studies can be completed in your own time and at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home or office. There are no formal examinations, assessment is based upon the successful completion of the project studies. They are called project studies because, unlike case studies, these projects are not theoretical, they incorporate real program processes that need to be properly researched and developed. The project studies assist us in measuring your understanding and interpretation of the training program and enable us to assess qualification merits. All of the project studies are based entirely upon the content within the training program and they enable you to integrate what you have learnt into your corporate training practice.

Women Empowerment – Grading Contribution

Project Study – Grading Contribution

Customer Service – 10%
E-business – 05%
Finance – 10%
Globalization – 10%
Human Resources – 10%
Information Technology – 10%
Legal – 05%
Management – 10%
Marketing – 10%
Production – 10%
Education – 05%
Logistics – 05%
TOTAL GRADING – 100%

Qualification grades

A mark of 90% = Pass with Distinction.
A mark of 75% = Pass with Merit.
A mark of less than 75% = Fail.
If you fail to achieve a mark of 75% with a project study, you will receive detailed feedback from the Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and/or Accredited Consultant, together with a list of tasks which you will need to complete, in order to ensure that your project study meets with the minimum quality standard that is required by Appleton Greene. You can then re-submit your project study for further evaluation and assessment. Indeed you can re-submit as many drafts of your project studies as you need to, until such a time as they eventually meet with the required standard by Appleton Greene, so you need not worry about this, it is all part of the learning process.

When marking project studies, Appleton Greene is looking for sufficient evidence of the following:

Pass with merit

A satisfactory level of program understanding
A satisfactory level of program interpretation
A satisfactory level of project study content presentation
A satisfactory level of Unique Program Proposition (UPP) quality
A satisfactory level of the practical integration of academic theory

Pass with distinction

An exceptional level of program understanding
An exceptional level of program interpretation
An exceptional level of project study content presentation
An exceptional level of Unique Program Proposition (UPP) quality
An exceptional level of the practical integration of academic theory

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Preliminary Analysis

Empowering female employees at your company is critical for fostering a positive work environment as well as organizational development and growth. It is critical to assist these women in clarifying their core values and defining their priorities in order to develop an empowered mindset. This will necessitate significant changes in the company’s culture, systems, and processes. As a result of this empowerment process, transformation is encouraged. A supportive infrastructure, which also serves as an efficient and strategic business foundation, enables positive change.

Opportunity for Change

As women continue to advance their careers and take on more leadership roles, they must have an empowered mindset, which includes having a healthy and abundant money mindset.

The Women Empowerment Leadership Program is a method of accelerating women’s professional development at work. Women have made significant strides in the workplace, but there is no doubt that they continue to face challenges in climbing the corporate ladder. This program provides the necessary support and tools to ensure that these women have everything they need to succeed. This will in turn benefit the overall growth and profitability of the company.

Workshop 4- Money Mindset continues to focus on developing a success mindset which the first step (and the most significant) step in the Women Empowerment Transformation Process.

Preparing for the Workshop

Participants are encouraged to continue to show up with an open mind and be ready for a transformation from the inside out. Once again, there will be a lot of mindset work that involves being open to change.

Be sure to assess your organizations current stance on mindset development this will be helpful before you start making significant changes to its structure.

Take a look at your current processes and infrastructure.

Participants should also ensure that they are familiar with the major people-related processes of the company. All participants should be familiar with the processes of performance management, recruitment, talent assessment, and talent development. The workshop’s goal is not to change these processes, but rather to supplement them with the 5 Step Women’s Empowerment Business Transformation Process (Mindset Shift, Leadership Development, Personal Presence, Advanced Communications Skills and Creating and Implementing an Action Plan) to improve their effectiveness. Participants compile a list of their most recent successes and failures in each of these processes. The list will be useful later on when discussing how to integrate the process into the existing model.

It may be advantageous to the participants if these processes are also examined from the perspective of the employees. One or two of the participants should meet with a few key employees to discuss the success of the processes. The effectiveness of these processes, rather than the method itself, should be the focal point of these discussions. When discussing the efficacy of the process, it is critical to consider the outcomes from the perspective of the people it is supposed to help. Ineffective processes, regardless of their efficiency, fail to meet the expectations of the customer. The Women’s Empowerment Business Transformation Process will be able to fill in the gaps discovered by identifying flaws in these procedures.

The fourth workshop in our Women Empowerment Program – Money Mindset continues to work on developing a positive shift in our mindset.

How this will be achieved, is by implementation of the following strategies:

1. Learn and implement the steps to create a new Family Money Legacy.

2. Method to move out of contraction and into expansion when it comes to money.

3. Discover strategies to eliminate clutter in your life and access the 10 steps to de-clutter your finances.

4. Learn a “letting go” tool and create a forgiveness letter.

5. Adopt a new mindset with the 8-step process to improve your money mindset and method to create your own money breakthrough.

6. Learn 5 powerful ways to creating an empowered relationship with money and process to create a sacred relationship with money.

7. Learn the 5 levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and develop a strategy to discern wants from needs.

8. Identify 7 reasons why financial literacy is important to your financial success.

9. 10 simple ways to successfully manage your money.

10. Identify freedom number, create money goals and a new “Money Mantra.”

11. Discover how to prioritize money in your life with the 7 financial priorities, learn powerful action and accountability steps as well as create a money vision board.

12. Learn the 7 Money Archetypes, 10 ways we give our money power away and a step-by-step process to re-claim it.

Sources/Resources

• A Theory of Human Motivation” by Maslow in 1943
• Money Breakthrough Method Program by Kendall Summerhawk
• www.maggiebakerphd.com
• All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan,” is a book written by Senator Elizabeth Warren and her daughter
• Case Study on Written Goals: Created by Brian Francis Redmond, last modified by crw5202@psu.edu on Feb 22, 2011
• (Conversation Starters about Money, Finances, and Saving – ITHRIVE320)

Preliminary Plan

It’s important to have a plan to start implementing the processes learned throughout the workshop. Here are the steps to get this “project” started.

• Define the scope and objectives. Why is this project being initiated? …
• Define the roles and responsibilities.
• Next, you need to identify the project stakeholders – the ones who are responsible for its success. …
• Set milestones and create a timeline.
• Then, it’s time to break down the work that needs to be done into manageable blocks. …
• Hold regular meetings to check in on the progress.

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Course Manuals 1-12

Course Manual 1: Money Legacy

What’s Your Money Story?

Let’s face it: we all know what’s best for our finances: earn a lot of money and save a lot of money. That’s all. That is the great success secret.

It’s similar to losing weight: we all know to eat a lot of vegetables and exercise.
That’s all. It’s a very simple concept.

Despite this, 70% of American adults are overweight, and approximately 80% of Americans are in debt. Something is clearly preventing us from being our best, healthiest selves.

Sure, some of it stems from simple ignorance. We may be completely unaware that we should contribute to our 401k. It may not have occurred to us that buying a house with a down payment of only 3% is a bad idea.

We may not be aware that restaurants frequently slather their vegetables in butter, so our “healthy” option contains the same number of calories as the french fries.

But a lot of it is us mentally battling ourselves. And, it appears, we’re losing.

We’re aware that we shouldn’t eat the cake. But we make excuses for why it’s acceptable. We understand that we should not spend more than we earn. However, we learn to justify why some purchases are worthwhile.

What our subconscious truly thinks about money is reflected in our money story. Sure, everyone claims to want to be wealthy. However, as a child, perhaps all your parents did was fight over money. Every time you consider having money, your subconscious reminds you that money equals conflict, and you now subconsciously dislike holding onto it. You immediately spend it to resolve the conflict in your life.

Perhaps nothing was more important to your parents than impressing the neighbors. You discovered that money should not be saved, but rather spent to impress. Money equals self-worth.

If we want to change our money story, we must shift our money mindset.

“The only way you will ever permanently take control of your financial life is to dig deep and fix the root problem.” – Suze Orman- Financial Advisor

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Case Study of a Money Story

How Susan Conquered Her Money Fear

www.mindshift.money

Susan Whelan’s former self was hopeless with money, according to her. She recalls sitting on her father’s knee as a child and hearing him say, “Sometimes, Susan, the more money people have, the meaner they become.” Taking this statement to heart and witnessing her father’s financial stress and anxiety, whenever money came her way, she spent it as soon as she received it.

Later, after a significant trauma in high school, she was unable to pay her bills or save money for the future. Her father, she claims, was always there to assist her and pay off her debts.

After seeking help in this area. Susan discovered she had the ability to change her future and get on the path to Financial Freedom. She is no longer stressed about money and is well on her way to becoming debt-free. Even better, she is no longer afraid to discuss money with her father.

The Relationship Between Addiction And Money

Susan carried a great deal of sadness and shame as a result of the trauma she experienced as a child. For the majority of her life, she struggled with drug, alcohol, food, and poverty addictions.

At the same time, she combined her addictions with a desire for a better life for herself. She experimented with personal training, holistic body care, qigong, and other activities. However, she had an on-again, off-again relationship with these self-care techniques, just as she did with her addictions. She didn’t like her body and alternated between starving and binging.

She treated money in the same way, blowing through it as quickly as it came in. There were times when money came easily to her, and she even ran her own business for a while.

For example, in 2010, she and her partner went bankrupt, losing both their business and their home. What had happened to all the money? She had treated her business income the same way she had treated her personal income. She overspent and failed to save or run her business properly. She and her family were soon homeless. They joined a caravan and lived with friends while figuring out their financial situation.

Following a death in the family, they were left a run-down cottage in a small town of 400 people. Despite their family’s grief over the loss of a loved one, Susan and her family found that little cottage to be a lifesaver.

Overcoming Her Money Fears to Achieve Financial Independence

Susan had always felt sick and panicked whenever she thought about money or needed to check her bank accounts. Money was a monster to her, causing squabbles with her parents and siblings and instilling feelings of shame.

Finally, she decided she had to face her fears and learn about money. She was interested in learning how to budget, save, and spend wisely.

She worked with a number of financial experts who assisted her in confronting her financial anxiety and difficult emotions. Her other addictions became manageable once she accepted her negative feelings about money. Susan claims that she would not have been ready to begin the process if she had not gone through the process of dealing with her emotions.

Now she was ready to tackle her Cash Flow problems. But she realized she still didn’t know how to deal with money on a daily basis. She needed to learn how to actually manage her finances. She enrolled in a program to help her do just that.

She is now on track to reach her financial goals in eight years or less achieving a Financial Freedom she never even dreamed of just a few years ago.

Probably the best result though, is that Susan and her father can talk about money without the stress and anxiety that used to permeate their financial conversations.

“Any time my dad tried talking to me about money, it was just really, really too uncomfortable. He would end up having to get me out of debt, and it was just a whole toxic money cycle. So, there was all of that stuff. Now he can just say to me, ‘you’ve got this,’ you know, and it’s really cool. I talked to him about money the other day, and it was the best time in our lives, you know, that we were able to sit there and talk about it.”

Your Money Story

Understanding your money story is one of the most important things you can do to improve your financial situation. It’s critical to understand your current relationship with money—what you say about it, how you feel about it, what you believe about it, and how you use it. (We will be diving deep into your Relationship with Money in Course Manual 4:6)

Our thoughts are influenced by external factors, such as “the economy is bad” or “a person or situation is the problem.” Your thoughts are what shape your reality.

You were given your money story. You weren’t born into it; it chose you.

Think about how money was discussed in your home?

Have you ever noticed that children of successful parents are frequently (not always, but frequently) successful themselves, whereas children of poor parents are frequently poor?

This is due, in part (and not insignificantly), to the advantages bestowed upon them early in life. Rich kids have better school systems, tutors, colleges, clothes, and so on. However, it is also because wealthy parents are wealthy. They understand how to manage their money properly. They understand when to save, when to invest, and how to achieve success. They did it on their own! And they pass it on to their children. They instill in their children (and those around them) the values that they have instilled in themselves.

Parents who are poor, on the other hand, are poor. They have no idea how to become extremely successful. Money is a stressful and enigmatic subject, and these values are passed down to their children.

Your money story is what your subconscious tells you about money. It is your unconscious thoughts and feelings about money that you may or may not be aware of.

Perhaps you overheard your parents arguing frequently about money (money = bad).

Perhaps your parents frequently chastised wealthy people (money = bad). You may not have had the opportunity to select your story, but you do have the opportunity to do so now.

Begin by researching the patterns, beliefs, or behaviors you witnessed as a child that shaped your money legacy.

The ability to choose how we think about a situation is one of our last true liberties in life.

You have the ability to choose how you perceive any situation in your life. Your thoughts about a situation influence your feelings/emotions, which in turn influence your behaviors and actions in the world, resulting in the outcomes you have right now in your life.

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Transforming Your Inheritance

To begin developing your money story, answer the following questions:

1. Is there a defining moment in your family’s financial history? A defining moment shapes our beliefs; we derive meaning from that experience.
2. If your family went through a catalytic event, such as losing family wealth, losing a job, living through the Depression, or going through a divorce that caused financial hardship, this would shape your beliefs about money.
3. Has your family experienced a period of sudden wealth or financial success?
4. What memories do you have of your parents discussing money?
5. Did they argue about money or did one parent have a different view on spending and saving than the other parent?
6. What was your earliest memory about money?
7. Do you have any unhappy memories around money from your childhood until now?
8. What emotions did your family associate with money?
9. How would you define the status of your family growing up? Were they considered rich, poor, or middle class?
10. So, what would you say overall is the money story you grew up with?
11. How has this shown up in your life?
12. What is the core underlying money belief within that story?
13. What was their positive intention (for themselves)?
14. What is there to appreciate or be grateful for?
15. What is there to forgive?

Creating Your New Family Money Legacy

Write down 5 statements you resonate with the most from the list below. Then write down 2 statements you resonate with the least.

The 7 statements would then need to be prioritized, writing them in on the following page and posting it where you can see it daily. These statements support the beliefs and actions that lead you towards creating the new, empowered money legacy you desire and deserve! (Get printable version of this Exercise in the Project Study Section)

Wealth is a mental state.

It’s all a matter of perception.

We may have money in the bank or in the stock market, but the universal thought is “I don’t have enough.” Do we really have the money we think we have now that we have electronic transactions, and our government just keeps printing more money?

We have a tendency to give money a lot of power and even give away our personal power to money. We define our success based on how much or how little money we make.

We have a “lack” mentality in our society. We can never have enough of the latest fashion, the hottest pair of boots, the next version of software, or the newest iPhone.

We are taught to consume, and advertising persuades us that we require more. What matters most to me at the end of our lives, I believe, is who we loved and how we lived with integrity and service. This country requires a more conscious economic system.

How to Change Your Money Story

Take action to bring about change. Set the goal of learning as much as possible about money. Take a money class, seek out a coach who uses inquiry, or ask a trusted friend to talk with you about what is holding you back.

Get clear on the money story you’re telling yourself and others. Recognize your money-related thoughts, beliefs, and fears, as well as what you’ve been carrying around since childhood (your money legacy). If the story isn’t empowering you, decide to change it.

To overcome fears and find the support you need to move forward, read Suze Orman’s books or take a class. Our attitudes toward money, as well as our emotional attachments to it, influence how we spend and manage it.

What does it take to create a new money story that serves your life and allows you to grow your business?

Determine what is preventing you from moving forward.

Ask a friend to assist you in clarifying your work, its value, and your salary. Know what you have and how much money you’ll need to cover your expenses.

Set savings goals and automate it so that even as little as $25 is saved each month. It will add up before you know it.

Today marks the beginning of the rest of your life. If you’re concerned about not having enough money to live on as you get older, start saving now.

Start a Prosperity Journal

Begin a “Prosperity Journal” to investigate your relationship with money. Write about what works for you, what feels good, and when and where you feel frustrated, powerless, or just not right. Make a list of what you are grateful for in this journal every morning. Make a list of everything you can think of every day. On one of her shows, Oprah stated that she said a prayer of gratitude every time she stepped down the elevator to the stage. She discusses how gratitude has always been an important part of her life. Begin practicing your gratitude!

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Exercise 4:1: What’s Your Money Story?

Go around the room and have each of the participants share their money story. Use the following questions as prompts (you can write these on a dry erase board before you start).

1. Is there a defining moment in your family’s financial history?
2. So, what would you say overall is the money story you grew up with?
3. How has this shown up in your life?
4. What is there to forgive?

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Course Manual 2: Expansion vs. Contraction

It’s no surprise that our money values, beliefs, and thoughts – our “money mindset” – have a profound impact on every aspect of our lives, including our professional ones.

When it comes to money you have either an Abundance Mindset with expansive thoughts of (abundance, peace, freedom) or a Scarcity Mindset with contractive thoughts such as (fear, stress and lack).

It is important to note that your money mindset has nothing to do with how much money you earn or have. There are wealthy people who have a scarcity mindset, believing that there isn’t enough money and that they will never have enough. And there are people with few possessions who feel blessed, abundant, and wealthy on a deep level.

The majority of us fall somewhere in the middle.

Just as our mind expands or contracts so does money.

Expansionary vs Contractionary Monetary Policy

In general, contractionary monetary policies and expansionary monetary policies involve changing the level of a country’s money supply. Expansionary monetary policy simply means expanding (increasing) the supply of money, whereas contractionary monetary policy means contracting (decreasing) the supply of a country’s currency.

Monetary Policy Expansion

When the Federal Open Market Committee in the United States wants to increase the money supply, it can do one of three things:

• Open Market Operations are the purchase of securities on the open market.
• Reduce the Federal Discount Rate.
• Reduced Reserve Requirements.

All of these have a direct impact on the interest rate. When the Fed purchases securities on the open market, the price of those securities rises. We saw in my Dividend Tax Cut article that bond prices and interest rates are inversely related. Because the Federal Discount Rate is an interest rate, lowering it effectively lowers interest rates. If, on the other hand, the Fed decides to lower reserve requirements, banks will have more money to invest. Because the price of investments such as bonds rises as a result, interest rates must fall. Whatever tool the Fed employs to expand the money supply, interest rates will fall and bond prices will rise.

Increases in the value of US bonds will have an impact on the currency market. Rising bond prices in the United States will prompt investors to sell those bonds in exchange for other bonds, such as Canadian bonds. As a result, an investor will sell his American bond, convert his American dollars to Canadian dollars, and then purchase a Canadian bond. This increases the supply of US dollars on the foreign exchange market.

Because the lower exchange rate makes American-made goods cheaper in Canada and Canadian-made goods more expensive in America, exports will rise while imports will fall, causing the trade balance to improve.

The cost of financing capital projects is lower when interest rates are low. All else being equal, lower interest rates lead to higher investment rates.

What We’ve Learned About Monetary Policy Expansion:

• Bond prices rise and interest rates fall as a result of expansionary monetary policy.
• Lower interest rates encourage more capital investment.
• Lower interest rates make domestic bonds less appealing, so domestic bond demand falls while foreign bond demand rises.
• The demand for domestic currency falls while the demand for foreign currency rises, causing the exchange rate to fall. (The domestic currency’s value is now lower in relation to foreign currencies.)

Monetary Policy Contraction:

• The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)
• Open Market Operations are the sale of securities on the open market.
• Increase the Federal Discount Rate.
• Increase the Reserve Requirements

What We’ve Discovered So Far About Contractionary Monetary Policy:

• Bond prices fall and interest rates rise as a result of contractionary monetary policy.
• Higher interest rates result in lower capital investment.
• Higher interest rates make domestic bonds more appealing, so demand for domestic bonds increases while demand for foreign bonds decreases.
• The demand for domestic currency rises while the demand for foreign currency falls, causing the exchange rate to rise. (The domestic currency’s value has risen in relation to foreign currencies.)
• A higher exchange rate reduces exports, increases imports, and reduces the trade balance.

An Expansive or Contractive Mindset

Contraction:

Noun: The process of becoming smaller

Synonyms: Shrinking, reduction in size, shrinkage

Expansion:

Noun: The action of becoming larger and more extensive.

Synonyms: Growth, increase in size, enlargement, extension, augmentation, development, evolution

Investigating the State of Contraction

Most of us have experienced contraction at some point in our lives. Based on my own observations, it appears that we are constantly ebbing and flowing between contraction and expansion, and that one cannot exist without the presence of the other. Increasing our awareness of when and how we are living in our contracted state appears to be the catalyst that propels us forward into the transformative space of expansion.

Let us examine the various manifestations of the state of contraction in our daily lives to gain a better understanding of it:

• As a result of anxiety and fear
• a lack of self-esteem or self-love
• a lack of confidence
• Staying small in order to feel safe
• We do not want to leave our comfort zone and thus do not experience growth.
• Living a routine and unfulfilling life
• Are you afraid of change or making important decisions?
• Fear of standing up for oneself or speaking one’s truth
• Maintaining old habits and thought patterns (for example, “I’m not deserving/I’m not good enough”)
• Allowing your underlying beliefs to guide your life
• Giving up on yourself for the sake of others’ happiness
• You don’t want to look at what’s causing you to be stuck.
• Not being in touch with or trusting your true self
• Fear of appearing to be too big or too much for others
• Concerned about shining too brightly or making others uncomfortable
• Fearful of judgment from others, but also stuck in a loop of self-judgement

One of the most important, and possibly the most debilitating, reasons we are in a state of contraction is that it is what we know and where we find comfort. It may have served as a safety mechanism as a child, and as adults, we are still holding on to the underlying belief that “I need to be this way in order to survive.” Although, for the time being, it is having the opposite effect of what it was intended to have.

Other examples of contraction related specifically to money:

• Avoiding paying your bills – Do you ever find yourself putting off or avoiding paying the bills? – Quite often, it is not about paying the bills, it’s about your limiting beliefs showing up or your resistance around money or you are playing small because you’re shrinking in fear.

• Not having enough money in the bank – By not having enough money in the bank to pay the bills, you may find that you’re judging yourself or beating yourself up about it. Instead, create a plan and start paying off what you can each month until you get back on track again.

• Owing someone money that results in avoiding them because you are ashamed or embarrassed – It can be extremely uncomfortable if you owe a friend or a family member money. Even if you have every intention of paying them back as quickly as possible, you may be struggling just to get by, making it seem impossible to repay them. This can cause you to feel ashamed or embarrassed to even talk to them. I suggest that you have a conversation with them and let them know that you still intend to pay them back and commit to a plan to do so, – even if it’s just $100.00 a month until it’s paid off. -Most likely they will understand what you’re going through and except those or similar terms. This may just restore your relationship.

• When someone owes you money – When a friend or family member owes you money, this is an example of you giving your power away and letting this person take advantage of you. It is necessary to have defined boundaries set up from the get-go with everyone in your life. Stand in your power!

• No savings in the bank – If you have no money in savings, this is often related to deservability (not feeling that you deserve to be wealthy) or a reflection of being stuck in the cycle of lack and scarcity. A simple step you can take to change this is to make a point to start saving a portion of your income each month, even if it’s only 5%. This can really allow you to start feeling more in control and confident in your ability to generate or manifest money in your life. You can slowly start increasing the amount you save each month. You’ll be amazed at how quickly your savings account will start growing once you make the commitment to start saving. If having no money in your savings account is due to the lack of deservability you will need to work on this first.

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Case Study on Contraction:

A women named Anita was working an event and she appeared to be very uncomfortable.

The initial reason was because she reported a chronic tight neck; however, there seemed to be more to it.

(Chronic pain typically is emotional.)

It was revealed through questioning that the emotion beneath the tightness was fear.

Anita had an underlying fear of not being able to support her children due to events in her childhood, despite being in a comfortable financial situation, it was discovered.

She had limiting beliefs about herself and found herself doubting her ability to succeed in the future.

This is an example of what contraction looks like.

Investigating the State of Expansion

Expansion is the polar opposite of contraction. It’s like taking a deep breath of fresh air, a sense of filling our lungs to break free from the ever-restricting state of contraction. Let us now consider the various ways in which Expansion can manifest itself in our daily lives:

• Having faith in your intuition
• Realizing your full potential
• Be opened to change and the growth that comes with it.
• Being willing to receive
• Being open to new experiences
• Believing in yourself, your journey, and your destination
• Clearer thinking about future goals and a clearer path to achieving them
• Self-transformation and self-realization are encouraged.
• Allowing your light to shine
• Accepting your true self
• Vulnerability
• valuing self-compassion and deep love
• Being Fearless
• Having a sense of liberation
• Opening oneself up to new ways of living and/or thinking, a sort of rebirth

The Expansion state is all about believing in yourself, your intuition, and being in the universal flow of life. A lovely place to live, but not always easy to get to. How do you go from Contraction to Expansion? By becoming aware of where and how they are contracting, believing in themselves, and finding the courage to keep moving forward.

Other ways to compare Expansion vs. Contraction

Another way to compare Contraction vs Expansion is to consider the various thoughts and beliefs associated with each state. Thoughts and beliefs associated with contraction have a heaviness to them, whereas those associated with expansion have a positive and uplifting lightness to them. When you read through the thoughts and beliefs that accompany each state, notice how you feel differently.

• I’m not worthy.
• I am not intelligent enough.
• I don’t think I deserve to be happy.
• I don’t belong here.
• Nobody comprehends what I am saying.
• I’m too afraid.
• I have flaws.
• I am frail.
• I am helpless.
• I’ll never be able to get out of this rut.
• I can’t_______________________ (sing, dance, play sports, write)
• There will never be enough money for me.
• I will never achieve success.
• I’ll never live a fulfilled or meaningful life.

To shift these thoughts and beliefs into a state of expansion, we must first bring our attention to what is keeping us stuck, what old beliefs they are clinging to, what fears they we unwilling to let go of, and what old stories are we replaying over and over that keep us small and comfortable.

The great news is, once you develop a plan to either make more money or to pay off your debt, you can start moving into expansion. The beauty of it is that you don’t have to be debt-free or financially successful to start feeling expansion, all you have to do is start working your plan.

Expanded ideas/beliefs:

• I am a Fantastic Human Being.
• I am powerful.
• I am strong.
• I am knowledgeable.
• I am deserving of happiness.
• I am a brave person.
• I overcame adversity.
• This moment will pass, as will this feeling.
• I am capable of realizing my ambitions.
• I have a prosperous life.
• I have faith in myself.
• I believe in my instincts.
• I am thankful.
• I am deserving of living a meaningful life.
• I am capable of completing difficult tasks.
• I am gifted.
• I am loved.

What Contraction Looks Like at Work

As professionals, we are constantly shifting between contracted and expanded states throughout the course of our workday. In my own experience, I have seen myself on some days full of confidence and ready to tackle the workday one task at a time, and on other days I have found myself doubting my abilities. Fear begins to creep in. Can I do it? Is it even possible that I’m any good at this? Who am I to think I can change people’s lives? When this contracted mindset tries to take over, awareness is essential. If we can recognize when it is attempting to settle into our thoughts, we can simply acknowledge what is happening and reframe our perspective into one of an expanded mindset.

We can practice this in a variety of ways, including journaling, visualizations, mirror work, mantras, and, once again, trusting ourselves and moving forward with courage into that beautiful state of expansion. The journey of self-work and self-realization that it entails is always worthwhile.

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Exercise 4:2: Moving Into Expansion

Discussion Questions- Go through these questions as a group:

1. In what areas of your life have you witnessed yourself contract?
2. In what areas of your life have you witnessed yourself expand?
3. What helped you move forward from contraction into expansion?

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Course Manual 3: Clear Clutter

Decluttering and getting organized around money is a powerful first step to changing the direction of your money life.

It FEEL GOOD TO BE ORGANIZED, especially when it comes to something as important as money. This training will assist you in BEING and FEELING organized. You’ll have more room in your wallet, you’ll be able to tie up loose ends, and you’ll begin to feel better. SPACE is created by decluttering. It’s nice to have some breathing room!

The impact of clutter in your life

Clutter appears to be relatively innocuous, doesn’t it? And, harmless or not, it appears impossible to handle for many of us when life moves at such a breakneck pace.

A cluttered home or office, on the other hand, equals a cluttered mind.

According to Psychology Today, clutter in our homes and workplaces makes us feel anxious, helpless, and overwhelmed.

And Americans spend millions of dollars on medications and other solutions to alleviate their anxiety, helplessness, and overwhelm.

However, clutter is rarely recognized as a significant source of stress in our lives. Fortunately, unlike other more widely recognized sources of stress, clutter is one of the most easily remedied life stressors.

Dishes in the sink, clutter on every flat surface, family belongings and toys strewn about the house, closets stuffed with items we rarely use; this clutter not only makes our homes look bad, but it also makes us feel bad.

At least, that’s what UCLA researchers discovered after studying the relationship between 32 families and the objects in their homes. Clutter, it turns out, has a significant impact on our mood and self-esteem. Anthropologists, social scientists, and archaeologists from UCLA discovered:

• The more stuff a woman has, the more stressed she is.
• The more dishes that accumulate in the sink, the more stressed-out women become.
• Even families who want to reduce clutter are frequently emotionally paralyzed when it comes to sorting and pitching items. They can’t let go of sentimental attachments to objects or believe their possessions have hidden monetary value.

If stress and anxiety aren’t enough, dealing with clutter, moving it around, and looking for misplaced items in a disorganized home takes up a lot of time. According to studies, Americans spend an average of 2.5 days per year looking for things. Millennials are also shown to be twiddling their thumbs.

Furthermore, we spend $2.7 billion per year replacing items, and more than half of us are frequently late for work or school due to frustrating searches. Then, when we finally arrive and begin our day, our effectiveness is diminished for minutes, if not hours, as a result of the emotional state we are in as a result of these occurrences.

Consider all of the things you could do with that time and money.

A great place to start is to de-cutter your home.

This may seem overwhelming for some.

Cherry Dale, a financial coach with the Virginia Credit Union, compiled this list. She suggests that you don’t think of decluttering your home as a chore.

Consider it like putting money back in your pocket or helping others. While some of your items may be worn out and only fit for the trash can, there may be many others that you can sell to a consignment store, sell at a yard sale, or even donate to charity.

“As you’re donating or selling, you can apply what you’re making to your financial goals. To wrap it all into one thing. Declutter your house and improve your finances along the way,” Dale advised.

Dale also suggests that if you come across something sentimental, such as a doll you bought for your now-25-year-old daughter, take a picture of it. This can make it easier to let go.

Even if it’s no longer collecting dust in your closet, you’ll have a reminder. Similarly, for your finances, find a picture of what you are no longer spending money on and place it next to a picture of your financial goal. So, that’s what you’re saving this year.

A Clutter Test

One way to determine if your home or workspace is too cluttered is to consider how difficult it is to keep your home or office tidy. If you spend a lot of time straightening up your house on a regular basis, you probably have too much stuff.

Our closets, cabinets, and chests of drawers frequently house items we never use, while our most-used items end up on countertops, other surfaces, and the floor. It’s no surprise we can’t find them. This has a serious impact on mental clarity and productivity.

Are you organized, with enough space in your closets and drawers to store the items you actually use until you need them? Or are you guilty of stuffing your storage units to the brim rarely opening them and seeing what’s inside?

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How to De-clutter Your Workstation

Examine your workstation thoroughly. To get a sense of the big picture, you may need to get up and walk a few feet away from your workstation.

While it is acceptable to use office supplies and keep a few personal items at your workstation, you do not want to be drowning in these items while working! Remember, your workspace is supposed to be a place where you can do your work… and isn’t a magnet for clutter.

How does your workstation look? What’s on top of, beneath, behind, and beside your workstation and chair? What office supplies and materials do you use on a daily basis? Which items should be kept elsewhere in your office? What items should be saved?

You should be able to identify a few items that should be removed, relocated, or recycled.

You might be surprised at how this simple exercise can transform a cluttered environment. Simply removing a box of old files from beneath your desk, recycling a large stack of old journals or magazines, or moving several reams of printer paper and assorted office supplies to your storage closet provides you with more space to type, write, review, and move around in general.

Make a De-cluttering Checklist

If you want to keep your home office in good shape, you should incorporate a series of regular decluttering tasks into your work routine.

Create a simple checklist to keep track of these tasks. Aim to clean these items on a weekly or monthly basis to prevent materials from piling up.

Looking for some personalized decluttering ideas? Make a mental note of the areas in your home office that tend to attract or accumulate clutter over time.

If your office appears to be a clutter magnet, schedule weekly decluttering sessions at the end of each workweek. You can remove items, for example, every Friday afternoon after lunch, so you have a neat and tidy space to look forward to the following week.

Here are some decluttering tasks to consider adding to your to-do list:

• Remove any personal or household items that have made their way into the home office.
• Declutter the top, bottom, and sides of your desk/workstation.
• Take out any old or expired paper or digital files.
• Discard any old project, program, or assignment materials.
• Confidential paperwork and materials should be shred.
• Clear out your email folders and accounts.
• Remove files and folders from your computer’s desktop.

There’s nothing quite like looking around your house and office and seeing it exactly the way you’ve wanted it to look for so long.

What would it be like to wake up every day with the peace of mind and soul that comes from having your home exactly the way you want it – where you have control over your belongings, not the other way around.

And it only gets better. Decluttering has the effect of opening door after door for you.

• Decluttering frees you from the shackles that have been holding you back.
• Decluttering ignites a fire of energy within you that you were unaware you possessed!
• The tension in your face and body will dissipate, and your confidence will resurface.

When you get your life in order, things start to fall into place in every aspect of your life!

Clutter and Your Money

When it comes to clean and organized homes, money mindset also plays a significant role. First, as UCLA discovered, many people have a difficult time getting rid of things because they place an unrealistic monetary value on their possessions.

Making space in your home and having empty drawers and closets allows wealth to come to you. This does not simply imply emptying them until you buy more. It’s the idea of not filling them back up after giving things away or having garage sales, because this communicates to the universe that you are open and ready to receive more money.

Whether it’s the universe or our own subconscious, when we don’t have room for anything else in our closets or lives, we aren’t as motivated or mentally prepared to go to the next financial level.

When we focus on developing our organizational habits and make empty spaces in our cupboards, closets, and drawers, this creates space for more money to come into our lives.

Your spaces will become cluttered if you have a scarcity mindset. A scarcity mindset keeps you cleaning your own house when you’d get a far better return hiring someone to do that work while you operate in your personal zone of genius.

It’s time to get organized and signal that you’re ready for financial independence.

“From personal experience, when I doubled down on my already extremely organized habits and made empty spaces in my cupboards, closets and drawers, within 6 months my business revenues were higher than ever, and I doubled my personal salary.” – Tobi Fairly

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The Advantages of Getting Rid of Money Clutter

Before you become overwhelmed by the prospect of having to do more work, consider the benefits of decluttering or cleaning up your house, finances, garage, or anything else that could use a facelift! Going forward, as we discuss what we need to do to declutter or organize our financial lives, I want you to imagine what it will look like, feel like, sound like, smell like, or even taste like (LOL) when you’ve completed the task.

1. You will feel a sense of accomplishment as a result of your efforts.

2. The space or area you worked on will appear more organized.

3. There will be a freshness or cleanliness in the air that pervades the room.

4. Your body, soul, and spirit – yes, I said it – will experience a sense of lightness or weightlessness.

5. You will have renewed vigor to pursue your life goals.

6. Your stress level will drop significantly, and you will sleep better as a result!

7. You will discover hidden treasures – information that you have been looking for a long time.

8. You will be more productive and creative now that the mess is out of the way.

9. You save cash. You’ll almost certainly find expenses you can cut or accounts you didn’t realize you had!

10. Eventually, you’ll have order and control over a previously chaotic area of your life, such as money.

10 Steps to Declutter Your Finances

How financially organized would you say you are? Being financially organized is frequently regarded as a drudgery or as an activity that would detract from the joy of living. Being financially organized, on the other hand, is essential for success in money management. It would also reduce the amount of stress in your life. These financial decluttering tips will assist you in becoming financially organized and maintaining order (i.e., keeping the clutter out of) your finances.

1. Know where you keep your important documents.

Most people are often unprepared in this area and can waste a significant amount of time trying to locate important documents when they are required. Take the time to find any permanent documents, such as financial, legal, or other documents that are valid for more than a year. Wills, powers of attorney, insurance policies (life, health, disability, critical illness, home, car, or business related), mortgage agreements, title deeds, and other documents are examples. Non-financial documents, such as birth and/or baptism certificates, immunization records, educational certificates, passports, and so on, may also be included. Place these documents in a secure location and ensure that your spouse, executor of your will, and any other responsible and trusted person knows where and how to access them.

2. Create a filing system

No matter how electronic the world becomes, paper bills and other important documents will continue to be issued in hard copy. To keep the paper piles organized, make a folder for each of the following: Checking and savings accounts, retirement and investment accounts, credit card accounts, loans, personal lines of credit, tax returns, bills and receipts by vendor or month.

3. Make use of your computer

Your computer is an excellent location for filing e-bills and e-statements, which you can organize by organization or type of account. It is also the most convenient way to pay bills, save, and invest. To keep your finances in order, make good use of both.

4. Have a drop box

Often times we get the mail and just drop it on the first flat surface we come to when we get home. I am as guilty of this as anyone else. This is a hassle because I then have to clear the space when it’s time to have family meals. So why not have a drop box? Most homes have a designated place for their home office or even just a small desk space in a room where you can work. Wherever that is, having a location to go to and drop your mail helps reduce the clutter. At another time, you can open the mail and sort them.

Consider three simple categories for now: (1) Trash or Recycle – what’s not needed dump right away, (2) To Pay – keep upcoming bills in one location, and (3) To File – either do this right away or place in the “to file” slot for later.

5. Clear out the clutter in your wallet.

This can be a difficult task. Unwanted receipts can fill up our wallets at times. Sometimes we can find our wallets overflowing with papers! Most of us do, however, you will want to keep them in order to record your financial activity – you can track your current and future cash flows. You can keep your purse or wallet from becoming cluttered by removing receipts and placing them in a small box on your desk until you can record them (which by the way should be done on a weekly basis). Once you do this, you’ll discover that having a clutter-free wallet makes it easier to find the cash or card you need when you need it. Also, you want a nice place to keep your money to “honor it”- so if you need to, buy yourself a beautiful new wallet – your money deserves it!

6. Involve your family in the process.

You may believe that you must go it alone, but you do not. When you involve others, the work becomes lighter and more enjoyable to complete. Have a filing day, enlist the help of your children or spouse – have someone shred or destroy all the papers you no longer need, and someone else label and file bills and statements by organization, month, or whatever order you prefer. As a thank you for your assistance, prepare their favorite meal for dinner or plan a special family outing.

7. Establish financial objectives.

Make a decision about what you want to do with your money. How much money you want to save, donate, invest, spend, or borrow. Also, how much money do you make now? Is it enough, or do you need more? If you evaluate this and discover that your cash flow is frequently negative, review your spending and, where possible, reduce it, but also consider whether you need to find ways to increase your cash flow. Involve your family in goal setting; problems frequently arise due to a lack of communication. Setting spending limits and saving targets is a good place to start. If this is agreed upon, it will relieve the stress of trying to make ends meet.

8. Automate, automate, and automate some more.

If you use the technology available to you in this day and age, you can make your life a lot easier. Setting up standard weekly or monthly transactions can help you save time and stay organized by reducing the amount of time you spend managing your finances. Automation would eliminate the need to remember when certain financial transactions are required, as well as avoid unnecessary and unwelcome late payment fees. Consider first setting up transfers to your savings and investment accounts, and then payments to your mortgage, any other debt, and utilities. However, even with automation, it is still necessary to monitor your cash flow.

9. Conduct regular financial audits.

As I previously stated, it is a good practice to keep track of your financial activity on a weekly basis. This is something I do on a spreadsheet because it is my preferred method. You should think about getting a personal finance app to track your spending. The weekly review includes not only recording financial activity but also paying upcoming bills. Each month, you must also reconcile your bank accounts. This is more than just a check-off activity; it is a way of verifying the accuracy of what the bank has recorded. When there are discrepancies, they can be resolved quickly. Quarterly reviews are also required, and this is an excellent time to clear out any clutter that has accumulated. Take a snapshot of your finances – look at your net worth – once a year and compare it to the previous year. Have you made any financial strides? Did you spend more this year than the previous year(s)? These should be reviewed and discussed with your spouse as well as your financial advisor.

10. Have a good time saving money.

I believe you should save with a purpose in mind. You’ve been told to keep that emergency fund well-stocked, and that if it is ever depleted, it should be replenished as soon as possible. That can have a negative impact and add stress to the task of managing your money. Consider a container (such as a large bottle with a top opening) that can be kept in a secure location but is easily accessible. Empty your wallet of all loose change into that container at the end of each week. Encourage everyone in the family to participate.

These suggestions are intended to serve as a starting point and a guide for becoming financially organized.

Don’t let your financial situation stress you out. Keeping organized is essential if you want to begin mastering your finances.

“A simple life is not seeing how little we can get by with—that’s poverty—but how efficiently we can put first things first. . .. When you’re clear about your purpose and your priorities, you can painlessly discard whatever does not support these, whether it’s clutter in your cabinets or commitments on your calendar.” – Victoria Moran, Lit From Within: Tending Your Soul For Lifelong Beauty

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Exercise 4:3: Action Time: Remove Clutter Exercise

Group discussion (Answer the following questions):

What seems to be a common clutter issue in your home office or work area?

What steps are you going to declutter items on a regular basis?

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Course Manual 4: Forgive Past

Many of us want to have a bright, shining future: filled with hope and clarity and empowerment when it comes to our financial futures.

But something seems to be holding us back.

It is as if heavy chains are pulling us backwards, into our past, anchoring us to outdated money beliefs, shameful secrets, unresolved relationship dynamics, and even practical To Do’s that we haven’t completed.

As much as we desire a new future, we simply can’t move forward until we pause, looked into our past, and address the issues that are tying us to it.

Forgiveness… finish… and letting go are the topics at hand.

The real problem…

In many cases we already know what is holding them back:

“I haven’t paid my taxes in three years, and I’m dying of embarrassment.”

“My inheritance caused a schism in my family, and I can’t see my brother without arguing about money.”

Other issues can be more subtle, and don’t come to light until digging deeper into our past:

“That time when I was seven and stole money from my mother’s purse still haunts me.”

“Wow, I had no idea how much my church’s teaching that “money isn’t spiritual” had hampered my career!”

People admitted sheepishly, one by one, to these issues from their past. They usually assumed they were the only ones with a Big Dark Secret or unfinished business involving money, and they sighed with relief when they discovered that we all have “money stuff” from the past that needs to be completed, released, forgiven, and grieved.

As we delve deeper into our Money Story, you will most likely come across pieces that we are ready to let go of. Shame that hurts or blame that zaps our energy. We have loose ends that we desperately want to tie off. We’ve outgrown our money beliefs.

On one level, this is about finishing things: making that phone call, mailing that letter, and so on.

But what if it’s something subtler and more internal? So, how do we let go? How can we let go of the old baggage that’s still hanging around with us so we can get current with our Money Story and move forward?

This is the delicate territory of forgiveness, completing, and letting go. We come full circle here, back to Money Shame… and let it go. We transform our shame gradually, baby step by baby step, with as much mindfulness and courage as we can muster. We mourn, forgive, finish, and let go.

On the other side of this transformation, we are hard-wired for wholeness. We are irresistibly drawn to it. When we summon the courage and compassion to forgive within your financial relationship, you will realize this profoundly empowering truth: Your past does not have to equal your future.

“Practicing forgiveness means letting go of self-righteous anger, blame, and resentment. That’s hard. The combination of self-righteous anger, blame, and resentment is one of my favorites. Umm. Umm. Umm. Drink it up! Unfortunately, I think it’s toxic and eats you alive from the inside. It might go down like a milkshake, but it burns up your insides like battery acid.” ~ Brené Brown

Forgiveness always has two sides: the letting go and the moving forward. Looking back and taking a step forward. Creating and releasing.

It may appear paradoxical, but I’ve seen it time and again: when we look back at our past pain, honor it, and let it go, we can move forward in new, more liberated ways.

We let go of old money beliefs — and choose which new beliefs we will carry forward with us into the future. We not only let go of old wounds, but we also discover unexpectedly wonderful gifts.

A word of caution: forgiveness is difficult work. It’s an adventure. Non-linear, fluid, deeply personal, frequently mysterious, and undertaken by a brave few. But the rewards are enormous, my friend.

I’m not just referring to the ability to mail a letter or file a tax return. I’m referring to deep, soul-level healing. Energy reserves have been liberated. Compassion for yourself and others has greatly increased.

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Understanding Shame

Almost everyone has felt financial shame at some point in their lives. It’s the sense of embarrassment that comes from having too much or too little money. Money shame can paralyze you and cause problems with your financial decisions.

In its most basic form, shame is the feeling of being unworthy, unlovable, and not good enough. Shame symbolizes isolation, rejection, and excruciating physical pain.

Some of us experience shame simply by hearing the word “shame.”

Shame is a huge topic, especially in the field of counseling.

Shame has an impact on our minds, brains, bodies, relationships, and spirits.

Shame is a painful feeling that is felt viscerally and physically, but it is often unspoken.

You will frequently feel shame as your shoulders collapse, your head hangs low, your chest hollows out, or your sense of self shrinks within your body.

Why Is It Necessary to Understand Shame?

I enjoy the topic of shame because it has helped me understand myself over time. The study of shame has given me a better understanding of my client’s perplexing, contradictory, and, yes, even immoral thoughts and actions that society and family find repulsive.

Shame is a major topic. It’s also a difficult subject to broach.

To reduce shame, however, you must approach it with openness, curiosity, love, and compassion.

Shame does not have to be a way of life for you.

I’m not saying you should deny your experiences with shame, but rather recognize when you’ve moved into or are living in a chronic state of shame.

I have a great deal of empathy for anyone who is struggling with feelings of shame.

Shame is frequently found at the heart of psychological distress, buried beneath layers of defense mechanisms, mental illnesses, addictions, and lost or overwhelming relationships.

Shame is a relational emotion.

Shame is a relational experience of failing to meet the standards of others or yourself and then feeling rejected as a result.

Shame is defined as the sensation of being judged negatively.

Shame is not something you choose to feel; rather, it is an automatic reaction to a situation in which you do not feel accepted for who you are at that point in your growth and development.

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Money Shame

Have you ever considered the relationship between financial shame and financial well-being? Financial shame can have a significant impact on your finances as well as your ability to communicate about money.

Financial embarrassment emerges in childhood.

As children, you are prone to feeling ashamed about your wants, desires, and interests because you lack the ability to meet them on your own.

You rely on your parents to meet many of your material needs with the money they have access to.

What you can’t know or fully comprehend as a child are your parents’ financial constraints.

You have no knowledge of or understanding of your parents’ financial situation.

This creates numerous opportunities for miscommunication between parents and children regarding money and meeting your needs.

When parents aren’t aware of this dynamic or are dismissive, demeaning, or disorganized about it, it can make you feel bad about asking for what you want.

When you get a “no” to what you want, you may feel ashamed. This shame extends to knowing what you can and cannot have, as well as feeling insecure about your ability to achieve your goals over time.

It would be easier if your emotional reaction to your parents and getting your needs met were limited to a single emotion, such as shame, and that nothing else was going on.

However, as a child, you are navigating getting your own needs met as you interact with your parents about money.

You have no understanding of what is going on with your parents and their ability to be aware of their own and their children’s needs. Not to mention that children are unaware of their parents’ embarrassment over money and being responsible for providing care for their children.

Many parents feel compelled to give their children a better life than they had for themselves.

Much of this is centered on experiences that necessitate larger sums of money than were available to them as children.

All of this adds up to a potentially significant amount of financial shame.

Identity And Financial Shame

Money, like shame, is a relational experience by definition. It isn’t just about your personal finances.

You use money to express yourself a