Copy MAAIKE OLDE OLTHOF Photography MARTIN DIJKSTRA | 4 minuten
I discovered that whether or not you have concerns about money, it usually isn’t related to a simple matter of luck or misfortune; it often stems from upbringing and (ingrained) beliefs. At birthdays, it was always Uncle Hans who, whenever the conversation turned to money or career, would say things like: “You can’t turn a penny into a pound”. He quite often used money-related expressions like: “That’s a flip of a coin.”
Of all our family members, he was by far the poorest. His one-liners, I now realize, were actually a collection of negative mantras. And while I do not believe one can manifest one hundred grand into their bank account, I do believe that saying negative things to yourself all day certainly does not attract any luck (or wealth).
When I met Eef van Opdorp, it quickly became clear that money is quite a dynamic mechanism, and our upbringing shapes our positive or negative associations with it. You may know Eef from the Dutch television programme ‘Uitstel van Executie’ (Postponement of Execution), where she has been helping people get out of debt for years. Eef is one of those people you’d call an eternal optimist, despite having faced challenging times herself. She documented her experiences as a money coach in a book called ‘Gek op Geld’ (‘Crazy about Money’). I don’t own any shares in it, but if you still can't figure out why you always have some days left at the end of your salary, or if you want to start investing but you feel overwhelmed by the risks? Read this book.
For me personally, the archetype test in the book worked really well. Everyone has all 8 archetypes latently within them, but typically 1 or 2 are dominant. For example, you have the Ostrich, Victim and St Bernard. By the end of my test, I was left with the Hero and the Magician.
“A Hero does not sit around endlessly tossing and turning, but makes swift decisions based on instinct, the right information and people around them.” Check.
“The Magician is the ideal money type. The Magician assumes to be part of a bigger picture. By living according to universal laws, the Magician can manifest. A Magician is always concerned with this one question: what can be achieved?"
Reading this latest part made me laugh aloud because it felt so true. It immediately reminded me of Uncle Hans, who was so preoccupied with his financial setbacks that he seldom noticed the opportunities right in front of him. I really wished that Uncle Hans, who unfortunately is not with us anymore for years, had had this insight. He would have then understood what his financial gaps were and where the root of his beliefs came from.
By the way, I did fully disregard the tips from Eef's book on how to secure the best deals at work and in your personal life. Or how to convert financial plans into financial goals. Typical Magician behaviour, the archetype that lives by universal laws… 😊
Maaike Olde Olthof is a writer and columnist at LINDA.nl. She is author of 'Wat een Scheidboek'. Messy co-parenting and being a forty-something single provide enough inspiration for a novel or two. She also has two teenage daughters at home, a glaring dislike for household chores and, perhaps, a wish to get her finances in better order than they are now. What about her retirement? And what does the arrival of the new pension mean?
