What’s your relationship with money? Be honest. Does it stress you out or keep you up at night? Do you constantly feel you don’t have enough? Is it a source of arguments in your home? Does “money” and “struggle” always end up in the same sentence for you? If so, you are not alone, but perhaps it’s time to improve this unhappy and often times contentious relationship.

I recently heard about Happy Money, a book written by Japanese bestselling author Ken Honda. He actually wrote this book for a U.S. audience in hopes of transforming Americans’ relationship with money. The key takeaway that grabbed my attention was “arigato” which means “thank you” in Japanese. Honda’s philosophy is “arigato in, arigato out.” That just means saying thank you to money when it comes in to your possession, and saying thank you to money when it goes out. Nobody likes the “out” part but shouldn’t we be grateful that we can pay for a coffee, a car, or even college. “Thank you” energetically changed money going out for me. 

Two other key takeaways from Ken Honda are differentiating happy money from unhappy money as well as healing our emotional wounds around money—which the majority of us have and it is a huge barrier to success. The book sounds brilliant so I will be getting a copy! Who doesn’t want to have a happy relationship with money? I know I do! If nothing else, start today with “arigato” when you spend your money; thank you, I’m so grateful.

With Gratitude,
Beth