Can Lessons from Bridget Jones Help You Grow Money?

Movies can teach us a lot about life, and even about how to grow money. I have found that I now like to watch only uplifting movies, and tend to avoid movies that bring me down, such as violent or depressing ones. Last night, I watched Bridget Jones Diary as part of my annual holiday movie event. It’s one of my very favorites!

I get so frustrated with Bridget; she’s so pretty, naturally sexy, and smart, yet she keeps repeating the same mistakes. She so longs to be healthy and confident, yet she continually sabotages herself in every area that she longs to improve: her career, her weight, her unhealthy habits and her love life. Then I thought to myself: what a perfect example of human nature.

What is it that calls us to stay the same? No wonder I love this movie, as I seem to write those same bloody resolutions every year!!

It’s actually our egos that keep us doing the same things that don’t work. It strives to keep us safe, and in our comfort zone, a.k.a., stuck; Being stuck appears in many forms, whether it’s the same job with sub-par income, investments that don’t work, or playing small, but that’s an article for another day.

In this post, let’s focus on simple steps to grow money that we already have stashed in a wealth account. (Wealth account sounds so much better than savings account, doesn’t it?)

Year end is the perfect time to examine our lives and discern where we want to change, just as Bridget did. Here are a few money tips in areas where many people feel challenged when it comes to growing money.

1. Establishing and maintaining simple, yet life changing systems to monitor and improve net worth and monthly cash flow; this takes less than 1 hour a month once it’s set up. If you want to grow money, then measure it!
2. Keeping office space and files neat and attractive; pretty is good; it invites us to hang out and get things done
3. Spending time on the right things that create the life you want instead of taking you away from that life, such as unconscious spending or negative conversations in your mind or with others
4. Fully embracing responsibility for anything in life, including your financial health
5. Planning ahead; it saves time and money

Do any of these areas resonate with you? If so, what’s the key to making this year’s money resolutions more effective? The answer lies in the outcome, or those important results of actually doing those resolutions.

For your finances, it’s what I like to call your money reasons, which are your short and long term financial goals. You know, those things you want that money can buy. Simple routines that you put in place to grow money have a dramatic impact over time.

Remember to focus on the positive also; women tend to beat ourselves up. Be sure to celebrate the steps you took to grow money that actually worked during the year.