Are you aware of the various stages of one’s unique relationship with money?

New Delhi: We each have a distinct relationship with money that has evolved over a period. Our financial equilibrium is shaped by our childhood experiences, needs, aspirations, character, moral fibre, views and perspectives of various influencers around us, detailed learning, and so on. We all have a unique, ever-changing, and dynamic relationship with money. For better or worse, it evolves over time.

Money has a way of magnifying our natural state of mind. Money has the power to make you happy or unhappy. It can be viewed as either a form of servitude or a liberating force. “I have a fantastic relationship with money, and I use it to buy my freedom,” Gianni Versace says of his financial well-being.

“Every day is a bank account, and time is our currency,” Christopher Rice says of the age-old adage of time and money equivalence. There is no rich or poor; we all have 24 hours. We are all created equal. What ultimately separates one person from another is how well each of us invests our time (and thus money, in interchangeable terms). Along these lines, I strongly believe in Billy Graham's quote, “If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help him get his attitude toward almost every other area of his life straight.”

Most people's current financial relationships can be broadly classified into one of the following dominant perspectives.

• Money is a means of achieving instant gratification, for example, getting the latest smartphone or an expensive watch or eating out frequently
• Today’s people live life to the fullest
• For some people, the balance between instant gratification and delayed gratification has yet to be found
• This could be due to a lack of understanding (of the consequences of overspending) or there may be no imminent reason to be concerned about a lack of funds
• These people are probably stuck in a rut and will keep running the rat race
• He who purchases items he does not require steals from his future
• Money is the most liquid form of power. It is a control mechanism
• Money is one of the most basic and well-known city navigation tools. It gives all its owners equal power, regardless of origin, caste, or religion
• As the saying goes, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The owners of such wealth have either earned it through easy means (read wrong) or are second or third-generation recipients of enormous wealth”
• The owners of such power, more often than not, use it as a crushing force for one's whims, rather than to liberate to initiate a positive change
• “Nothing is more dangerous to men than a sudden change of fortune,” Qunitilan says

Money changes minds. Money changes people. Whoever said that money makes no change is in all likelihood lying.