Hey Alchemists–

I came across a fantastic article on the psychology of money. Our brains are WIRED to respond to money in a very specific way. It’s as if the moment the idea of money arises, our warm and fuzzy love feelings switch off, and we go into competition and self-sufficiency mode. Money makes us IRRATIONAL.

This has everything to do with the “Money vs. Love” problem I talk about with Financial Alchemy, and why the old affirmations and law of attraction tricks don’t go far enough. We have to literally re-wire your response–get you thinking about money from a different part of your brain!

In the meanwhile, this is fascinating:

Dough, wonga, greenbacks, cash. Just words, you might say, but they carry an eerie psychological force. Chew them over for a few moments, and you will become a different person. Simply thinking about words associated with money seems to makes us more self-reliant and less inclined to help others. And it gets weirder: just handling cash can take the sting out of social rejection and even diminish physical pain.

This is all the stranger when you consider what money is supposed to be. For economists, it is nothing more than a tool of exchange that makes economic life more efficient. Just as an axe allows us to chop down trees, money allows us to have markets that, traditional economists tell us, dispassionately set the price of anything from a loaf of bread to a painting by Picasso. Yet money stirs up more passion, stress and envy than any axe or hammer ever could. We just can’t seem to deal with it rationally… but why?

Read the rest of the article at New Scientist

MORGANA RAE is an internationally acclaimed life coach, author, and professional speaker, who is regarded as the world’s top Relationship with Money coach. Morgana’s groundbreaking program for attracting wealth has featured her on ABC-TV, PBS, NPR, United Press International and The Wall Street Journal online. Learn how to become a Money Magnet with her FREE 4-part video gift series. Fill out your name and email at the top of the page. (We promise not to share your info!)