With practice, you can learn to take some typical financial concepts and see them as positive, rather than negative. For example, we are taught to set aside money for an “emergency” fund implying some sort of disaster could be looming around the corner. Instead, call it an “opportunity” fund and you can see that the same money could be used to take advantage of investment opportunities, “once in a lifetime” experiences or to support you through a rough time financially with more calm. You can also use the “opportunity fund” to take time to find new work if your existing employment ended, or to do repairs or renovations to your home if needed.

What other common situations are there like this example? How about “bad debt” replaced with the belief that the benefit of the purchase has already been realized? Is it “risk” or “opportunity,” “spending” or “investing in your lifestyle”? These might not resonate with your experience, but the idea is to become aware of the way you speak and to think more positively about common financial situations. There is more than one way to see everything.