So you say you want to be wealthy. Many people do. And yet, most people aren’t. Why is that?

Here’s a 3-item test to begin to reveal why you may not yet have the money you want:

1. Count the cash that’s in your wallet & write down the amount.
2. Look at the balance in your checking account and write it down.
3. Look at the balance – the amount you owe – on your credit card (or student loan) and write it down.

Did you do those 3 things?

And I mean did you actually look at your cash, your checking account and your credit card – as opposed to just taking a mental guess as to what’s in there?

If not, THAT’s why you’re not wealthy.

(If you did do these 3 steps, good for you! You’re ready to skip to Phase Two: 4 Baby Steps for Spiritual Money Manifestation).

If you didn’t do the 3 steps, it means there’s something about your money you’re unwilling to look at. And as long as you’re unwilling to look honestly at your money, you will always be the victim of your financial circumstances, not the master of them.

But maybe you didn’t realize this was an interactive article. Now that I’ve set you straight, here’s your second chance: go count your money & write down what you find.

Did you do it this time?

And did you not just look at your money, but also write down what you found? That second step is just as significant as the first. When we won’t write something down – we won’t commit it to paper – it is a subtle sign from our unconscious that we aren’t ready to change it yet.

So if you want to change your money story – you have to write down the three amounts!

Why We Don’t Look Honestly at Our Money

One big reason you might not want to look honestly at your money is that there isn’t enough of it!

You may have less money in your checking account or wallet than you’d like; or the balance on your credit card or student loan is higher than you wish it was.

I understand. It can be depressing or even scary to confront the realities of your financial situation when you have less cash and/or more debt than you’d like.

So much so, that you might even be suffering from what I call The Money Wound™.

This is a condition in which your negative feelings about money – or your doubts and fears about successfully managing your money – are actually causing your financial problems (or at least making them worse).

If this is you, you’ll never feel financially secure until you heal your Money Wound.

Another thing you might not want to look at is your expenses. These may include hefty fees and penalties for bouncing checks; or an emotionally-motivated spending spree that got out of hand. It might also just be basic bills – rent, gas, cell phone – that you never seem to have enough money to cover.

Many of my clients have shared with me the intense shame they feel about their spending habits – some of which feel unconscious and out of their control.

Are any of those the reason that you didn’t do so well on the quiz?

You might also be saying, “Julia I’m willing to look at my money; I just can’t right now.” In this case, you may have set up obstacles that are setting you up to fail. A few examples of the obstacles people sometimes create include:

• “I can’t count my cash, because I have it stashed in a couple of different places.” In this case, the obstacle you’ve created is disorganization. Who could expect you to be responsible for your cash, or how much of it there is or isn’t, when you literally can’t even find all of it?
• “I can’t check my bank balance because I don’t know how to log onto it online. I don’t know the link, or the password, or whatever.” In this case, not learning (or remembering) how to easily check your online bank balances is the obstacle you’ve created for yourself.
• Another obstacle you might have created for yourself is that you have multiple credit cards, or even multiple checking accounts, so when I said to look at your balance your first question was “which one?” I once had a client who “hid” money in a secret checking account, which created all kinds of financial problems for her and her family.

Are any of those true for you?

If so, I’d like to gently suggest that creating chaos or obstacles are just a sneakier way of saying “I don’t want to look at my money. There’s something there that worries me or scares me or makes me feel ashamed or out of control.” In other words, you’re making up excuses for why you can’t get in control of your money.

And if any of those are true, then you are indeed suffering from The Money Wound™. To learn more – and to begin to heal your Money Wound™ – click here.

What if you just don’t have enough money?

It’s possible that you aren’t making up excuses for why your money is out of control, and you don’t have negative beliefs about money. ie, you don’t actually suffer from a Money Wound™.

But rather, your problem could be that you’re just broke.

I say that with no shade whatsoever, I’ve been there myself – more than once. So I understand viscerally that the economic realities today are super difficult. The cost of housing is sky-high, food and gas cost a lot more than they used to, many people don’t have health insurance … and let’s not even talk about student loan debt.

If this is you, and you’ve just got more month than money, consider investing in my Clear Your Money Blockages toolkit. The results that people have gotten from that program are truly, truly astounding. It isn’t pure magic; it does require you to do some real work to get control of your finances. But if you’re willing to do the work, it does sprinkle a little magic fairy dust on your cash flow. 😉 Read the testimonials on the sales page, they’re pretty inspiring.

And because I understand your situation, I offer a full money-back guarantee on this toolkit. If you do the work (which includes daily written assignments) for 2 full weeks and you don’t get back at least $97 in unexpected income, I will refund your full purchase price.

Another version of The Money Wound™ has nothing to do with money management, ie your willingness (or not) to look honestly at your financial situation. Rather, it’s what you’re suffering from when you have strong mixed emotions about money itself. Click here to read Lisa’s story, The Evil Corporate Giant.