Come on relax! I know that Monilessophobia is not one of those common English words you use every day. It is not in the dictionary either. So don’t bother checking.
Monilessophobia is a word I coined sometime in September 2016 as a reaction to a thought-provoking email I received from one of my mentors that morning. I will share the email with you later on in this post.
Monilessophobia comes from two words – Moneyless (an English word meaning not having money) and Phobos (a Greek word meaning deep aversion, dread or fear). It is closely related to Chrematophobia – the fear of money. You would think that money is a necessity of life and people want to have lots of money so they can live a better life. Then why should anyone be afraid of money? Read on to understand why it is so.
The Fear of Money is actually a direct result of the many lies we were made to believe about money. According to a popular Phobia website, while some Chrematophobics are only afraid of the corrupting power of money, still others might fear financial failures or the responsibility money brings. That is a topic for another post, anyway.
Today, I want to shed some light on the fear that is putting so many people in financial bondage – the fear of not having money. My recent FINTEL posts have been mainly about developing the PASSION for Financial Intelligence. Feeding this passion is one of the best ways to starve FEAR.
Why do most people go to prayer houses? What is it that makes people react so emotionally whenever money issue is involved? Why are some people trapped in a job they hate even when they know that there are better options out there? Why are you afraid of having a budget? Why are you afraid of investing your money in profitable ventures?
“There is only one class in the community that thinks more about money than the rich, and that is the poor.” – Oscar Wilde
The Fear of Not having money comes in a variety of dimensions. The origin of this fear can be traced to our fundamental beliefs about money. Some people associate money with the problems they in their lives. Perhaps they struggled financially to go through college or the thought of money brings back childhood memories of their parents quarrelling or getting a divorce because of money problems.
How To Know If You Have This Fear?
Symptoms of Monilessophobia include:
- Being afraid to talk openly about money.
- Being stingy with yourself. Financial prudence is good but at an extreme level it could self-destruct
- Not having the courage to invest your money for fear of losing it.
- Not having a budget for fear of facing the numbers that could limit our lifestyle
- Fear of changing your job or creating multiple streams of income
Fear is a strong emotional reaction which can affect your ability to make a rational, reasonable decision. It causes people to hoard money as a result of greed and selfishness instead of using it as a tool for the common good.
“For God hath not given us the spirit of FEAR; but of power, and of love, and of a SOUND MIND.” (2 Tim. 1:7)
Effects of Monilessophobia
Just like every other kind of fear, the fear of not having money can lead to unnecessary worry, depression, frustration and in extreme cases suicide. It can cause anyone to lose hope for a financial breakthrough. If not anything, this fear stifles every sane idea from you and leaves you in want of profitable ideas that can put money into your pocket.
Your ability to make wise decisions may disappear and this will produce a chain of reactions that will put you in a deeper trouble. An example can be seen from the rate a which gullible Nigerians fell for Ponzi Schemes in the last few months. They are afraid of facing the recession the country is currently in head-on by increasing their financial literacy and investing their money in worthwhile ventures. Rather, these people wanted a quick money and they fell into the trap.
Overall, Monilessophobia can hold you back from really enjoying the good things of life. This is because, even when you have the money, you will believe that it is not still enough. It makes you afraid to manage your money, create a budget and invest and before you are aware of what is happening, you are into debt.
Monilessophobia is an Emotional Problem
This is what my mentor has to say about Monilessophobia:
“Fear can kill your spirit. And that is the greatest evil. If your spirit is weakened your health is weakened, your happiness is impossible and you begin to hurt all of the people around you. Fear is toxic.
“One of the greatest fears is the fear of NOT having money. People do not confront the fear of not having money logically. They react emotionally instead of using their heads.
“But if you have emotional intelligence, when the fear of not having enough money arises, instead of immediately running out to get a job, you might ask yourself ‘Will a job be the best solution to this fear over the long run?’ In my opinion, the answer is no. A job is really a short-term solution to a long-term problem.
“The solution is not to have a job but to have an asset. This is why the rich do not work for money. The rich work to build or obtain assets. And this is key to getting out of bad debt.
“Building an asset takes us back to feeding your passion. Use your passion and dreams to fuel your energy to start a small business. Mix your passion with education and you have two key ingredients to defeating fear.”
In my next post, I will be revealing the Cure for Monilessophobia using the prescription from this email.
Meanwhile, if you want to lay the groundwork for overcoming this fear, don’t forget to get a free copy of my ebook, 15 Benefits of Financial Intelligence.
Have you ever felt this fear before? How do you deal with it? Let me know in the comments.