Psychology of Money

Personality profile - the Warrior

Much like an athlete, this person attacks life like a game, with money being the scoreboard.

Advantages:  The warrior is an enthusiast.  He loves the game of life.  He is disciplined, believes in hard work as a prime value in life, works late and arrives early, is always prepared, rarely lacks confidence, takes good care of himself physically, and works well on teams, as long as everyone on the team pulls their weight.  He likes to get paid for what he does, the more the better.  The more he makes, the better he thinks of himself and his performance.  He never gives up, and sees setbacks as an essential element of progress.

Disadvantages:  The warrior is always at risk of putting too many of his self-esteem eggs in the money basket.  He is at risk of becoming a man who truly feel inferior to his peers because he cannot afford to own his own jet plane.  He knows it’s ridiculous for him to feel this way, but, as he says, “When you’re the only guy in the room who can’t afford his own plane, how’s that different from being the only guy in the room who can’t afford his own shoes?”

How to manage: The advice Warriors need usually is not about how to manage money. They research and understand this well. Where they need help is learning how to balance their lives so they do not totally define themselves by their net worth. Short of long-term psychotherapy, which is not guaranteed to work anyway, the most practical way to do this is to develop new connections in one’s life.

A connection is any engagement  a person develops and comes to relish. Examples include: friends; pets; nature; special activities like sailing, cooking, or gardening; music; literature; woodworking; activity groups, e.g., book group, exercise group, travel group, and the like; a spiritual connection; a sport; a cause; a political party; a band. Any place, person, or thing that a person connects with and relishes can balance what the Warrior looks to money to supply, and in so doing make for a saner, more fulfilling life.

Beyond developing and nourishing new connections, the Warrior also needs to allow himself a sudden attack of common sense. If he is to enjoy this game of life he loves so much, then he must teach himself not to fall into the trap of always comparing himself to others. To do this, he might read Epictetus, the Roman slave turned Teacher, whose words actual Roman warriors valued so much they often read them the night before going into battle.