Part 1: Before We Start

My Money Story

Before we change anything, let us acknowledge where we are.

What is my earliest memory of money?

What did my family teach me about money (explicitly or implicitly)?

What is the most shameful thing I have ever done with money? Write it down. Then forgive myself. I am not that person anymore.

What would I like my relationship with money to look like in five years? Describe it vividly.

My Values

From Chapter 2

List my top five non-negotiables. What truly matters to me?

Now look at my spending over the last month. Does it reflect these values? Where is the gap?

What is one value I have been neglecting that I want to honour more?

My Current Layer

From Chapter 5

Which layer am I in right now?

☐ Layer 1: Survival (struggling with basics, less than $500 saved)

☐ Layer 2: Stability (can pay bills, have some debt)

☐ Layer 3: Growth (have emergency fund, managing debt, thinking about future)

What is the most important action for me in this layer right now?

What advice can I safely ignore until I move to the next layer?

My Shame Inventory

From Chapter 1

What financial shame am I carrying? Write it all down. Get it out of my head and onto the page.

Now read it back. Say this out loud: “I did the best I could with what I knew. Today, I know more.”

How does that feel?