TIREDNESS AND MITOCHONDRIA’s MYSTERIOUS LINK

TIREDNESS AND MITOCHONDRIA’s MYSTERIOUS LINK

Do you feel like you’re often tired? Did you know that there’s a connection between tiredness and our mitochondria, as these are the membrane-bound cell organelles that generate or produce our energy?

Now you might be asking, how do we get our mitochondria to generate MORE ENERGY so we feel LESS TIRED?

Great question, as there might just be a recipe on how to get that needed energy boost.

RECIPE FOR GETTING MORE ENERGY 

If you feel like you get tired easier than others (e.g. always falling asleep earlier despite doing less work, or not finding the energy to do more because of tiredness), then you might want to consider taking a look at your inner power station – your mitochondria.

HOW IT LOOKS LIKE

The tiredness would sometimes be so bad that it is restricting the patient in their everyday life… holding them back from the life they would like to live.

TIREDNESS HAS DIFFERENT CAUSES

There might be many different reasons for your tiredness – and some are easier to cure than others.

But everyone can do things to make them feel better.

In my work in health care, I see many patients searching for help for their tiredness. Very often that is a sign of something else, as tiredness is not an illness in itself, but a symptom, or a signal that there is an imbalance with something.

Still, another common explanation for energy loss is a hectic life at both work and at home often leading to an unhealthy lifestyle – you end up in a negative circle.

INACTIVITY & POOR DIET

Often, it’s inactivity and a nutrient-poor diet that leads you to a state of lack. You sleep too little, watch too much, and move too little as your eyes are always focused on the screen. 

LIFESTYLE, NOT AGE, DOES MATTER

It is not about age or gender – it is about a lifestyle bringing your immune system out of balance.

A disturbed function of the mitochondria in the cells is a central explanation for this lifestyle tiredness. The mitochondria that we have in all our cells deliver energy.

They are like miniature power plants.

TIREDNESS CAN PROTECT YOU TOO

A new interesting theory is that tiredness is a protective mechanism for our health. It’s our body’s way of telling us to pause and take a rest because we need to. 

So what are the things that we can do to help our mitochondria gain some balance in giving us the energy we need?

1. ADJUST YOUR DIET

One good thing to do is to adjust our diet to a mitochondria-friendly one.

Lots of greens, berries, and nutrient-packed food with high levels of vitamins and minerals – this diet is what the mitochondria love!

2. MIND YOUR EATING TIME

It is also important “when” we eat. 

This schedule is based on 3 main meals a day – and only minor or no eating in between. We are not made for a constant energy intake, and it’s advisable to have at least a 12-hour long break from food intake between supper and breakfast. 

Even better if it is more than 12 hours – I usually do 15 hours by the way. You just have to find your best version.

3. MOVE AROUND

Physical activity is also important to help the mitochondria stay in a good mood.

Doing it outdoors adds even more to the benefit. We can even say we need to get outdoors every day.

If you are not used to doing physical things just start with a daily walk of 10 minutes. It is good for your muscles, your lungs, and for your heart. It is also good for your brain to get energy from the light.

But for those of you who already do a lot of training, I will maybe have to warn you to not overdo it. Your mitochondria don’t want too much and you want to keep them happy. They need to rest – and so do you.

Now your mitochondria will cheer for you and be less tired – and so will you 😊

Why am I talking about this again and again – from different angles?

Because this is the basic way we function – there are no quick fixes and don’t complicate it – Just do it and Take care.

Dr.-Annika
HOW CLEANING UP CAN ALSO CLEAN OVERWHELM UP

HOW CLEANING UP CAN ALSO CLEAN OVERWHELM UP

Do you know that a simple cleaning up can help you with your overwhelm??

“Sounds too good to be true” – you might say.

But believe me, when I say, it does work wonders.

HEAR ME OUT 

After 2+ years of very stressful lockdown, we all thought we might get some time to relax, and get back to our normal lives again…

But then, comes the war in Europe affecting the whole world because of tensions between people and countries standing on different sides in the conflict, and also causing a lot of problems including world food shortage, and continuous price increases.

To top those things off, hearing all about the negative news happening in our world… mass shootings, monkeypox spreading, climate crisis, etc…

ALL of which can be very stressful and overwhelming – you just want them all away.

WHAT YOU’RE FAILING TO NOTICE…



What most of us fail to notice is that we tend to cope “without” doing anything. But it ain’t true – that we’re not doing anything.

We are…

CLEANING.

STRESS CLEANING, TO BE EXACT

For some reason, when we’re stressed, we notice all the mess and start cleaning them up, and the entire process of cleaning the messes up plus seeing them actually cleaned up – is therapeutic. 

Be it cleaning off your kitchen, your bathrooms, your closets, or just simply organizing things – they do count in making us feel better.

Even if you start small such as focusing on your work desk, or go big and remodel your entire garden – they all matter.

And all that is no coincidence.



THAT IS HOW OUR BRAINS WORK

Our brains, so to speak, love to be in control! And when we clean and sort things out, we are in control.

The actual physical action of doing the cleaning eats up the stress hormones.

OUR STRESS HORMONES

These hormones, mainly adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol,  are released in stress as a way for you to use your core stress management tools fight or flight. 

Remember – these are the tools you got 200,000 years ago that are still your body’s first choice weapon against stress. 

To get the hormones out of our system, we need to be physically active – which we also achieve by cleaning.

So this simple cleaning act – in our own close environment – when we are stressed serves as our response to the basic biological stress system and replaces the fight or flight.

IT DOES NOT END WITH CLEANING

The cool fact is that this mechanism does not only work for cleaning your home.

It is a long-known fact that doing the dishes is a very powerful de-stress activity and works as mindfulness, and the best part is – it’s something you can use in your everyday life.

HOW THESE THINGS REDUCE STRESS

When you start to get disorganized, shaky or feel dizzy from overwhelming – go to the kitchen and clean up – do the dishes, and think of each thing you clean or put away – “this is my favorite cup, look how it shines when I clean it”.

That will help your brain to rest a moment from what stressed you out, to begin with, and you will come up with better solutions.

Aside from that, getting rid of the excess stuff has the ability to put our minds in a calmer state, just as how a cleaner surrounding can make us feel at ease and relaxed. 

OTHER THINGS YOU CAN DO

Science is fantastic because it has also shown that stitching and other textile work is a good method for mindfulness.

And I can certainly say that myself. I have been doing textile work for as long as I can remember.

I learned to crochet and stitch at an early age.

I sewed all my clothes during my teens.

I learned to weave in 9th grade in high school – and I was hooked.

Later in my 20-ties, I learned to weave professionally. I have 1 and a half of your education in hand weaving.

It always puts me in such a calm state sitting behind the loom and seeing the cloth, the rug, and the blanket grow in front of my eyes

CALM PROTECTS US

When we get in that calmer state and feel we have some control over our own life and situation it is so much easier to cope with all those dangers out there. We can look closer at the dangers without being afraid of them, we can think better of solutions.

We can see if there is anything we need to do – or if it just is a question of accepting. 

MY FAIR SHARE

It was not until a couple of years ago that I realized that I had been working with meditation and mindfulness all my life – with my textile work. It has always been there, even just mending a rift or sewing on a new button when one fell off has felt good for me. 

I have found it hard to do meditation, sit with my eyes closed, and so on. I can use what I call a mini-meditation to calm down in the moment of a stressful situation, or to relax when sitting on the train, and so on – but not as a time to just sit for longer.

And now I have realized that my textile work has worked just the same – that has been my lifelong meditation and mindfulness and it has helped me immensely in periods of great stress. Like in that time I mentioned earlier when I lost 2 dear people within one week just as I was starting my medical career. I was very productive during that time – and now I know why and can see how much it has helped.

MORE IDEAS

When you do get back in the calm mode you can maybe think of things or actions that could calm your mind a bit.

There is this saying: “Nobody can do everything but everybody can do something”

Thoughts:

Garage sale for things you cleaned out now – send the money to Ukraine???

Buy ecological food 

Don’t buy things with too much packaging material

Grow your own vegetables if possible

Walk or bike instead of taking the car

Eat less meat, especially red meat

This list can be endless when you figure out what you want

Remember – any step in the right direction is a step in the right direction – so keep taking steps – even if they are small

And this will be so good for your feeling of stress and overwhelm – or anxiety or depression.

THERE’S ANOTHER WAY

Maybe you don’t feel like cleaning or moving as you just feel like staying in one corner to reflect, or even read.

Feel free to access my e-book guide on things you can explore more to easily destress at any moment.

To your stress-less life,

Dr.-Annika

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How Letting Go of Grudges Lessens Stress

How Letting Go of Grudges Lessens Stress

If you tend to hold grudges, it’s time to learn to let go as letting go of your grudges lessens your stress in life and helps you achieve real happiness.

HOLDING GRUDGES

A grudge is when you have this constant feeling of resentment or ill will brought by the past memories – but in the end, up to no good.

Why? Because it constantly brings back all the negative emotions it has with it, and you feel like you’re back there all over again.

GRUDGES ARE TOXIC

Holding grudges is toxic, and at the same time – makes you toxic.

We, at some point in our lives, all have met people who deceived us, or hurt us in any way – and even after parting ways, we hold this anger or irritating feeling towards them. In the end, we get consumed by those emotions and we become toxic.

But let us face the reality.

Who loses when we hold grudges against anyone? US! Because we are allowing ourselves to lose our peace of mind from the things that are already “IN THE PAST”.

 GRUDGES ARE UNHEALTHY



It’s both physically and mentally unhealthy for us to hold grudges. Grudges are like bottles full of our anger and remorse. Now when that bottle opens or breaks, we explode – and when we explode, we tend to suddenly forget what taking care of ourselves looks like.

WHY MUST WE NOT HOLD GRUDGES

If I’m going to look at some of the MANY reasons why we MUST not hold grudges… Here are my favorites:

  • It makes us stuck, not being able to move on.

Who wants this, right? As much as possible, we want to leave the past as it is – especially when it’s awful. But in all honesty, how are we going to do that if we can’t let go of our baggage? 

  • It can still hurt us, BAD.

As long as we hold grudges, we’re allowing whatever or whoever to inflict the exact same amount of pain like they did the last time – and just like that, we’re back at it again, making us relive all the negative experiences over and over as if we’re in a trance.

  • It makes you feel like you can never trust again.

You will find it hard to trust as all you see is either black or white. You think that only two things exist: the good or the bad, forgetting that somewhere in the middle, there are a lot of beautiful reasons and possibilities. 

  • You take it out on others.

Admit it or not, the moment you see some sign you have painted on your head after what has happened in the past – you immediately assume that everyone you see this into will automatically do the same thing to you. Hence, making you distance yourself or unconsciously be rude to them and still justify everything as an “I’m just protecting myself” kinda thing.

Sounds all bad, don’t they?



WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

Now that we’ve seen all the negative things it does to us, let’s take at our options so we can finally learn to let go of our grudges:

1. Acceptance

It already has happened, there is nothing that we can do any more or could have done, so it’s just the way that it is.

2. Forgiveness

It is admittedly hard to forgive whoever has wronged you, especially if they have done great damage.

But if I am to share a secret with you… You do not need to force yourself to forgive them, because all you need to do is…


FORGIVE YOURSELF.

Forgive yourself for letting yourself get hurt by others, or allowing them to hurt you. Forgive yourself that you failed to protect yourself from them before. Forgive yourself that you were not able to do what you think now that you should have done, let it all go… and forgive yourself.

The moment you forgive yourself fully is in reality the moment you find it easier to forgive them.

3. Remember that we are all JUST HUMANS.


We tend to get mad and irritated when we forget that we are all just humans who make wrong or bad decisions in life. Maybe they have reasons, or maybe they had no reasons and they were just in bad shape making bad decisions – regardless, we know that we have those moments too.

Maybe we overestimated them, or maybe we thought wrong of them. Whatever it is, the truth is, the majority of the disappointment always comes from people who “fail to do what we expect them to do” or people who “do what we do not expect them to do”.  Let go of these, and things will be easier.

4. Do not play the role of the victim.

Now, this does not sound good at all but hear me. You are the one in control of your life, so you have the power to decide what can make you happy, and what can hurt you.

It’s time for you to tell yourself, “these types of things cannot hurt me”, and live it. Remember, YOU have the power, so do not give them an inch of it. 

2 Dimensions Of Forgiveness

Forgiveness has two independent dimensions:

  1. Intrapsychic state (letting go of inner anger and resentment), and
  2. Interpersonal act (telling the offending person “I forgive you”).

Now, which sounds better?

Remember to always choose 1, and that the number 2 is always optional. The Intrapsychic state is for your own peace of mind. If you do not do this, you will never have peace of mind. Meanwhile, the interpersonal act may or may not benefit you – depending on how you feel. If it makes you feel better saying it, go on but if it doesn’t because you never want to be associated with the person ever again – then you do not need to.

You can always forgive silently. You are not responsible for letting them know that you do, as much as you’re never responsible for helping them break free from their personal guilt.

RELEASE YOURSELF FROM THE STRESS

All these grudges do nothing to you except stress you out. 

You may have a grudge against anyone, or against yourself – but whoever it is against, it’s important for you to remember that “THE GRUDGE ONLY HURTS YOU, NOT ANYBODY ELSE”.

So in reality, it can do nothing EXCEPT hurt you more, or stress you out more.

So instead, start thinking positive thoughts – keep up the positive spiral – live the life YOU want to live and you will be happier.

Dr.-Annika
HOW EVENT PREPARATION CAN STRESS YOU

HOW EVENT PREPARATION CAN STRESS YOU

Have you ever tried preparing an event from scratch? Oh boy, the stress was unreal, especially since we had ours during the course of the pandemic.

If you have ever heard of the WIN events all over the globe, we have organized one in Sweden!

The idea came a year before the event, and during that time, we thought that the event was still too far to worry about especially considering that there are a lot of uncertainties caused by the Corona – so my co-director and I just worked on the concept.

It was a lot of planning, organizing, and coordination! And since it’s the pandemic and couldn’t just meet ALL THE TIME – we had an online document full of scribbled notes where we “brainstorm” our ideas – and it was hard. 

EVENT PREP DURING THE CORONA

Since it was still when the corona’s at its peak, we were not sure if it’s going to continue the way it’s supposed to – and we were considering having it done “hybrid” – like a limited number of people at the actual event site but then virtually for the rest.

So then, came more stress: How do we do that, who will be our tech person? It’s “one more thing” to think about!

Then from there, a never-ending story…

OUR BIGGEST CONCERN

In all honesty, the biggest worry was if people are going to have fun, or if they will feel included or end up just sitting at the corner and being grumpy.

Also, there were worries like, “Are these all good enough?”

It was really hard… because you prepare for an event but at the same time it’s hard for you to weigh whether it’s enough or not – and it’s scary to think whether the event will end up well – such as people REALLY enjoying it.

THE BIGGEST SURPRISE

The biggest surprise…

Is that during the course of the promotion we’re not getting many people as we originally planned to have? There were many disappointments and I didn’t know whether to move the event date or shut it all down.

WRITE IT ALL ON PAPER

The moment I wrote everything down on paper and have it right there where it’s all clear is also the moment that I came to my senses: “I’m not gonna shut it down nor I am going to move the date. I already have it planned and we’re going to have it done beautifully for us. No matter how many come, it’s going to happen”.



THE SWEET ENDING

There may not be as many attendees as originally planned, but everyone came with joy and laughter.

There was never a dull moment at the event, and everyone was so full of spirit. Everyone basically was having fun! 

THE UNEXPECTED TWIST

Who would have known that not getting the number we planned actually made things great as people who came felt more appreciated and included, as they loved how the event felt “very intimate”.

MY PIECE OF ADVICE

While good planning is a must, do not frown if things go sideways – as, in the end, you do not know what these things can do.

EVENT PREPARATION LEARNING


The thing that I have learned in this journey and will surely do next time is to plan with reverse engineering. So if I wanted on that specific date, I’ll look at the things I need to do, the latest I can do them, and look backward: Which step am I in right now?

You need to figure out who you are, how many you want, how hard is it, and what’s the subject you’re doing because that can differ in how many people will come.

FOR THE NEXT EVENT

It’s very vital that for the next event, one must have an idea of what people or where will these people come from, because without knowing the right audience, we cannot target them correctly.

MENTAL LOAD READY

Aside from being all prepared for your audience during event planning and preparation, you must also be mentally prepared for the huge load of responsibilities you’re just about to take.

You can start by simply strengthening your mental capacity and conditioning your mind prior.

To successful event preparations,

Dr.-Annika
HOW GRIEF TURNS INTO MEMORIES

HOW GRIEF TURNS INTO MEMORIES

Two words: Grief, and Memories. Two words with different meanings but will always be bound to be together as after the grief, comes the memories. The question is, are you willing to let the grief turn into beautiful recollections or let it eat you and lose yourself in the process?

MY STORY

May 27, 1987, when I was in Labor. My first child, our first child – was on her way out of me. The pregnancy had been really tough. I was very nauseated and I didn’t think that I was growing enough.

I was a medical student and the people around me told me that I was just reading too much and putting much into it, but I didn’t have any kids prior so I don’t really don’t know well. To be fair, I didn’t know of course, because it was my first pregnancy. But there was something that was kind of held off…

Anyway, back to the story – on May 12, 35 years ago… Our daughter was born and she came out tiny. Dave, my husband, ran out with her right to the intensive care just not telling us anything and after some hours I gotta see her in the breathing machine with all those needles and things all over her little body in this little glass box, and that’s where she was until when she was three weeks old.

That time was tough. I was staying in the maternity ward without a child with me so I got all the glances as if I wasn’t supposed to be there so I really had no support. It was like everybody expected me to know everything just because I was a medical student – forgetting that I was also just a new mother with a newborn who was very ill.

MY JOY AND MY GRIEF

Fast forward to when I got to bring her home – she was 3 weeks old and I was breastfeeding – everything seemed to work perfectly at the beginning. We were even able to bring her out with us for the first time in her 4th week after living her first few weeks in the hospital. Then comes the unexpected… Heart failure at seven weeks.

What in the world? I knew there was something off but I just couldn’t pinpoint what it was. I was a first-time mother but it is true after all, you get the maternal instincts immediately so you better listen to your feelings despite what others think.

Since the heart failure, it was then figured that she’s got a kidney problem caused by a genetic disorder – and the worst thing??? No treatment is available! So what were our options? Maybe a transplant, they said. But I was a medical student, and I know that the chance of that working is close to none and that we were just provided that option because everyone around me believed that everything was going to be okay.

INTO THE DEEP DARK HOLE

When she was nine weeks old, my brother who had schizophrenia for around 10 years committed suicide – my and my family’s world fell apart.

Another week went by,  there were all these preparations for my brother’s funeral, and then exactly one week later on the Monday that my brother died, my baby daughter, all of a sudden died too.

What happened to me???? You’d never want to imagine. Just into a black hole – a very, very, very black hole. And that was the most stressful thing I could ever think that would happen. I was in bed for two days, and couldn’t even get out to go to my brother’s funeral. 

THE GOOD SAMARITAN

Two days later, a neighbor of mine dragged me out just to go to the shop to buy some bread and share some moral lessons. Yes, that was a very tough time for me. When I was out on the streets, all the people I came across didn’t know how to treat me – like the moment they see me they’ll just go to the other side (I couldn’t blame them, maybe they did not know what to say), but of course, all I wanted was for them to say “Hi, I see you, I hear you, I am here” – but then maybe again, easier said than done. 

MY FIRST STEP TO HEALING

I then grabbed one of my friends to come with me to a store – to buy my FIRST black dress. Yes, it was my first black dress as I have never in my life worn one – it just ain’t my color. So I put the black dress on, and for some reason, it felt good, like a relief.

Reason being? Grief process. As I’ve said, never in my life have I worn a black dress (blue, and shades near that are more of “me” than black is), so the feeling of wearing that black dress for the first time kind of put me in a bubble-like it was just a dream – but in reality, my first step of going through the “Grieving Process”. 

My brother’s funeral… Then came the funeral of my little baby – it was beautiful. I wanted to take the casket home, but my husband reminded me to let go and keep her in a “good memory” for ourselves.  

SLOWLY BUT SURELY…

We then went on a trip where I realized that it probably was the second step of my grieving process – just feeling it, but this time, beautifully and with acceptance. Do you know how soothing it feels to just be slow on the road, and be out in the wilderness? It was therapeutic: Nature, fresh air, and just getting out there to breathe.

Fast forward to a couple of months after everything – I finally was able to take my real (last) exam, got my medical license,  got a job, and started working. Yay! Everything’s slowly, but surely getting better.

MY REALIZATIONS

Every day before going to sleep, I think and reflect on everything – and in the end, I decided to take care of myself, have a daily routine, eat good food, and exercise. While doing all these, I realized that “self-care” is actually my way of dealing with my stress, and can actually be considered “treatment”, or basically, a way to de-stress.

Then came the realization: If I who had all these what I could say were beyond worse experiences, was able to get out of that deep dark hole and get back up, what’s the reason others can’t? 

Maybe they find it hard because they don’t know what to do, maybe they have no strong support system, or maybe, it’s just because they lack the awareness of what self-care can do.

SELF-CARE and ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Self-care doesn’t mean doing everything by yourself. Acknowledging that you need help from other people is also a form of self-care. As the famous John Donne says, “No Man Is an Island”.

So as someone who’s committed to self-care, I scheduled sessions with a psychologist, to further help me get better by providing the necessary support that I need. As someone working in healthcare to tend to other people, I must make sure that I myself am well-cared for.

IMPORTANCE OF HONESTY

One important thing in all these is for you to remember the importance of being honest and out in the open with someone you trust who in my case was my back the psychologist.

Being honest and open just makes everything better. An unexpected strong support system comes in, and you’ll be surprised how big of a help they’re going to partake in your journey.

UNTIL ONE DAY…

You’ll just be shocked how the grief has turned into wonderful memories and beautiful stories with a lot of lessons you’re going to take with you for the rest of your life. That everything may not be back to where it’s supposed to be, but at least you know that now, it’s better.

As for me, it was a time that I could freely talk about her, and every time I mention her I imagined her photo attached to the wall together with ours – and who would have known that after that, I got three more beautiful girls.

THE LESSON

Grieving can be good, as it is the first step in the process of healing. We grieve for a lot of different things or reasons, and it may keep us from moving forward –  but we must remember that nobody heals without going through its tormenting process. 

Allow yourself to grieve, until you can one day accept the way things are, and then you can live with it in peace, knowing that what caused your grief once, has now turned into a beautiful recollection of the past. 

YOU ARE NOT ON YOUR OWN

Whatever it is, always remember you’re not on your own and that people are just waiting for you to ask. Plus, there is no harm in asking.

Here’s also something you can check out to help you work on your mental strength.

Hoping for your healing,

Dr.-Annika
money talks: The good, bad, and ugly

money talks: The good, bad, and ugly

Money talks are not uncommon, but sometimes, we just don’t go deep enough, or at least can’t.

Do you feel like you’ve got control of your money?

If you do then you’re part of the small percentage of people who do. Most people don’t have any control, or any idea what comes in, or goes out. 

Most people stick their heads in the sand when it comes to money, and it seems to drift from one place to another with no control.

Most people feel ashamed about their money situation and never talk about it. I’ve seen this with so many of the clients I work with and I’d love to tell you a short story today about one of my clients –  Mary-Anne.

MARY ANNE’S STORY 

Not so long ago, we were talking about money. She was really interested in the subject because she was a manager at a large company.

She had the responsibility of managing huge chunks of money coming in and out of the business which was no problem for her at all. In fact, she was very good at her job! 

She was not in the accountant department but she had this control! Amazing, right?

Good at math with a structured mind, to her the numbers are just numbers – no matter how big. She seldom failed with the reports and she was a well-respected employee but had a fear that someone would find out what she really didn’t understand, and think she was a fake when it comes to money.

HER REALITY

Since the numbers are so big in business, to her it was such large numbers – not money or economy – but just figures that she mastered to handle.

But she had no clue when it came to looking after her own money…

In fact, her husband had more control over their private financial situation compared to her. So she came to me feeling so ashamed that she didn’t have control of her own money at home. 

She had had a shortage in her bank account and she did not know why. And she had got a warning on her credit card that she had reached the limit for the month. Her husband had helped but said that it’s just going to be temporary so nothing to worry about.

When things get tough, we deny it, so it’s very common for us to say it is temporary. Many people take short-term loans to cover up – and then another loan and then another….until you know what happens next.

It is so easy today to get a quick loan – and if you keep your head there – stuck in the sand – things can get really nasty.

MONEY + DREAMS

Or… nightmares?

Mary-Anne wanted to figure out her money situation because money started to pop up in her dreams – and they became nightmares – and she longed for help so she could sleep well at night.

She’d spent countless hours searching and found online courses and programs that told her what to do. 

She began creating a detailed chart to track her money which was helpful. It was working. But the problem was she never really got to the bottom of her problem with money – she did not know what to do with the chart – it looked right but about what???

THE FIRST VISIT

On the first visit to speak with Mary-Anne, we figured out that the number one priority was to create a cash flow chart to see the money that comes in vs. the money that goes out.

We worked on this for 30 days – noting every penny going in either direction – and when we had a result her reaction was ‘WOW!’

‘Everything’s coming in and going out just as fast, what are we spending our money on?’

Both Mary-Ann and her husband had good jobs and 2 kids who had left the nest so they were in a good position.

THE PLAN

After coming to the conclusion of a quick turnaround of the money in her pocket, her next task was to create an annual budget for the next 12 months. 

But before she did that she had to look deeper at where she spent her money – or rather where they spent their money?

Writing it all down – in needed and not needed.

REMEMBER, IT ALL ADDS UP…

You see, most people who have enough money don’t reflect – I can afford this – and that – and this – and that – not taking into account that it all adds up.

So now, she has her cash flow chart in control, and has an annual budget for the next 12 months – a task she had never done before, and never thought that she’d ever need to. 

“What can I plan, what do I have control over, what things are necessary – and what do they cost?”

THE FINALE 

When she was satisfied with the annual budget we created together, the final part was to look at her income. 

During our session, we dug deep to find out where her main source of money was coming from. Most of it came as her salary but there were a couple of capital minor streams that she really never understood.

Mary-Anne worked hard on this. In fact, she even got her husband to do precisely the same with his income and expenses.

It’s critical that you work out your income and expenses with those whom you are responsible for. Or responsible with.

Because… Only once you’ve got all this under control can you begin to change.

MONEY MANAGEMENT

If you want to change & improve your money situation, you must evaluate where you’re at right now.

Managing your money is much like a car navigation system….

You must know where you’re at FIRST before you put in your destination.

It’s also a great idea to ask someone for help and guidance. Sometimes, it’s best to get an outside view from somebody else. They might see things that you’re missing.

And it’s also where most people who are struggling are going wrong… They always seem to forget professional help.

ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER

You’re much more likely to achieve your goals and improve your money situation if you’ve got somebody by your side who can keep you accountable. Try not to bat an eye when your partner tells you something about handling money, and also if you know something that could help them, do it too.

OUR INSTINCT IN HANDLING MONEY

Unless we are properly informed, have a financial manager, or have attended financial classes… We inherit most of our behavior patterns from our parents in our young years. What is told about money when we are young becomes our internal belief about money, and we also tend to believe what we see, so whatever we see in them when it comes to handling money, we tend to follow as well.

Fact is, if our parents always talked in terms of scarcity – we would act in terms of scarcity. 

Money can become a burden – what will people think? And we make foolish decisions and money just glides through your fingers, or just all gone in one snap – that fast.

Rich people can also become very greedy, and all this crazy behavior around money is because the subject holds all these feelings and is rooted from young years.

And still – money is just paper and some metal – or a number in the bank account.

ABOUT MYSELF

I am not a money coach or mentor – I work with stress – and money pops up often as the underlying cause of stress. What worked for Mary Anne might not work for you, as every solution is on a case-to-case basis and no one-size solution fits all.

ABOUT YOU

You’d want to avoid the situations mentioned above, or problems involving money, especially at work, and the stress that it causes.

If you’d want be able to tackle from the base of it all, see HERE to find out if we’re a good fit.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for more easily accessible resources for self-development and overall health, here’s a free e-book access for you.

To your success and keep smiling,

Dr.-Annika