Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - Keep Your Money on Your Mind(fulness)

Episode Date: November 20, 2023

Originally aired 11/8/21 You might think mindfulness is bogus, but it actually has benefitted both Nicole’s emotional health and her career decisions. Listen to how mindfulness has helped Nicole, and how it can help you with your finances.

Money rehabbers, you get it. When you're trying to have it all, you end up doing a lot of juggling. You have to balance your work, your friends, and everything in between. So when it comes to your finances, the last thing you need is more juggling. That's where Bank of America steps in. With Bank of America, you can manage your banking, borrowing, and even investing all in one place. Their digital tools bring everything together under one roof, giving you a clear view of your finances whenever you need it. Plus, with Bank of America's wealth of expert guidance available at any time, you can feel confident that your

money is working as hard as you do. So why overcomplicate your money? Keep it simple with Bank of America, your one-stop shop for everything you need today and the goals you're working toward tomorrow. To get started, visit bofa.com slash newprosmedia. That's b-o-f-a dot com slash n-e-w pros p-r-o-s media. bfa.com slash newprosmedia. Hey guys, are you ready for some money rehab? Wall Street has been completely upended by an unlikely player, GameStop. And should I have a 401k? You don't do it? No, I never do it. You think the whole world revolves around you and your money.

Well, it doesn't. Charge for wasting our time. I will take a check. Like an old school check. You recognize her from anchoring on CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg. The only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. Nicole Lappin. As you guys know, I always have my mind on the money and the money on the mind.

But I also have my money and my mind on mindfulness. A few months ago, I published an episode on my experience going through a burnout breakdown. It is episode 91 if you want to go back and listen to it. When I was in recovery after this breakdown, one major aspect of my treatment was practicing mindfulness. I know to some that mindfulness feels like new age woo woo mumbo jumbo, but it actually has benefited both my emotional health and my career decisions. Mindfulness techniques help us slow down and act more intentionally in the face of constant

distraction. There are stacks on stacks on stacks on stacks of books dedicated to the art of staying present in various areas of your life. For example, mindful eating is a huge category. If you've never heard of it, it's basically the idea that simply paying attention to your food and how you feel when you eat instead of watching TV or scrolling through Instagram will make a huge difference in your eating habits faster than anything else. So we talk a lot about how mindfulness benefits our health, but in doing so, sometimes mindfulness is framed as if it's the enemy of productivity.

In other words, people assume mindfulness means stepping back and stepping away from your work in order to focus on your mental health. And maybe you will discover by checking in with yourself that taking a step back from work is important to your emotional health. But even if that's true, do not assume that mindfulness inhibits productivity. Mindfulness actually enhances productivity. I know this is true because I lived it. In my experience, I've found that employing these techniques at work boosts my performance. Becoming more mindful in every area of my life has yielded some of my greatest

business ideas, insights, and wins. And I'm going to give you a simple framework that you can use to become a mindfulness master yourself. After all, we're called human beings, not human doings for a reason. Learn to be first and foremost and the doing will come. To the folks who are not sold on mindfulness and are now thinking, ugh, leave me alone, Lavin. I do not need this silly framework. I want you to ask yourself these questions. Number one, does your mind tend to wander during conversations that last more than 10 seconds? Number two When you're talking to someone, are you only thinking about what you are going to say next

instead of actually listening to what's being said now? Number three Do you check your phone during conversations, use it in meetings, and keep it on the table during meals? Number four Do you get from one place to another and realize you have no memory of the walk or drive you just took?

In the shower, do you ever forget whether you've already washed your hair or if you still need to? Number five. Do you have trouble taking one task to completion before wandering off to start something new? This is not SAT-style scoring. The more you

answered yes to those questions, the more of a problem you have staying present. But that's okay. Mindfulness is a skill, like riding a bike or applying liquid eyeliner. You can and will get better at it. Being present is at the core of being mindful. If remembering names is a challenge for you, the problem probably isn't retention. It's mindfulness. In fact, being present is the number one tip all memory experts give when helping people remember names. Mindfulness changes the way you see, hear, touch, smell, and taste. It will change the way you interact with people. It will change your mood. It will change your productivity. It's the most readily available game changer there is, and it doesn't cost a dime. And yet it's also the tool most people forget about the moment they hop out of bed, especially when they step into work mode. Here's a really simple mindfulness technique

that you can try today. It's called the BFF method, where you simply breathe and feel your feet. BFF. Get it? Tap into your senses with the 5-4-3-2-1 method. To try this method, practice noticing five things you see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. Whenever you can, take stock of your body. Are you clenching your hands? Clenching your jaw? body? Are you clenching your hands, clenching your jaw? If so, knock that out. Relax your face muscles, palms, and tummy. Get out of your head or get out of your apartment. When I worked in an office, I used to take a little ride up and down the elevator for a quick breather. The motion and the people watching takes the edge off and gives me the pause I need to move on to the next step,

processing what's happening and deciding what I should do about it. For today's tip, you can take straight to the bank. An even simpler mindfulness technique than the BFF method is to take a beat and count to six before making any decisions at work. Giving yourself a pause before you press send on that email or order new inventory will prevent you from making mistakes by acting too quickly. Money Rehab is a production of iHeartRadio. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin. Our producers are Morgan Lavoie and Mike Coscarelli.

Executive producers are Nikki Etor and Will Pearson. Our mascots are Penny and Mimsy. Huge thanks to OG Money Rehab team, Michelle Lanz for her development work, Catherine Law for her production and writing magic, and Brandon Dickert for his editing, engineering, and sound design.

And as always, thanks to you for finally investing in yourself so that you can get it together and get it all.