Close your eyes and tune into your relationship to money. Is it always tight? Does it seem like there’s never enough? Does money seem to come easily to everyone but you? Are you always working really hard to make ends meet? Do you think money is evil? All of these thoughts and feelings stem from limiting beliefs about money.

The money that comes into our lives is simply an exchange of energy. Whether or not money flows easily into your life is determined before you choose a job or even have a conversation about collecting a paycheck. Our beliefs create our reality.

Living at the base of the brain stem is the reticular activating system. Its job is to sort and evaluate information so we can avoid meltdowns and actually get things done. It decides what is important and urgent and what gets put on the back burner. How does it make those decisions? It goes back to our beliefs.

Our brain interprets data based on perspective. Your brain is literally creating the world around you in accordance with what you've decided you believe. It's called confirmation bias.

The good news is that you can change the way your brain filters information by changing the way you think. This isn't easy, but it is totally doable.

1. Go back to the root.

In order to change our beliefs about money, we have to find the root of them. Start with the people who raised you. What do they believe about money? How was money treated in your household growing up? Identify the beliefs you might've inherited without ever realizing it.

2. Examine your current relationship to money.

Look at the information you've found about your childhood. List all the beliefs about money that you inherited from your family, and mark all the specifically negative or limiting beliefs you find. Start to tell yourself that just because they feel true that doesn't mean they are.

3. Retrain your brain.

Now comes the hard work of shifting your perception. Begin to focus on abundance. Reflect on your life. Try to identify instances in which you've experienced the generosity of life. Remember times you've received compliments or gifts unexpectedly. If you choose to focus on how much beauty, joy, and abundance is flowing through the world, more of it will find its way to you.

4. Introduce affirmations.

Now that you've isolated the limiting beliefs you have about money, trade those thoughts for positive ones. Start to weave affirmations throughout your days over the next week. Try saying, “Money flows to me easily.” Notice how it makes you feel. Allow it to open you up. Repeat it silently until you begin to feel that positivity suffuse your physical being. You need to feel it.

Holding onto limiting beliefs about money can make us feel miserly, guarded. When we perceive money as being scarce, we hold onto it tightly. Similarly, we tend to be very protective of our beliefs—even the limiting ones—because we've been teaching ourselves that these beliefs keep us safe. We instinctively feel that releasing these principles threaten our safety.

You may feel triggered and anxious by some of this transformative work. Give yourself some space, some grace. Take a break. Remind yourself that you’re doing this so life gets better for you. But do it on your schedule. If it helps, try to look at the process as a fun experiment. This can make the process feel much less threatening.

If you stick with the work, your mind will begin to see more possibilities, more beauty, more abundance. And as those elements of the world reveal themselves to you, you will step into new opportunities, and your life will transform.