Understanding our money behaviour: Discounting the positive

Discounting the positives is is a mental process of refusing to accept accomplishments or insisting our positive behaviours and actions do not count.

Discounting the positives is not the same as being modest or humble. Instead, when we think this way, we can see and acknowledge the positive qualities, attributes and events in our lives, but we actively disregard them and turn them into something negative – a mistake, a fluke, or a misunderstanding.

If we consistently downplay our achievements, including the great things we do with money, we can reduce our motivation for taking control of our finances. Discounting the positives can truly suck the joy out of life, making us feel inadequate, useless, unrewarded and worthless.

If you are someone who tends to discount the positives, try challenging your view. Identify exactly what you are discounting, Write down all of your positives. What does this record tell you? What would others think of these positives? If you didn't discount the positives, how would your thinking, feeling and behaviour change? What can you do differently?