Pre-Work · A Reflection

Your Money Story

Everyone carries beliefs about money they never chose — absorbed early, running quietly underneath every decision. This is a chance to read your own.

Before we gather, spend twenty unhurried minutes here. There are no wrong answers and nothing to score — only patterns to notice. What you write is private; you’ll only share what you choose to. The aim is simply to arrive already curious about your own relationship with money, and a little curious about everyone else’s.

Part 1

Where it began

What’s your earliest memory involving money? Don’t analyze it yet — just describe the scene: who was there, what happened, how it felt.

Part 2

The messages you absorbed

Growing up, what was said about money in your home — the spoken rules and lessons? And just as important, what was unsaid — the silences, the topics that were off-limits, the things you sensed but were never told?

Part 3

Your money script

Most of us run one or two of these patterns by default. Read them honestly and check the one or two that feel most like you — not the one you’d prefer to be.

Avoidance

Money feels uncomfortable or even shameful; you’d rather not look at it, talk about it, or deal with it.

This sounds like me

Worship

More money is the answer; you believe it will bring security or happiness, and there’s never quite enough.

This sounds like me

Status

Money is tied to worth and identity; what you have (or appear to have) signals who you are.

This sounds like me

Vigilance

Money must be watched, saved, and protected; spending creates anxiety and security never fully arrives.

This sounds like me

Where do you think that pattern came from?

Part 4

How it shows up now

Look at your present-day life. How does your script play out in how you spend, save, give, and worry? Where does it serve you well — and where does it cost you something?

Part 5

Keep & change

From everything above: what’s one belief about money you want to keep and pass on, and one you’d like to set down before it passes to the next generation by default?

Part 6

One question for someone you love

If you could ask one person in your family about their money story — and actually get an honest answer — who would it be, and what would you ask?

Bring this with you

Keep your reflection — we’ll build on it in the Money Stories session. You won’t be asked to read it aloud or hand it in. You’ll simply be far better prepared to recognize your own patterns, and to understand why the people you love handle money so differently than you do.

This worksheet is a reflective tool for personal insight. The “money script” patterns are common, widely-described tendencies offered for self-reflection only; this is not a diagnostic or psychological instrument and provides no financial, tax, legal, or psychological advice. The Helm™ is a program of Trident Experiential.

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