Now that you know more about your top money archetype take a peak at the other four archetypes! I developed these archetypes to have a shorthand with clients for them to understand they money patterns. I found that once people understood themselves more clearly within the archetype, then they intuitively knew what kind of changes were needed to make in their outer life. Because money decisions are mostly due to habits, it’s important to own both the helpful and difficult parts of each habit, hence the focus on gifts and challenges for each archetype.
I encourage you to take note on what stands out to you with each archetype, either positive or negative. Maybe one will remind you of someone you know – a coworker, your partner, a parent, a sibling. By understanding their money archetype and patterns you can have easier (and hopefully gentler) conversations.
Coppice, aka The Giving Tree
Symbolizing the Giving Tree, this archetype is focused on continuous growth and giving, often at the expense of personal needs. Their gift lies in visionary stewardship and dedication, but they must overcome the shadow of feeling unworthy without constant giving.
Questions to consider:
- How can you balance your giving nature with prioritizing your own needs and desires?
- What are the things that you want for yourself, independent of your loved ones, or the organization you steward, or your business? Identify the conditions under which you thrive and give yourself permission to see them as possible.
- In what ways can you cultivate self-worth and fulfillment independent of your role as a provider?
Challenges
- Competing priorities
- Constantly building
- Sense of worth from being helpful
Gifts
- Visionary, dedicated
- Can connect with other’s needs
- Resourceful when it comes to providing for others
Transformation
- Encourage others to be self-sufficient
- Enjoy the present
Magnolia Grandiflora – Always beautiful, always blooming
Always blooming, always beautiful, the Magnolia Grandiflora archetypes exude grace but can overshadow others, struggling with entitlement and focusing on pleasure at the expense of their future goals. They must acknowledge that discomfort is part of the experience of being human and often a part of striving for long term goals.
Questions to consider:
- How can you find joy and satisfaction outside of material possessions or external validation?
- What are your long term goals? Outline potential steps you can take to get there, and pay close attention to what’s kept you from taking these steps in the past.
- Look back on past achievements that required you to be outside of your comfort zone. What strategies did you use to manage that?
Challenges
- Money buys love
- Spending to be recognized
- Entitlement
Gifts
- Stylish, gift for good presentation
- Enjoys the present
- Embodies YOLO
Transformation
- Focus on inner self-worth
- Build tolerance for discomfort
Saguaro – Make do with what you’ve got
Rooted in self-reliance and resilience, Saguaros thrive in adversity but may struggle with excessive risk management and judgment. Finding balance means embracing the present, seeking support, and giving themselves permission for joy.
Questions to consider:
- How can you balance preparedness and risk management with embracing the present moment?
- What support systems or professionals can you work with to avoid analysis paralysis or give you more confidence in your plans?
- What things would you love to do, have, or experience that you also think are too risky, too expensive, or too frivolous? Imagine giving yourself permission to enjoy them. What happens in your body with this thought experiment?
Challenges
- Painful self-reliance
- Analysis paralysis
- Cut off from enjoying the present
Gifts
- Well prepared and resilient
- Resourceful
- Comfortable waiting
Transformation
- Outsource money decisions, hire help
- Build tolerance for pleasure
Tree of Heaven – Fight the power!
Known for resilience and resourcefulness, Tree of Heaven archetypes challenge systems yet risk focusing too much on critiquing the system at the expense of making changes to improve their own situation. Embracing their agency and reevaluating limiting beliefs allows them to harness their visionary power for positive change personally and for their community.
Questions to consider:
- In what areas of your finances do you feel like you have full agency to make your own decisions?
- Think of people in your life who have a positive, or simply neutral, relationship with money and consider which of their habits or beliefs you’d like to incorporate into your own life.
- In what ways can you harness your visionary mindset to create positive change? What solutions do you see that others miss?
Challenges
- Pits money against integrity
- Sees money as evil and disempowers self
Gifts
- Holds a vision for a better way of being
- Resourceful
- Justice oriented
Transformation
- Own power with own money relationship
- See how all of our well-being is mutual and include your own financial well-being in the picture
Wisteria – Leap and the net will appear
Persistent climbers, Wisterias symbolize adaptability and hope, yet may struggle with endless expansion and over dependence on others to manage financial difficulties. Finding strength in self-awareness and cultivating stable money habits can enable them to channel their resilience and adaptiveness into fruitful growth.
Questions to consider:
- Consider the projects, activities, or priorities already in your life. How would you prioritize were you want to put more attention into? How might this change how you use your time, energy, and money?
- What boundaries can you set to avoid overextending yourself with new projects? Do you have telltale signs you may have too many balls in the air?
- What solid actions can you take to have a more stable money foundation? Consider activities like a weekly credit card review, hiring a money coach, or committing to reading a book on money management.
Challenges
- Collapses under weight of new ideas
- Fear they can’t manage own money
Gifts
- Values things beyond money
- Sees possibility everywhere
Transformation
- Create supportive easy to manage money practices
- Acknowledge self-sabotage tendencies
What’s next?
Integrity is becoming whole, it’s accepting both the helpful and difficult parts of our lives. I invite you to see which of these archetypes you want to bring into your life, see where the challenges of your primary archetype could be balanced out with the gifts of a different archetype. The invitation here is for integration – bringing in the parts we have pushed away will FREE ourselves from having to push them away!
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