The Warrior and Money, Part VII

21 Mar The Warrior and Money, Part VII

Suit of Armor. Gift of Hearst Foundation to the Carnegie Museum of Art. Image accessed via Wikimedia Commons.

We are nearly at the end of our eight-part series on the money archetypes! And with keen eyesight, clear vision and far-reaching analytical skills, what’s not to love about a money Warrior?  Indeed, the Warrior will take us far, and is one of the three healthy money archetypes* to cultivate along with the Creator/Artist and the Magician.

If we overwork the Warrior within us, we are hyperdriven, heavily armored, and ready to fight our shadow.  We see–and create–others as enemies.  This is a tiring way to relate to money, especially in the mercurial market and the equally mercurial nonprofit sector.

But the Warrior is a great corrective to the Fool about whom we have also written in this series. The Warrior is all about boundaries and protection of what is precious.  (He’s not the same as the Tyrant, despite our culture’s confusion of the two.)  We need our Warriors!

How do you know you have a healthy Warrior?

1. Money doesn’t just “slip through your fingers.”
2. You have enough for what you need and enough to give away.
3. You work with money out of caring for others and self, and a healthy respect for what money can do and shouldn’t be asked to do.

How do you know you have an overactive money Warrior?

1. Spending freaks you out.
2. You are competitive about money.
3. You think because others have more, you have less.

If you are a Warrior in a nonprofit organization:

1. Bless you.
2. Do all you can to encourage others on staff and Board to want to learn what you know about money.
3. Remain honest about money–your forthrightness and the sense of obviousness you may have about money are unusual in the nonprofit sector.  These are some of the most important qualities you can share with others in the sector about money.
4. Question attitudes and accounts.  Speak up for the wise use, investment, and raising of funds.  Be the one who challenges overdependency on grants, for example, or on one large donor.

Make friends with your Warrior.  Get money savvy.  Protect your financial assets and other resources, including your time and energy.  Let the Warrior help you see all you have, and at the same time, remember that all you have is not all you are.

*Thanks to Deborah L. Price, founder of the Moneycoaching Institute for these archetypes. I am certified by the Institute to moneycoach individuals and organizations. For more information, contact me here.