The Longest Relationship of Your Life

You're writing a story that you may not know how to tell. It's a very personal story with its own history and language. It's highly visible to others but often not to you.

It's a story that you talk about every day, think about several times a day.

This story is about the longest relationship you'll have in your life. Your parents discussed it before you arrived; people will deliberate it after you die. Maybe you'll get ten years out of a car, perhaps fifty with a spouse, but this story you can never stop writing or living. You can't break up with it, run away from it, or coax into loving you more.

Even though it's unexamined and elusive--you orient life decisions around it.

When I spoke with a well-known self help guru, his response was, "You know, Dave, I don't know how to tell this story to myself in order to know what to change."

This story ghostwrites every aspect of your life story. From what you eat, drink, read, to what you plan, and dream. Health, recreation, stress--even the water you drink--are all impacted by this story. At times you've used this story to regulate your moods, increase self-esteem, influence others, or to soothe emotional pains. And, how you live this story will be what you teach your children.

It speaks to you. You speak with it. It's... your money.

Dr. David Krueger is Dean of Curriculum for Coach Training Alliance. This article is excerpted from his book, "The Secret Language of Money," an August 2009 release from McGraw Hill.