Money flows through our lives like water - sometimes rushing sometimes trickling, but always moving. Yet most of us approach financial decisions as isolated events rather than interconnected choices that shape our life as a whole. The difference between those who build lasting wealth and those who struggle financially often comes down to one crucial element: coherence.
What Does Financial Coherence Mean?
Financial coherence means your money decisions align with your values, support your long-term goals, and work together as part of a unified strategy. Financial coherence comes from an inner space where we align our relationship with value, worth and time so that every financial decision comes from a state of certainty in your mind and body.
It's the opposite of reactive spending or investing based on fear, excitement, or social pressure. When you achieve financial coherence, every dollar you earn, save, spend, or invest serves a purpose that connects to the dream life that you are creating.
Why Most Financial Decisions Lack Coherence
We live in a world of financial noise. Social media shows us luxury lifestyles that seem effortless. Investment newsletters promise quick riches. Credit card offers arrive daily. Meanwhile, we're making dozens of money-related decisions each week from a place to urgency without a clear framework that align to our higher purpose.
This scattered approach leads to conflicting financial decisions that drain our life force and bank account: saving for retirement while carrying high-interest debt, investing in trending stocks while neglecting emergency funds, or buying expensive items to celebrate financial milestones that actually set us back from our goals.
The problem isn't lack of information—it's lack of alignment in the way we feel, earn and spend.
Tapping into the field of coherence
Building financial coherence is a skill that develops through practice and reflection. Start by regularly reviewing your financial decisions—not to judge yourself harshly, but to notice patterns and learn from them. When you make a choice that doesn't align with your goals or values, explore what it feels like in your body, what drove that decision and how you might make a different choice in the future.
Community and relationship play a crucial role in maintaining coherence. Surrounding yourself with others who are committed to intentional financial growth creates accountability and reduces the social pressure to make incoherent money choices.
The Foundation Elements of Coherent Wealth Building
Building financial coherence starts with establishing clear foundations that inform every subsequent decision.
Values Alignment: Your money should reflect what matters most to you. If family security is paramount, your spending and saving patterns should demonstrate that priority. If freedom and flexibility drive you, your financial strategy should create options rather than obligations. When your money moves in harmony with your values, decisions become clearer and more satisfying.
Clarity on what matters to you: Not all financial goals are created equal. Coherent wealth building requires understanding which objectives are foundational (e.g. emergency funds), which are growth-oriented (e.g. structuring an investment portfolio), and which are aspirational (e.g. dream vacation). Getting clarity on what matters to you will provide you a framework that you can use in every financial decision that you make.
Risk Integration: Your risk tolerance isn't just about investing—it affects insurance needs, career choices, and spending patterns. Coherent financial planning considers how different types of risk interact across your entire financial life.
Your spiritual practice: By practicing to stay present in every moment and every financial decision, you are creating more space and time to become aware of what align and what does not.
Your Path Towards Financial Coherence
The journey toward financial coherence begins with a simple recognition: your money decisions reflects our inner state of being and your relationship to the outer world.
Wealth building isn't really about getting rich quickly. It's about developing clarity in what matters to you, and aligning your relationship with value, worth and time to make to decisions that feel right.