When do you feel most accomplished?

When I am able to be totally honest and open with my family and friends. When I was a young boy, I had a hard time learning this, especially with money. Here is a story that I remember from way back then.

I am eight years old. I am standing in the narrow galley kitchen of our modest apartment in Queens, and my father is seated at the table. That very day, my pals and I have been talking about money; some of them have confided—boasted!—what their fathers do for a living and how much money they make. So as children of that age do, I ask my father how much money he makes. My father does not answer. He just stares at me, coldly and angrily. This silent rage speaks volumes. It tells me that I have approached a figurative high-voltage wire that is dangerous and absolutely off-limits. In a split second, the atmosphere of calm benevolence has been transformed into one of chilling, roiling, and barely suppressed fury.

The effect on me was a two-pronged hammer blow of rejection and fear. Even mature adults aren’t too good at dealing with rejection and fear; for a kid, the whole thing was simply beyond my ability to understand, much less cope with. In the parlance of psychology, I internalized the hammer blow, and that Childhood Money Message—that money was scary, profound, and a very private secret—was almost literally stamped into my subconscious; that day, my personal Money Monster began to take shape. 

Now that I am able to face my money monster, I can accomplish so much more. I have begun my  Cure For Money Madness!