By Wendy Myers | Published September 5, 2019

If someone asked to see the money in your wallet, would they find happy money?

Happy money? What is that?

Ken Honda, known as Japan’s Zen Millionaire, has opened my mind up to looking at money in a whole new way thanks to his newest book “Happy Money: The Japanese Art of Making Peace with Your Money“.

How Do You Feel About Money?

My guess is you’re like me, you never really thought about your money as being happy or unhappy, but you have thought about money. A lot.

Maybe you’ve longed to make more money to feel more secure or to spend freely without worry. Or maybe you’re a money magnet where money just seems to flow in your life with or without much effort.

If you ask around, you’ll find that money makes some of us feel energized, excited, happy, and driven. For others, it makes us feel depressed, hopeless, angry, or fearful. Take assessment of what feels true for you. Which would you rather feel when you think about money in your life?

Of course these aren’t the only emotions people feel when they think of money. As Ken Honda points out, money is energy. That’s all it is. Humans are the ones that ascribe an emotion to it usually based on childhood experiences or dialogues that shaped our views on money.

You Can Change Your Money Attitude

In Happy Money, Ken offers his readers ways to examine your money personality. How do you relate to money? Could your attitude about money be influencing the flow of money in your life?

I really benefited from his money history exercise. It helped me identify my own personal patterns with money and what kind of relationships I have had with it up until the present day.

What I learned was that, yes, in fact, childhood experiences sculpted my attitude towards money. I never really took the time to investigate and challenge those views, until now!

Money is Energy

If you’re familiar with Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, this book might give you a similar feeling about cleaning up your energy. This time, however, your moneyenergy.

Ken Honda offers several ways to change how you interact with money and how to improve the flow of money in your life. His methods are simple and very accessible.

For instance, do you thank money when you receive it? Most of us thank the person we receive money from, but do we thank the money itself?

How about when you give it? I always feel grateful when I receive money, but I never thought of thanking my money when paying bills, handing it to a cashier, or offering it as a gift. You might be wondering, “Why would I do that? I’m losing money. I’m not thankful for that.”

That’s the attitude I had. Until now.

As Ken teaches us, thanking money that is leaving your possession has the ability to bring more into your life. It’s energy! If you give money with a happy attitude, guess what? Happy money will re-enter your life all while blessing someone else’s life at the same time!

This concept may seem foreign or confusing, but I promise, if you read the book, you’ll get it and you’ll want to practice it. There are several other things you can do to improve the flow of money in your life, too! I won’t spoil everything for you in this review.

So if you’re ready to change the way you interact with money in your life, pick up a copy of Happy Money (Kindle copy click here) and start experimenting!

See article: Is Your Money Happy? A Book Review of “Happy Money: The Japanese Art of Making Peace with Your Money”