The Most Overlooked Personal Growth Skill: Financial Literacy
And how teaching myself about Money transformed everything.
When we talk about personal growth, we often talk about mindset. About healing. About habits, boundaries, or confidence.
But there’s one pillar that quietly shapes every dream you have — and yet rarely gets mentioned in personal development circles:
Financial literacy.
Not just budgeting or saving.
But truly understanding how Money works — how it moves, how it grows, how to build it into a system that works for you, and how abundant this world is — is the key if you want to make Money for yourself; there is no limit.
Why Most People Never Learn This
In school, we learn the basics: how to count income and expenses, and open a bank account. How to balance a fictional checkbook in Grade 8.
But we are never taught the real-world financial education that matters:
- How to manage debt strategically (instead of drowning in it)
- How to use investing to build wealth over time
- How taxes work — and how the system rewards certain behaviors
- How to create income beyond your job
- How money mindset impacts your choices, identity, and stress levels
The result?
Many hardworking people spend their whole lives earning Money — without ever learning how to keep it, multiply it, or use it as a tool for freedom.
My Turning Point: A Book That Changed My Life
My own journey began when I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
It didn’t just teach me about Money. It cracked open an entirely new way of thinking. This book is written in an excellent storytelling style, so it didn’t feel like a finance book at all.
For the first time, I saw the difference between working for Money… and having money work for you.
I understood why the rich got richer — not because they worked harder, but because they played by different rules.
That book was the catalyst.
From there, I started teaching myself:
- What we think is an asset is often a liability
- How to have your Money work for you and pay for your lifestyle
- How the investing actually works
- What compounding interest really means over time
- Why building a business gives you leverage that a job can’t
- How the tax system rewards ownership, not just effort
I listened to podcasts. I watched videos. I took online courses.
But more than anything, I shifted my mindset — from a consumer who spends Money to a creator who builds income streams, from spender to investor.
And that’s when real personal growth began.
From Learning to Liberation: My Financial Freedom Story
This education gave me something I never thought was possible.
By my mid-40s, I reached financial freedom — something I could never have imagined through a job alone.
Not because I earned millions overnight.
But because I finally understood how Money really works.
How to multiply it. How to invest with intention. How to build systems that paid me back over time.
That’s the part no one teaches you.
But once you learn it, it changes everything — not just in your bank account, but in your sense of possibility.
Related Read:
Financial Freedom: The Ultimate Bucket List Dream
What if your real bucket list wasn’t just about places to go — but about the life you want to live? This piece explores how financial freedom can become the foundation for every other dream you hold.
Money and Personal Growth Are Inseparable
Here’s the truth:
You can meditate every morning.
You can heal your inner child.
You can build excellent habits and journal your heart out.
But if you don’t understand how Money works — and how to make it work for you — you’ll always feel a level of tension, limitation, or dependency in your life.
Money touches every corner of our existence:
- The food you eat
- The education your kids get
- The ability to leave a job that doesn’t excite you
- The freedom to travel or rest on your own terms
- The power to donate, give back, or fund your vision
Money isn’t the goal. But it is the foundation.
And it deserves more space in conversations about personal growth.
How to Start Building Your Financial Education
You don’t need a finance degree or a Wall Street mentor.
You need curiosity. You need consistency. And you need to start.
Here’s what helped me:
📚 Books
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
The book that started it all — a mindset shift for how money really works.
- It's been nearly 25 years since Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad first made waves in the Personal Finance...
- It has since become the #1 Personal Finance book of all time
The Psychology of Money
A timeless guide on how we think about wealth, decisions, and freedom.
- OVER 8 MILLION COPIES SOLD AROUND THE WORLD… The Psychology of Money is the original bestselling classic...
- Doing well with money isn’t necessarily about what you know
You Are a Badass at Making Money
A bold, uplifting book that helps reframe your entire relationship with money.
- “A cheerful manifesto on removing obstacles between yourself and the income of your dreams
- ” —New York MagazineFrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author of You Are a Badass®, a life-changing...
🎧 Podcasts & YouTube
Find educators who break things down simply — stock market basics, tax strategies, money mindset shifts.
🎓 Online Courses
Invest in yourself. I love both of these online platforms:
Udemy Courses
Learn personal finance and investing basics with beginner-friendly online courses.
→ Explore Finance Education on Udemy
Masterclass Finance Courses
High-level strategies from expert investors and entrepreneurs.
→ Sign up for Masterclass
💰 Daily Money Check-ins
Look at your numbers. Even if they scare you.
Awareness is the first step to power.
💡 Practice Thinking Like an Investor
Every dollar has potential.
Start asking: How can this grow? Or how can this earn for me while I sleep?
Your Growth Deserves Financial Power
By becoming financially literate, you are giving yourself the resources to live with more choice, more freedom, and more peace.
Financial growth is personal growth.
And the sooner you start, the sooner your entire life begins to expand.
