Money and Meaning: The Role Finances Play on the Path to Fulfillment
How shifting our relationship to money can become a profound act of courage, authenticity, and conscious living
For a long time, I believed money would make me feel safe.
I don’t mean just secure. I mean emotionally, existentially safe. Like if I had enough in the bank, the ever-present anxiety would go quiet, the tension would ease, and the questions about purpose and identity would finally be answered.
Oops.
What I didn’t realize at the time, this now crazy revelation of mine, is that I was never actually looking for money. It had meaning. It was permission to be myself. It was freedom. And, like many, I was confused in thinking that money was the key to all of those things.
Today, it’s much clearer to me that money, like most things, only amplifies what’s already present. And until I began relating to money with courage and authenticity, I couldn’t use it to serve a fulfilling life. I was still using it to mask fear.
On this writing journey, I aim to explore my perspective on the role that finances play in the pursuit of fulfillment. Per usual, it’s not a how-to guide or a financial planning resource.
Trust me, you’d be pretty fucked if you took my financial advice…
Instead it’s a reflection, part personal, part collective, on how our beliefs, wounds, and desires around money shape our lives. And how shifting our relationship to money can become a profound act of courage, authenticity, and conscious living.
The Inherited Beliefs About Money
Most of us were raised with some version of the following beliefs:
Money is power.
Money is security.
Money is success.
Money is status.
Money is what makes life easier, better, and more worthwhile.
Or the now cliché: Money will buy happiness.
And, look, I cannot deny that there is some truth in the idea that money gives us options. Let’s be real. The more profound truth, however, is that many of us have built our lives around accumulating money as an identity, rather than as a means to an end.
We’ve made money the goal, rather than the means.
But here’s the thing: I don’t believe that money alone can bring us fulfillment. Money can make us more comfortable in the life we’re already living, and it's essential to remember that if that life isn’t aligned with truth, money will never be enough.
So we have to ask:
What are we really trying to buy?
What do we believe money will fix?
Who did we learn to become in the name of wealth?
My Turning Point with Money
There was a season in my life when I was doing work that looked good on paper. The income was solid. The title was impressive. But every morning, I felt like I was betraying something in myself. I was tired, disconnected, and driven by fear.
And yet I stayed in this job because it paid well. Because I felt “secure”.
It wasn’t until I left that role, took a financial risk, and started aligning my work with what mattered to me that I realized something:
The fear of not having money had kept me from the life that money was supposed to support.
It took courage to leave. And then even more courage when I did it again. It took continued reflection on my authenticity to admit that the path I was on was not in complete alignment, primarily because the meaning of “alignment” had evolved.
As I continued on this path of alignment, of integrity, the impact I wanted to make on the world became clearer as my focus on money lessened. The idea of what “enough” meant became more about its integral impact than the effect on my bank account.
Money as a Mirror
Money doesn’t lie.
It reflects our priorities, our patterns, our fears, and our desires. The way we spend, save, and think about money tells the story of what we value and, perhaps more telling, what we fear losing.
When we look closely, we start to see:
Do I spend money to avoid discomfort?
Do I hoard money because I don’t trust life?
Do I use money to impress, prove, or control?
Do I avoid money conversations because I feel shame or inadequacy?
These questions aren’t meant to spearhead self-judgment. They’re meant to reflect what freedom might look like.
The way I see it, fulfillment is less about how much money we have than it is about the degree to which we are conscious, courageous, and aligned in our relationship with it.
From Power and Status to Authentic Needs
As a culture, we’ve been sold the idea that money equals worth. We go to school and get good grades so we can get a good job and make good money. The “F” we get is literally for failure, if we do not ascribe to this system.
As a result, we have come, generally speaking, to associate wealth with intelligence, success, influence, and virtue.
Sadly, in this process, we rarely question the emotional cost of chasing money as identity.
So what if we created a new belief system? What if we saw money not as power, but as a sacred tool?
A tool to:
Buy back our time
Invest in what we care about
Support our healing and growth
Create beauty and connection
Resource our purpose and service to others
When money becomes a means to support authentic needs instead of a symbol of status, perhaps we might begin to use it in ways that nourish us.
That’s when money becomes a part of our fulfillment. Not the source.
The Courage to Redefine “Enough”
Most people don’t know what “enough” means to them.
We assume it’s more than we currently have. We chase comfort as if it will resolve our discontent.
But real courage is asking:
What is truly enough for me?
What kind of life am I trying to fund?
What if I measured wealth by how I feel, not just what I earn?
Authenticity asks us to get honest about what we value. Courage asks us to build a life around that honesty.
And sometimes that might mean making less money but living more freely. Sometimes it means changing careers, downsizing, investing in healing, or saying no to what’s profitable but misaligned.
Sometimes its really not easy to live this form of courage. But man, is it real.
And that’s what fulfillment requires.
The Role of Financial Integrity
In the world of courage when it comes to money, financial integrity is possible. As I see it, financial integrity is about making financial decisions that are consistent with our values, our needs, and the truth we proclaim as the impact we say we want to make in the world.
That might look like:
Saying no to a client or project that pays well but feels off
Choosing to fund experiences over possessions
Donating to causes that reflect your beliefs
Getting out of debt to reclaim your sense of agency
Learning financial literacy so you can stop outsourcing your power
This process and these choices are about becoming the kind of courageous person who can trust themselves with money. It requires a departure from the way most of the world relates to money and asks us to choose authenticity over approval. Asks us to reflect on the belief systems we were taught and question our role in the conscious approach to life we feel is important and aligned, rather than what others have told us is accepted.
Fulfillment and Financial Freedom
Financial integrity and the path to financial freedom is often marketed as a number. I believe, however, that true freedom comes from relationship to this sacred tool of money, not just the number.
It’s the freedom to:
Rest without guilt
Work with purpose, not desperation
Speak honestly about your finances
Build a life that supports your aliveness
This freedom demands radical responsibility and agency over the choices we make. Wealth, as a result, can then take on a whole new meaning in our lives with the way we look at our time, our connections, and our health.
As we deepen into fulfillment, our financial goals shift. They become more personal. More soulful. More honest.
We stop chasing “more” and start choosing what’s real in these areas and what serves our being rather than our doing.
Practices for Courageous Financial Alignment
1. Money Reflection Journal
Spend 10 minutes each day reflecting on your emotional and energetic response to money. What came up today — guilt, pride, scarcity, shame, gratitude? Track the patterns.
2. Values-Based Budgeting
Instead of traditional budgeting, build your financial plan around your values. Allocate spending based on what nourishes you — not what impresses others.
3. Conscious Spending Pause
Before making any non-essential purchase, pause and ask: Is this a numbing habit or a nourishing investment?
4. Financial Honesty Check-In
Have a courageous conversation with someone close about your financial fears, desires, or goals. Let yourself be seen.
5. Define “Enough”
Write your own definition of “enough.” Financially. Emotionally. Energetically. Let it guide your decisions.
Journal Prompts
What did I learn about money growing up, and how is it still shaping me?
What am I afraid would happen if I had less money?
What does fulfillment look like for me, and how does money support — or interfere — with that vision?
Where am I out of integrity in my relationship with money?
What would it look like to be courageous with money this year?
Final Thoughts: Choosing Wealth That’s Real
Money matters. Let’s not pretend it doesn’t.
But what matters more is how we relate to it. How we use it. How we let it reflect who we are becoming.
Fulfillment doesn’t ask us to reject money. It asks us to redeem it. To reclaim it as a tool for truth, not a mask for fear.
It asks us to stop chasing numbers and start living values. To stop outsourcing our power and start embodying responsibility.
When we relate to money with courage and authenticity, we begin to build lives that are not only more meaningful but more whole. As a result wealth has the chance to become something we experience, not just something we possess.
And in that space, in that freedom, we might find something better than status. We might find peace. We might find purpose. We might find ourselves. Feels something worth trying to me.
