Page 36 - Workbook2E

B Your Financial
Stress Management
Profile
Your financial and Stress Profile questionnaires help you identify personal and financial stressors, and teach you specific actions to manage the stressors in your life. You’ll identify your natural tendencies in several personal and financial areas of your life. It points out specific types of stress and suggests various techniques to help you achieve balance.
These questionnaires use a reductionist approach to dealing with stress management—it’s a method of breaking down an overall issue into separate, smaller parts. By analyzing stressors individually, you’ll get
a better overall view of your situation and how to deal with stressors separately or together.
The profile is made up of 14 thought-provoking stressors dealing with your attitudes toward money and handling your finances.
As you complete Your Financial Stress Profile, think about each question and select the answer that best describes your response to each situation. Treat each question as if it applied to you. Honest, thoughtful responses will provide you the most accurate profile of your financial stressors.
You may duplicate the questionnaire for your partner, but you need to take it separately. You and your partner may want to jointly discuss your profiles after you’ve scored them. This may help you better understand how stress and friction can result from conflicting attitudes about your financial matters.
Record your answers by circling the appropriate number across from each statement for the amount of pressure you would feel if you were in the situation: “None,” “Mild,” “Moderate,” and “Severe.” Then add up your subtotals and record the sum in the Total box; also check the appropriate box for your overall score for each stressor. To complete your profile, allow yourself at least 30 minutes of undisturbed time with as few distractions as possible.
There’s no perfect score. Don’t worry if some of your responses seem similar; while others seem in conflict. Once you’ve completed the entire profile, you’ll be ready to evaluate your responses.
32 Workbook 2: Improve Your Financial Life