Why people avoid money-talk

We are complex organisms, and we like to think we have free will, but we are sometimes hamstrung by our biological processes.  The brain can be divided into four interconnected areas:

  1. brainstem,
  2. diencephalon,
  3. limbic and
  4. cortex.

The structural and functional complexity increases from the lower, simpler areas of the brainstem up to the cortex.  The cortex mediates the most uniquely human functions such as speech and language, abstract cognition and the capacity to reflect on the past and therefore the future.

The brainstem looks after regulatory functions such as temperature, breathing, and heart rate.  Input from our senses – vision, hearing, touch smell, taste – first comes into our brain in the lower areas.  None of our sensory inputs goes directly to the cortex; everything first connects with the lower parts of the brain.  When the input arrives, your brain matches it against any previously stored experiences, then when the information finally gets up to the cortex, it can figure out what’s really going on.

But one of the first things that happens when you activate the stress response is that the systems in the higher parts of the brain, including our ability to “tell time”, get shut down.

So when I’m talking to you about death, or losing your ability to function normally, your lower brain automatically matches what I’m saying, to death. Not future death, but your experiences with death – which is never nice or fun. On goes the stress response – off goes any logical thought about protecting your family.

That’s why I put a lot of effort into making you feel comfortable and safe when talking with me about this kind of stuff – no rush, or pushy sales tactics over here.  I provide advice, which you can digest when you’re able to access that logical part of your thinking, at a time that’s safe for you.  I think we’ve done such a good job of this, that most of our clients are now friends.  If you want to experience how we do things differently here, book in a time to chat to me, and let’s get life sorted.

By Carley Ellis