339: Moneyzen—Leaving the Cult of More with Manisha Thakor

“To live a rich, joyful, and connected life . . . achieve less.” That’s the counterintuitive path to MoneyZen that this week’s guest Manisha Thakor shares.

For the first half of her life, money represented a scorecard of self-worth and a sense of safety. She says, “For a long time, the equation I operated on was net worth = self worth (which has no end in sight).”

Even with abundant salaries from her financial services roles, Manisha fell into The Cult of Never Enough, often displayed in “the peacock feathers of possessions.” Listen to learn more about the powerful shifts she made toward joy-based spending instead.

More About Manisha: Manisha Thakor is the author of MoneyZen: The Secret to Finding Your "Enough” and has worked in financial services for over thirty years, helping individuals of all ages to balance financial health and emotional wealth.

🌟 3 Key Takeaways

• Societal forces are constantly telling us we should earn more, so we can buy more, in order to be more, “the peacock feathers of possessions”
• Buy few, but buy the best you can afford at that time
• MoneyZen (calm, confidence, clarity) = Financial Health + Emotional Wealth

✅ Try This Next

Try joy-based spending. Take a piece of paper, and every time you spend money, write down the item and the amount. At the end of the week or month, highlight anything you spent money on that didn’t bring you joy, what Manisha calls money leaks. Bonus: Every day, eliminate one thing you no longer need from your life (either clutter around the house or even obligations or meetings you no longer want to keep).

🔗 Resources Mentioned

• Manisha on the web, IG: @manishathakor, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook
• Quiz: Are You Trapped in The Cult of Never Enough?
• Articles: What If You Already Have Enough Money? (The Cut), How Your Money Mindset Can Lead to Burnout at Work (Forbes), Stop Lying To Yourself About Why You Work So Much (Fast Company)

📚 Books Mentioned

• MoneyZen: The Secret to Finding Your "Enough” by Manisha Thackor
• Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez
• Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business
• Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One
• Life After College

🎧 Related Episodes

• Pivot: 338: Is Midlife Messing with Your Enoughness? with Mandy Lehto
• Free Time: 028: When the Financial Tides Recede

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