Book Review: The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist

The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist is not a personal finance book. It’s a book that will have you exploring your values, how you define money and how you use money.

Twist’s work stems from 4 decades of experience in fundraising to eradicate world hunger. She has travelled the world and has been deeply engaged in diverse cultures and ultimately learns that humans have commonalities in the way we relate to money, and how that relationship with money dominates and stresses our lives:

“I realized that everyone is a whole and complete person (they are not poor or rich) living in the ebb and flow of a world that values money more than it values life.”

On that note, it’s not a book about giving up your possessions and living on the bare minimum. It’s about connecting with what is most important to you and using your money to support your best life. When I read this book for the first time 6 years ago (I’ve read it 3 times since) I was literally transformed. Her book impacted me so profoundly that I have adopted Twist’s language as my own and I often forget that they were her words first!

The Soul of Money doesn’t talk about budgets, but approaches the relationship that people have with money from a values perspective. Knowing what your values are and living in complete alignment with them allows you to make decisions with money that no longer create stress or worry. Twist also teaches us to let go of that pesky thing called comparison.

When you use money to support your values money becomes a resource to you.

Who should read it?

Anyone who is struggling with money or who is worried about the lack of money in their lives can benefit from reading this book. If you feel stuck or powerless and like you will never have the money you need, you must read it.

If you only have time to read one chapter: We are living in a world of not enough. “This mantra of not enough carries the day and becomes a kind of default setting for our thinking about everything, from the cash in our pocket to the people we love or the value of our own lives. What begins as a simple expression of the hurried life, or even the challenged life, grows into the great justification for an unfulfilled life. It becomes the reason we can’t have what we want or be who we want to be. It becomes the reason we can’t accomplish our goals we set for ourselves, the reason our dreams can’t come true, or the reason other people disappoint us, the reason we compromise our integrity, give up on ourselves or write off others.” (from Chapter 3 Scarcity: The Great Lie.)

Yes, heavy stuff but in the context of this chapter and her 3 toxic myths of scarcity it is mind blowing in the best possible way.

If you only have time to read one paragraph: There are so many, but I’ll go with this one: “Lining money up with our soul, with our deepest dreams and highest aspirations, is the source of our prosperity, rather than simply having more of it to work with. Money used this way connects us to the whole of life, rather than money becoming an instrument that separates and fragments us from each other. That kind of prosperity is available to everyone, whether they are people with massive resources or people with moderate or fewer resources.” (from Chapter 12: Turning Tide)

If you only have time to read one sentence: “What you appreciate appreciates.” (from Chapter 6: What You Appreciate Appreciates)