Dr. Judith Briles

Summing Up … So, What Are Your Fears?

Everyone has at least one.  It’s time to confront your deepest financial fear and get them in the open.  Whether it’s the fear of the soup kitchen or of making a mistake that is financially catastrophic, you can become inhibited from taking action. 

Identify them.  Write them down.  Just the mere fact that they are on paper opens the door for you to commit and confront them head-on. Ask yourself,

• Are my fears realistic in today’s environment?
• Are they relevant to what I currently do?
• Do they hinder me from moving on?
• Are they life threatening (to my spouse, partner, kids or job,

          friends, me)?

There will always be some type of fear.  Cartoon character Pogo said it best, “I have seen the enemy and the enemy is us.”  By bringing up your awareness level, identifying which fears influence your money decisions, you will achieve the first level of having money smarts.

Over the next several weeks, I’ll continue to post the top fear factors for today … to overcome your fear, and get back on track, get your copy of Money Smarts for Turbulent Times by Judith Briles–available in paper and ebook format.

“Your style of speaking really held the audience’s attention. The evaluations were excellent–thank you for presenting a great conference for the dental professionals in South Dakota!”

Harold Doerr, DDS, Conference Chair
Black Hills Dental Society

“Kudos for a job well done.  I’ve heard nothing but wonderful comments for your sessions at our Leadership Conference.”

Joyce Kolligian
SIMMONS Graduate School of Management 

“Thank you so much for speaking at our conference. Reviews have been nothing but excellent! I look forward to working with you in the future.”

Yvonne M. Torres, Executive Assistant
Florida Organization of Nurse Executives, Orlando, FL

#2 Money Fear … The Fear of Losing Money

At some point, everyone loses money.  It can be from a bad investment, misplacing moneys, inflation erosion, failure to act or make a decision on your investments, making the wrong decision, losing a job or other resource of funds.  It happens.

One advantage that many men have over women deals with attitude—women are more likely to be fearful of not being able to “make up” lost money; men more often believe that they can make it up/replace it the next go around.  All is lost, it’s part of the “game.”

Over the next several weeks, I’ll continue to post the top fear factors for today … to overcome your fear, and get back on track, get your copy of Money Smarts for Turbulent Times by Judith Briles–available in paper and ebook format.

“Your willingness to present programs from early morning till late at night to cover all of our shifts was unbelievable. Comments from our staff included, “Practical” “Down to Earth”, “Immediately useful”, “Fun!” I’m going to recommend that you come back to do a program for our management team.”

Beverly Livesay, Director of Nursing
St. Joseph’s Hospital

“Our members love you. We will have you back again, and again.”

Paula Szyper, Assist Director
Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development

“Your incredibly popular platform presentation and break-out sessions at our Annual Congress were a spectacular success among our attendees. Feedback has been unanimously superlative, citing your humor, the poignancy of the personal experiences you shared and the inspiration you provided. From the “cosmic goose” to your tips on turning chaos into confidence, you gave each and every individual in the audience a substantial leg up when it comes to self-esteem and dealing with all that life deals us.”

Dan Maddux, Executive Director
American Payroll Association

“Participants stopped me all week long to express how much they liked and learned from your presentations. Without a doubt, they were both rousing hits!”

Sarah C. Smith, Annual Meeting Director
American Society of Ophthalmic Registered Nurses

“Our leadership day was perfect! Your presentation inspired, motivated and gave our nurses the tools they needed.”

Pam Hanna, Education Director
Central Washington Hospital

“You were outstanding!”

Ryan Carrilo, Assistant Director of Student Affairs
Kansas University Medical Center

“Both your sessions were huge success. Our participants thought you were motivational, inspirational, dynamic and entertaining.”

Sharon Greene, Operating Room Nurses
National ORNAC Conference, Canada

“Your presence contributed to a successful meeting with excellent presentations and motivational content at the ALANA Fall Meeting.

The evaluations on your topics were all very positive. Everyone seemed to enjoy the dynamic presentation of all, and felt the information presented was professionally relevant.”

Ronnie Whorton, Executive Director
AL Association of Nurse Anesthetists

“Once again your evaluations were outstanding. We look forward to having you present again at next year’s congress.”

Karyn Cousart, Director
Nurse Management Congress

“You were our highest rated speaker at our recent annual meeting. Our members said, “Bring her back! Thank you for being so easy to work with.”

Linda Matheson, Chair
Illinois Nurse’s Association

“Without a doubt, your presentation was one of the best at our conference. Our members said, ‘This speaker is excellent!’”

Alexandra Gekas, Executive Director
National Society for Patient Representation and Consumer Affairs

“You were the perfect keynote for our Annual Congress. Your energy, knowledge, enthusiasm and humor were talked about the entire week.”

Julie Painter, Program Chair
Oncology Nursing Society

#6 The Fear of Creating and Sticking to a Plan

Twenty-five percent of the American population believes that they will fund their retirement years by winning the Lottery!  Fat chance. 

Your best bet is to create a plan.  Put it in writing for easier tracking.  Financial plans are guide tools that start you on a path that will lead you to your stated money goals.  They are not, though, set in granite.  Times and circumstances change.  So do investments and opportunities.  That means that you don’t create and stick it in the drawer.  Your plan should be reviewed annually.  It should be flexible.  Life changes. You change.

Over the next several weeks, I’ll continue to post the top fear factors for today … to overcome your fear, and get back on track, get your copy of Money Smarts for Turbulent Times by Judith Briles–available in paper and ebook format.

“I have heard nothing but favorable comments. I will gladly recommend you to other Fernley & Fernley-managed associations.”

Kenneth R. Hutton, EVP
National Association of Aluminum Distributors

“Your course evaluations at the Kentucky Association of Nurse Anesthetists were very favorable and the verbal comments I received were just as flattering. Zapping Conflict in the Health Care Workplace was a great success.

I will recommend you to our other state meetings in the near future.”

Bernie Kuzava, President
IPGE

“The all-day workshop we had with you and our ‘extended’ Women’s Leadership Team was so very helpful to all the new charge nurses…they use the material and tips on a daily basis…..and dysfunction is starting to turn into function- especially in our most difficult unit, where it is amazing that the clear and consistent expectations of accountability and professional/respectful communication has resulted in the resignations of 7 ‘resident toads’ in the past 6 weeks (expert clinically, been here for 20+ years, but so negative and rude).

Wow, this is scary, but those people really needed to go and we’ll be better off!’- soooo cool.”

Cheryl Purvis, Director of Surgical Services
Legacy Health System

“Zapping Conflict in the Workplace was insightful, informative and creative. Our leadership team loved the pre-conference program that you presented.”

Debi Maines, Conference Planner
Wound Ostomy Nurses

“Nurses week will never be the same! Our entire staff has not laughed so hard and learned so much in the many programs that you presented over the two days. We loved working with you.”

Jane Stewart, Director of Education
Pocono Medical Center

“Your presentation was OUTSTANDING! Money is such an important subject in this day and time and you made it seem not so confusing and easier to understand. Our Lifestyle Program was a huge success and you made that happen.”

Terri K. Carter
National Automobile Dealers Association

“Everything was AWESOME!!!! Lots and lots of positive feedback!!!!! My Directors are really talking!!!!! They loved the Script!!!!! Thanks for a GREAT day!”

Linda Brown
Unity Health Center, OK

“Your evaluations at this year’s Nurse Manager Update! were excellent. Our attendees loved your humor and practical information that they could immediately use. How about doing an all-day pre-conference next year?”

Leslie Brock, VP
National Professional Education Institute

“Useful? Everything! Thank you Judith, you were excellent. We will definitely have you back.”

Susan Fenner, Executive Director
International Association Administrative Professionals

“We received overwhelmingly positive response to Judith’s presentation, and talk about the “unwritten rules” continues in several departments this week. We will use the feedback generated by her presentation to develop action plans around our customer service initiative being implemented this fall.

Thank you again for your help in making this event meaningful and successful!” 

Virginia Lundquist RN MS, Staff Development Director
Willamette Falls Hospital

“You did an excellent job at our executive management retreat. I’d highly recommend you to other hospital management teams.”

Ray Montgomery, President/CEO
White County Medical Center

“You had our members buzzing all week after your fabulous keynote that set the perfect tone for our annual meeting. We definitely want to work with you again.”

Charice McGoon, Conference Planner
National Conference on Nursing Skills Laboratories

“Thank you for your lively and educational keynote at our 40th Annual National Convention. We loved you so much in 1989. . .we’ve brought you back three times since!”

Diane Grayson, Meeting Planner
National Association Women in Construction

Judith is an outstanding presenter. She always has current, relevant information that fits her topic and her audience. She has the skills to keep her attendees focused on her message and also actively engages them. She incorporates humor into serious subject matter and includes stories to get her points across. The Snowmass Institute, which runs a nationally recognized women’s health conference, has invited Judith back again and again as faculty because she receives top evaluation scores and positive written comments–all 10s!

Peggy Ireland
Snowmass Institute

“Thanks so much for coming to share at our Nurses Week. Great stuff, and very timely! I appreciate the overview regarding roles and conflicts in healthcare and look forward to reading more of your work.”

Rev. Mark Bekkedahl, V.P. Mission Integration
Holy Rosary Medical Center
Mercy Medical Center

“Pit Bulls with Lipstick was one of the most highly talked about programs that has been presented during nurses week, and our nurses loved it!”

Hazel Wood, Director of Education
St. Vincent’s Hospital

“You were timely, informative and very useful to our participants work and personal lives. Both your keynote and workshop were overwhelming well received.”

Cynthia M. Snyder, Chair
Electrical Women’s Round Table