Unit 7: Reality & Financial - Level 1

See before you fix. Honest looking precedes real change.

Lessons

The first step in addressing any problem is seeing it clearly. Avoidance, minimizing, catastrophizing, and dissociating all prevent actual seeing.

Seeing takes courage. At Level 1, you're not required to fix what you see - just see it. Looking is step 1. Doing something is a later step.

Gather your account information and calculate: total cash, total debt, net position. No judgment, no spiral, no fixing - just seeing.

The act of looking changes things, even if the numbers don't change. The not-knowing often felt worse than the knowing.

Money leaks through subscriptions you forgot, services you don't use, habits you don't notice. Review last month's statements for recurring charges.

The seeing itself changes behavior. Clear awareness makes action more natural. Apply honest looking everywhere, not just finances.