“If You Can’t Count It, You Can’t Keep It. And If You Can’t Plan It, You Can’t Multiply It.”
- Jun 21
- 6 min read
SHIFT Pillar: Save Your Money
🪙 Lesson 1: Financial Literacy & Economic Planning
🧭 Welcome to the Lesson
Enterprisers, supporters, and to the entire SHIFTverse... welcome to a transformational moment.
In this lesson, we reclaim our right to understand, organize, and grow our money. From the market stalls of our ancestors to the blockchain systems of today, let's ride.
At SHIFT, we believe that money is not just a currency, it’s a reflection of clarity.
And clarity is the first act of freedom.
You may choose to Listen and Follow along with this mini lesson
This is not some random lesson in budgeting.
This is about remembering that YOU ARE THE BANK, YOU are the ecosystem, and YOU are the economy.
That's beyond comprehension for some of us, but by the end of this mini lesson, I want you to at least begin rethinking your position within our societies structure.
🎯 Get focused. Put your phone on DND.
Here are your Lesson Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you will be on your way to:
Tracking income, expenses, and cash flow clearly and consistently
Creating a basic personal and/or business budget
Understanding and interrupt scarcity-based money habits
Beginning short-term economic planning with a sacred, long-term lens
Recognizing money as both a spiritual and strategic tool
Remember, at SHIFT it's about consistent effort. The pyramids were not built in one day and neither will your transformation from where you are now to where you want to be.
Remember that.
📘 SHIFT Teachings: The Codex Applied
These four consideration are something I have personally had to fight with and still do to an extent. Our programming runs so deep. It's decades old in many instances, so to be able to design and structure a new program from the inside out, it takes a great deal of clarity.
Here are is the core SHIFT codex on financial literacy and economic planning:
1 We believe “Wealth starts within.”
Financial clarity begins in the mind. You don’t have a money problem, you likely have a vision and pattern problem. We fix that here.
2 We acknowledge “Economy as Ecosystem.”
What you spend, save, invest, or give ripples outward. That $10 spent on a local vendor or on a family member creates motion. This is not about hoarding, it’s about sacred circulation.
3 We know “Budgeting is not punishment. Budgeting is boundaries.”
Moreover, Budgeting is a bold statement of self-worth. It says: My goals matter. My values are worth protecting. My freedom is worth planning for.
4 “Don’t just survive scarcity: deprogram it.”
We’ve inherited false stories about money. From colonized economies to survival mode mentalities, we’ve been taught to fear money or misuse it.
SHIFT teaches: fear and freedom can not cohabitate.
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What is a Codex?
Codex is a Latin word used to mean "book of laws," although it literally means "tree trunk." By working definitions of codex is a noun and can be described as a collection of beliefs and values that inform your decisions and life. It is a living document; meaning as your understanding changes, so might your beliefs. Codex.
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🧠 Let's Go Deeper into Core Concepts & Teaching of our Codex
1. You Gotta Know YOUR Flow
This is what I mean by flow...
Income: What comes in
Fixed expenses: What must go out monthly (rent, loan, etc.)
Variable expenses: Flexible spending (food, leisure, transport)
Cash flow: The difference between what you earn and what you keep
SHIFT Insight: Every dollar has a direction. If you don’t give it one, the world will.
Even if your flow fluxuates week to week and month to month, you still must at bare minimum keep and maintain an ideal flow that is written down.
2. Budget as Spiritual Practice
Budgeting is how we train money to obey purpose.
We recommend starting with the 40/30/20/10 model:
40% of your flow is reserved for Fixed Expenses
30% of your flow is set aside for Variable/Discretionary spending
20% of your flow goes into Investments/Savings
10% is for Giving & Circulation
SHIFT Wisdom: Wealth is not what you have. It’s what you keep, and how you flow it.
3. Break the Scarcity Spell
Scarcity isn’t just economic, it’s psychological.
This lesson challenges you to:
Observe your money emotions
(Some money emotions include: fear, shame, guilt, pride)
Ask yourself, “Where did I learn this?”
And then Decide to choose clarity over chaos
SHIFT Reframe: Saving isn’t just security. Saving is it’s alignment.
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This is where many of us need to really sit. We need to become intentional in everyway about breaking the scarcity spell. I personally have dealt with this all my adult life. There was a time when I just could not shake my faulty money emotions. It took deep work, reflection, and general awareness about the voices in my head as well as what I consume and choose to belief. Overtime I began to chisel away and reprogram my mind and behavior about money.
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4. Sacred Economics
Long before banks and budgets, we had value systems.
This section briefly explores:
Indigenous wealth systems (cowry shells, land, relationships)
The shift to fiat currency and centralized banks
The current wave of decentralized tools (crypto, DeFi, cooperative banking)
SHIFT Reflection: We don’t save just for safety. We save because our ancestors prayed for our sovereignty.
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What was the use of cowrie shells as money?
Because the shells were small, portable, and durable, they served as excellent currency and were almost impossible to counterfeit, appearing in standard weights.
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🌀 Reflection Prompt
🧠 “What would your ancestors do with your monthly income?”
Would they:
Start a business?
Feed 10 families?
Build a home?
Hide it under a mat?
Or plant it into the community for generational returns?
Use this question to realign your relationship with your money, not just for you, but for them.
📝 Worksheets & Practice
1. Monthly Budget Tracker Track your:
Monthly income (multiple streams if possible)
Fixed and variable expenses
Savings and investments
Emotional reactions to each spending category
2. Dream Expense Map Imagine: You earn $10,000/month. How would you divide it? Break down your dream spending categories and identify the values behind them.
3. The Economic Wheel Create three circles or columns:
Wants (pleasure, comfort)
Needs (shelter, food, safety)
Investments (education, business, health, tools)
This helps you see not just what you spend, but why.
💬 Closing Words
Money is not just math. It’s meaning.
When we understand it, we reclaim power.
When we plan it, we protect our purpose.
When we multiply it, we become portals of provision.
Not just for ourselves, but for our tribe.
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Take the SHIFT Critical Thinking Assessment for this lesson
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You Challenge for The Next Seven Days
Write your Money Mission Statement.
Declare in 3–5 sentences what role money will play in your life from now on, how you will treat it, and how it will serve your vision.
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🎭 Memorable Engagement Activities
For Live Sessions (In-Person/Virtual)
“Ancestral Money Story Circle” – Participants share a money belief passed down in their family and reframe it using SHIFT principles.
(This approach Builds emotional connection & collective healing.)
“Budget Roleplay” – Small groups design budgets for fictional characters (e.g., a single parent, an entrepreneur, a recent grad) using the 40/30/20/10 model. (This path Teaches empathy + practical skills.)
For Digital/Self-Paced Learners
“Money Emotion Journal” – Daily prompts tracking emotional responses to spending/saving. (By doing this you Deepen self-awareness for solo reflection.)
“Dream Economy Simulation” – Learners allocate $10,000/month in a virtual dashboard, then write a reflection on their choices.
(This Gamifies financial visioning in a relatable way.)
Hybrid Option
“SHIFT Coin Challenge” – For one week, participants track every expense while assigning a “value” (e.g., joy, necessity, waste) to each. Share insights in a forum or live debrief.
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🏁 Next Up
Lesson 2: Understanding Supply and Demand – We’ll dive into what really moves markets, how to analyze opportunity, and how to position your skills and services to meet real need.
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Let us hear your feedback on this mini lesson
About the Organization
SHIFT Enterprise Academy is where purpose meets profit. We equip entrepreneurs, creatives, and leaders with practical tools and inner wisdom to build sustainable businesses and generational wealth.
From real estate to personal growth, SHIFT is more than a program—it’s a mindset, a movement, and a mission to create change from the inside out.
About the Teacher
Ethan Brisby is a visionary educator and entrepreneur who teaches from lived experience, not just theory. After building SHIFT from scratch and navigating real financial highs and lows, he now helps others unlock true wealth from within.
His approach blends business sense, ancestral wisdom, and spiritual clarity to guide purpose-driven leaders into alignment and legacy.
Part of our mission is to empower leaders with accessible wisdom. Your contribution fuels this work, keeping our lessons free and available for all Enterprisers. Thank you.
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