The most intelligent people I ever met were hiding something.

You'd only catch it if you looked down.

When I was 26, I worked at Goldman Sachs, an investment bank, in the City of London.

Everyone wore the same thing. Immaculate suits, tailored dresses, polished shoes. All navy, black, grey.

Coming from Spain, where we dress colourful and expressive, I couldn't get my head around it.

"How does anyone survive this?" I'd think. "Clothes as grim as the weather."

Then one morning, I looked down.

Under a sharp navy suit and black shoes: neon yellow socks.

The next week, neon pink on someone else. Then green. A flash of colour where no serious person was supposed to have any.

At first I thought it was an inside joke.

It wasn't.

In an industry where your clothes are supposed to signal trust, credibility and compliance, the socks were saying something else entirely:

"I'm still in here. I'm more than the suit."

I call it the Neon Sock Theory.

And I think we all wear a version of it. Especially with our money.

Here's what I mean.

Money has a uniform too.

Save. Live below your means. Look responsible. Do what you're supposed to do, and everyone nods approvingly.

Your neon socks are the part underneath.

The one money decision that's actually you. The goal you quietly buried. The thing you'd love to spend on without the guilt. The future you'd build toward if you stopped asking what you're supposed to want.

Not reckless. Just yours.

And here's the part I watch trip up almost every high-achiever I work with:

Your money starts to look impeccable.

Responsible. Sensible. Impressive on paper.

And completely impersonal.

It passes every test society sets for it, and says nothing about who you actually are.

So this week, I'll leave you with one question. Sit with it, then hit reply and tell me:

What are your neon socks?

Under all the armour, under the "sensible," what's the money decision that would actually feel like you?

I'm Sanam. I spent nearly a decade Banking across London and Singapore, and left to teach people how to build a money system they can actually run, without the shame.

In my 1:1 programme, we don't stop at the socks. We build the whole outfit.

Details are right below if you'd like to see how.

Wear the socks,
​Sanam