If you’ve been in the personal or professional development space for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard that mastering the right mindset is essential for you to make more money. And the interesting thing about money mindset work is that you get to keep upleveling at every stage of life or your business/career.
(Notice that I said “get to” not “have to”.)
Take money uplevels in business for example…
Currently, I’m looking to hit the next financial level, and a lot of what I’m doing to get there involves me stepping up to be the woman who’s already made it happen.
So today, I thought I’d offer my thoughts about exactly why you need to get in alignment with your goals in this way, as well as share with you the journal prompts that will help you to achieve it.
But first—take a look at some of the top things I hear from driven women who are blocking themselves from making more money:
“Deep down, I don’t feel worthy or deserving of the money I want to make.”
“I sometimes feel like my success was a fluke—a case of right place, right time, and that one day it’s going to come crashing down”.
“I feel like I can never make enough money, and when cash does come in, I’m constantly anxious and expecting it to dry up.”
Have you ever had any of these thoughts or similar? If you have, you’re certainly not alone, but it’s time to recognize that thoughts such as these keep you playing small and stop you from ever receiving the level of income you deeply desire.
Good news! There is a solution…
It’s great to have big visions but you also need to understand what it’s going to take for you to actually get there and what changes you get to make to the way you are showing up. The only way in which you can combat these negative thoughts is to start embodying the next-level version of the woman you want to be.
Everyone reading this post will have different goals for this year, but the concept still stands. Even if your goals are more focused on health or pleasure, or reconnecting with your partner… the chances are that with more money in the bank, you will be able to devote more time and energy to those things.
For some people, money is not a motivating factor, and what drives them is impact, freedom or something else.
My husband James, for example, isn’t really motivated by money; he’s motivated by freedom (specifically, how often can he go hiking and be outdoors)… but in order to be able to do that he needs to be able to buy the best hiking gear, pay for the flight and accommodation, hire someone to support him when he’s offline etc. which requires money.
As you know, I’m obsessed with money and personally, it one of the things that drives me because it creates freedom.
But anyone who’s ever worked with me closely knows that I’d much rather you be deeply, truly happy than us just focus on making money for money’s sake. If that doesn’t fuel you, or if that’s not what the next chapter is about—bear with me, because the embodiment exercise I’m about to share will truly help you too.
So think about what that is for you. Maybe it’s more time with your kids, maybe it’s working less. Whatever it is, know that you get to choose.
But also know that once you do choose, you have to go all-in.
What Resonates Energetically for You
The thing about setting a financial goal is that sometimes the numbers don’t resonate energetically—in fact, some people can’t feel the difference between $100K and $1M. Either that or they think of it as such a ‘crazy’ number that it feels unfathomable.
Whenever I’m setting a money goal, and it doesn’t feel grounded, my solution is to write out what is included in that amount. So for example, if your goal is a million—what does that mean for you? Does that mean you get to buy a different house? Does that mean that you get to have freedom in your investments?
Practice giving money a purpose
Recently, I was reading an article on People.com about Kelly Clarkson’s ex-husband and how he was trying to get over $400K a month from her in spousal support. I found myself questioning “What could he possibly need $400K a month for?”. I started judging him and feeling lots of negative energy around the subject… so I knew I had to work through it.
I decided to write down on paper what it would look like if I was living a life where I was earning $400K a month. First, I wrote out top-level desires that were really exciting to me—and it actually worked out totalling at $539K!
So not only did this exercise help me release my judgment, it also helped me get grounded in the reality that for me to live my fully expressed life, achieve all of the things that I want to, and have all of the personal support that I need to be able to do that, I would need even more money than I had previously thought. I would need $6M each year. (And there are plenty of people in the world making $6M per year—why not me?) By the way, my friend Jadah Sellner calls this your “enough number” and we talk about it on the podcast episode here.
Often when we’re setting financial goals, we often throw out these numbers, but we don’t put itemized amounts to them so it really doesn’t land. I liken this to our bodies when they have a disease or, for example, a splinter. Because it doesn’t recognize this foreign object, it tries to push it out. That’s why in order for you to live the life that you’re dreaming of, you really need to get connected to exactly what it would look like for you—and that means giving every last dollar a purpose.
If you’re feeling like it’s hard to understand what the amount means, then it’s going to be really hard to allow that kind of money to come into your life—because there’s a disconnect.
Oftentimes what it comes down to is that we don’t feel worthy of the next level, and so we make choices that cause us to dim our light.
And I know I’m not the only one who’s experienced this…
Metaphorically Step Into the Dress
Let me tell you a story I really love about Regena Thomashauer, bestselling author of Pussy, about when she first created The School of Womanly Arts.
She decided to start hosting events at the school which was held in her brownstone in New York City. And around this time, she’d created an extravagant alter-ego for herself, Mama Gena.
When she was thinking about embodying this character of Mama Gena, she was thinking about “what would Mama Gena do?”… and she realized that one of the ways in which she could help herself to get into character was to have a portrait of herself painted that she could hang in the school within her house.
So her first step was to hire an artist to paint this portrait for her. Her second step was to find an outfit that was fitting for this fully expressed embodiment of herself. So she went to a store with one of her friends and found the perfect dress, but when she turned over the price tag, she saw it was $6K. In that moment, her heart sank as she thought “How can I possibly buy a 6 thousand-dollar dress?”. She decided, after her friend explained to her, that she could buy the dress and return it after she had sat for the painting—proving that it was in perfect condition. So she took the dress, and on the day of the portrait, she wore tissue under her armpits to ensure that she didn’t sweat on it.
After sitting for 3 hours, she got up to look at the progress the artist had made so far—to find that the only thing that had been painted in that time was a small portion of her face! It was then she realized that she was going to have to hold onto this dress (and wear it!) for a lot longer than she had initially intended, so she called her partner and had a conversation with him.
And what he said to her was truly remarkable:
“Regena, you are not taking the dress back. You are going to step into the dress. You are going to buy shoes for the dress, earrings for the dress, hose and gorgeous lingerie. Next time you go for a sitting, you’re going to take a car service downtown, wearing the dress, and you’re going to learn how to get in and out of the car in the gown. Let the dress teach you how to be Mama Gena. Let the dress take you and introduce you to what you want to become.”
I love this example so much, because it’s all about going all-in with our desires and the things we want; whether it’s the dress, or the support around the house, or something else. It’s never about the money or the things, it’s about who we become in the process.
This story reminds me of another one…when James and I decided—literally within 72 hours—to buy a random plot of land in Austin, Texas, after having never been there before. Because in doing that we were aiding our expansion into the next-level version of ourselves. It helped us get more creative with how we brought in money. It helped us understand the next level of investment that preps us for the next level in our business.
You’ve probably heard me say before something along the lines of “if it’s in your heart, you’re meant to start” or “your desires are your destiny”, and it’s true… because all of these things that you want are there to help you step into the next level of yourself and your life. And that includes the money you need to make in order to attain these things.
It’s important to note that my above example isn’t a freak occurrence. I can think of numerous times in my life where I’ve taken action based on a gut feeling, and not really known why I was doing it—yet it’s turned out to be one of the best things I’ve ever done. I moved to London based on a feeling, and met James while I was there. I started my first business randomly, and look how that turned out. I’m sure you’ve had times like that too.
Now, for the journal prompts…
With the above stories in mind, I want you to really think about the year to come, and below I’m going to give you a series of questions to answer that will help you identify what it looks like to go all-in, specifically for you.
There is no right or wrong here, as each individual will have different goals. For some of you it’s literally creating a whole other business, for others, it’s more time off. Whatever it is, you’re going to need money to help you achieve it. So I’ve set the benchmark at $20M—as that is my goal.
Upon hearing that, I’m sure some people reading this will have internally gasped, but that’s why I think this is a really great exercise for everyone to do, because when you’re embodying $20M dollar earner, the possibilities that become open to you are nothing short of incredible.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t make that amount next year. All that matters is that you’re becoming the person that will, because then you’re guaranteed to make more than you did the year before.
Ok—let’s jump in:
(Note: If you’re not a business owner, replace these prompts with your own verbiage.)
- If my business had just closed this year at $20M, how would I be feeling?
- If my business had just closed this year at $20M, what would I be planning for the year to come?
- If my business had just closed this year at $20M, who would I be hiring?
- If my business had just closed this year at $20M, what would I be selling?
- If my business had just closed this year at $20M, what would I be saying yes/no to?
- If my business had just closed this year at $20M, how would I be taking care of my health?
- If my business had just closed this year at $20M, what trips would I be planning?
- If my business had just closed this year at $20M, what food would I be eating?
You get the idea…
What’s really interesting with these journal prompts is that they allow you to pinpoint where your actions right now are not in alignment with the person you want to become—and therefore, where you are blocking yourself.
For example, if you want more time off, and are working 18 hours a day, you’re training your mind to believe that that’s the only way.
If you’re saying you want support, yet on a regular basis find yourself saying “I can’t afford to pay anyone” or “no one can do it like I can do it”, you’re setting yourself up to believe that you need to do everything yourself.
The Realization You’ll Have
What you’ll find is that a lot of the things you would do, you could do today—even before all of the money is in the bank.
I’ve asked these questions in workshops before, and have had many more people say things like “I’d hire a team to take care X, Y and Z” than I have had saying things like “I’d head straight to Tiffany’s to buy diamonds”. I’ve also had people say that they’d “hire the cleaner” or “buy groceries at Whole Foods”.
This is why this is such a powerful exercise, because we all have days where we feel like things aren’t happening, but we rarely question whether we are acting in alignment with what we want to happen.
Take for example, you’re running a program and spaces aren’t filling up. The most powerful question you can ask yourself is “If this program was already sold out, how would I be showing up today?”. By getting clear on how you would be operating and the mindset that would be driving those actions, you get to decide who to be in those moments. And you can apply it to everything…
I often ask myself “If I was a $20M business owner, would I be wearing this outfit? Would I be taking this vacation? Would I be eating this food?”. It’s not about me going out and spending millions of dollars, because most of the tweaks are so simple and so small, yet making the changes will get me out of stagnation and help me move forward to where I want to be.
I really hope these journal prompts help you to make a huge shift in your mindset and allow you to start embodying the woman you want to become. And they don’t always require you spending a lot of money today, but, rather, shifting your energy and how you carry yourself.
I advise spending some time on these before you get further into the year so you can end it feeling like a whole new you. The you who’s ready to step into her next level and hit (or exceed) her next financial goal!
