Image source: http://thefiftypluslife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/June2014_fin.jpg
This is one question that just about every client asks me!
Theres no single answer for any client; its a multi-faceted answer that includes practical strategies AND beliefs.
One giant influence on your income is your money mindset. I define your money mindset as the collection of beliefs you have around the meaning of money, including:
How much money you believe its possible for you to earn
How much money you believe its safe for you to earn, without creating any adverse consequences
How much money you believe you deserve
What having more money implies about you, i.e., can you be a good person and wealthy at the same time?
There are other aspects to your money mindset, which Ill cover in a future article.
YOUR specific collection of beliefs defines the amount of money YOU feel comfortable earning. When you make that amount, youre comfortable. You may be unhappy or feel its not enough, but you are COMFORTABLE with that amount. Its familiar; you know how it feels. Unconsciously, that discomfort will lead you to do something to shed the extra money and get it back down to your comfort setting.
Thats the power of your money mindset.
If you are underearning right now, then most likely your money mindset is part of the reason you are at your current income level. Underearning means youre working hard yet not receiving the results that match your effort.
The exciting fact is that you absolutely can expand your money mindset. This is completely under your control, once you become aware of it.
When you read the statements below, which ones have some emotional zing that touches your heart?
Money belief 1. Theres a limit on how much its possible for you to earn. I have heard more than one client say: Other women can earn 6-figures but I cant. This belief is coming from a place of: Im not as good or capable as others. Theres something not quite right about me, compared to others. This belief is false. Always.
Money belief 2. Theres a limit on how much its safe for you to earn, without creating any adverse consequences. Some common issues around safety and money:
Earning more money will be stressful and imperil my health. I might even die.
Id have to be seen as the powerful woman I am, in order to earn more. If I did that, people would truly see me. They might judge me or talk about me.
If I earn more than my family does, they would reject me.
Money belief 3. Theres a limit on how much you deserve. If you feel you dont deserve to be well-compensated, you wont be. This sometimes shows up as How can I charge people for doing what I love? This is so easy for me; why should I be paid for it?
Money belief 4. Your income implies something about you as a person. For many women who are either healers or have a deep religious/spiritual grounding, there is a lot of programming you inherit about how poor people are truer, or kinder, or closer to God, than rich people.
Did any of these money beliefs resonate with you? If so, they are one explanation of why you are earning the precise amount you have right now. They also show you a part of your mindset that needs to shift and expand, in order for you to earn more, grow your business, and move ahead.
Once you become aware of your money beliefs, you can start to see where they come from. Many of them are either ideas passed down in your family, or they relate to specific experiences youve had (or witnessed a loved one have) with money.
Then you create a new, more abundant belief deep inside you. You can shift your beliefs and expand your money mindset.
CALL TO ACTION
Which of the money beliefs 1-4 resonated with you? Its likely that you related to more than one.
Start examining those beliefs with an investigators analytic eye. Where did these come from? If you say these beliefs out loud, who do they sound like? What life events do they remind you of?
Create a new belief and get emotionally invested in it. For example, if your old money belief is I dont deserve to make 6-figures, start getting emotionally invested all the reasons why you do in fact deserve 6-figures. You can start by identifying the value you bring into your clients/team members lives and how their lives are affected by your work. What about the way you use your income? Do you hire an assistant, or a housekeeper, or support a charitable group? Those are all ways you use your 6-figure income to make the world a better place.
