What are your beliefs about money?
“Money doesn’t grow on trees!” Did you ever hear that growing up? It was one of my Dad’s favorite sayings. My parents were born during the depression era and were raised to keep a very tight rein on their money and to believe that if you worked hard, you could get by.
However, I think that we should aim higher than “getting by.” I think each of us has the ability to create everything that we want in our lives. In Robert Scheinfeld’s book, Busting Loose From the Money Game, he says that we create “illusions” in our life around money that are not real. I am knee deep into this book, and its complexity is a bit much for me, but I know that deep down I am the only thing getting in the way of my ultimate goals.
My own limits are the only thing holding me back.
What’s holding you back?
Robert Kiyosaki of Rich Dad Poor Dad says, “If you want to be rich, don’t allow yourself the luxury of excuses.”
Excuses hold us back. We create them out of fear and use them to legitimize, in our minds, why we will not take action. I cannot think of a better example of someone who embraced the quote from Kiyosaki than my community manager, Jen McDonough (aka The Iron Jen).
Jen was working a full-time job, with a 1-hour commute each way, when I met her as a coaching client in my Wealthy Speaker University. While raising four young kids, she and her husband paid off over $212K worth of debt and medical bills in just four years. What they did was nothing short of remarkable. However, that was not enough for Jen; she also committed to quitting her current job and creating a career for herself as a professional speaker. She set a 3-year timeline to make that happen and instead of making excuses, she took action to take all the right steps to ensure she had enough income to quit her job.
“In the beginning, I did not know where to start in making the leap from my full-time job to speaking full-time. Beyond learning how to build a brand, a message, and how to market, I still needed to get over my fear of getting up in front of people! In addition, careful consideration had to be spent on EVERY penny that went to trying to build my business as we were working several jobs to pay down a ton of debt and medical expenses. In my coaching calls with Jane, there were times I sat shivering my car in sub-zero weather without the heater on (so I could hear better) thinking SOMEDAY I will be doing what I love. SOMEDAY! Today, I look back on that 36-month journey and am so grateful for investing the time and effort into Jane’s program as it gave me the hope, accountability, and support to doing what I do today in helping people, families and communities grow strong WHILE supporting my family.”
At so many moments in her process, she could have made excuses, but she didn’t. She could have said, it’s too cold out to sit in my car and have my coaching call today, but she didn’t. By not allowing excuses, she removed any limitations that would hold her back from achieving her goal. Way to go Jen!
[Tweet “Eliminate excuses & you eliminate limitations on reaching #financial success! @janeatkinson”]
I am such a firm believer in the mental aspects of creating wealth. Here is a quick exercise that will allow you to map out your future success and move past any mental block and excuses:
-
Identify the Obstacles
What are the top 2 things getting in your way of creating all of the wealth that you want in your life? (i.e., my mindset, my family conversations, my job)
a.
b.
-
Tackle the Obstacles
For each of the obstacles outlined in step 1, come up with 3 ideas for moving past them. (i.e., opt out of negative family chatter about “lack”, map out an exit strategy, work on money mindset (books/audio/courses).
a. (Enter Obstacle a. from above here)
1.
2.
3.
b. (Enter Obstacle b. from above here)
1.
2.
3.
-
Envision Your Future
a. One year from now.
Map out your income and all that it brings for you. (Really go for it, don’t put any limits on yourself).
b. Five years from now.
What does building wealth do for you in your life, what does your life look like? Who benefits from your wealth?
(Click HERE to download the .pdf version of the exercise)
I hope this exercise helps you identify what is getting in your way from reaching your financial goals. For many of us, it is our own limiting beliefs. Through the identification of those limiting beliefs, you can work to change them. Let’s go!
See you soon Wealthy Speakers! (See why I sign off this way each time?)
P.S. Need more help? Check out my digital download, “Shifting Mindsets: Meditating Your Way to Wealthy” in the Speaker Launcher bookstore.
