The signs your money mindset sucks

Your money mindset is how you think about money and your beliefs about money. The reason why it’s so important is because what you think about money has a direct effect on your ability to earn and hold onto it. And this is really important, especially for small business owners. So in today’s episode, I’m going to have a chat to you about some of the signs that your money mindset sucks and that it needs some help. And don’t worry, I’ll also be sharing with you some tips of how you can work on your money mindset.

Your money mindset is your thoughts and beliefs about money. Now, our beliefs about money have come from all kinds of places. Maybe they came from your childhood where you were told we can’t afford that. Or maybe they came from experiences throughout your life. Maybe you’ve had a client who said to you, you are too expensive and it’s stuck with you deep in your subconscious. The reason why it’s really important to understand what your money mindset is, and if it’s not great then to work on improving it is because what you are subconsciously believing is playing out into your reality. So if you want to change things in your life, whether it’s the financial success in your business or creating more and time and opportunities to do fun things in your life, it all comes back to your mindset.

So what I want to chat about today is some signs that your money mindset needs some work.

Sign #1 – You freak out when things don’t go well in business

The first sign that your money mindset needs some work is that you completely freak out when things aren’t going well in business. Maybe you are having a slow month, maybe you’ve lost a couple of clients. How do you respond when things aren’t going well? When you aren’t hitting the financial targets that you set for yourself? What is your response when things are challenging for you as a business owner?

Now, something that used to happen for me in my early days of business was that something would happen and my thoughts would spiral. So if a client left, I would think, oh my gosh, my client’s leaving, all my clients are going to leave. My business is going to go under. I’m going to have to go back and get another accounting job.

So see how I took one little thing and made it mean a whole completely different other thing? Now, if that sounds familiar to you, that’s a pretty strong sign that you need to do some work on your mindset because what you are able to do when you have a strong money mindset is you are able to isolate what is actually going on from taking it to a whole other different extreme. So that can be one sign that maybe your money mindset needs a bit of work. Another surefire sign that you need to work on your money mindset is that you set yourself low goals. I’ve been a money mentor for seven and a half years now. My gosh, the time actually has gone fast. And when I sit down with a new client or a new student to set their goals, often I find that people are scared to get really ambitious and big with the targets that they’re setting for themselves. They’ll think I’ll just set a nice sensible improvement in my profitability from where I’m currently at. Now, the reason why this is an indicator that you don’t have a strong money mindset is because there’s often stories that sit behind the reason why people won’t set big, sexy, terrifying goals.

And let me share with you some of the words that people have said to me. Other people are wealthy, not me. Another person said, I’m scared to set big goals for myself. Someone else said, I’m worried that I’ll fail. Someone else said, I’m worried that I might actually hit my goals and then it will all get taken away from me. Someone else said to me, I want to be rich, I just don’t know how. And someone else shared, I find it hard to connect with big financial goals because I don’t think it’s possible for me.

So the reason why people won’t allow themselves to set big goals and have big dreams is because of all of these fears and limiting beliefs that are coming up. When you start to work on your money mindset, you start to realise that anything is possible for you and you start to set yourself bigger and scarier goals. Even if you don’t know how you’re going to get there yet you get excited about knowing that you can and you will get there in time.

Sign #2 – You have fears around investing

Another way that money mindset blocks can rear their ugly heads is in the form of a fear of investing. If you want to change your business, if you want to scale your business from where you are to where you want to be, most business owners will acknowledge that that requires some sort of investment. Maybe it’s working with a business coach. Maybe it’s hiring a new team member. Maybe it’s upleveling your branding.

Usually there are ways that you need to invest to get a return. So you know you need to invest to grow, but it terrifies you. Perhaps you’re thinking investments are risky. What if it doesn’t work? And so because you have these beliefs there, you don’t take action. You don’t spend the money. You keep it all in your bank account where it’s nice and safe. But the problem is, is that because you keep doing things the same way you’ve always done them, you keep getting the same outcomes. And this is why your belief framework is so closely correlated to the actions that you take, which in turn become your outcomes. What you are believing literally becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Investing is always scary. Everyone feels the fear, but when you’ve done the money mindset work, you feel confident to invest in yourself knowing that it will come back to you.

Sign #3 – You hate selling

Another way that I can recognise that people have some struggles with their money mindset is that they hate selling. I hear them say things like, what if people think I’m too pushy? If this resonates and you feel like you lack the confidence to share your offer and sell with conviction, this can be a sign that you haven’t done the mindset work. I didn’t use to like selling at all in my business so I can totally relate to this, but now I have a completely different mindset around it. I love to share my offers with the world because I know that what I sell helps so many people completely transform their businesses and their lives, and therefore I can sell it with such conviction and integrity. So can you see again how your beliefs are affecting your actions and your actions are affecting your outcomes? If I worked up to sell and I’m like, uh, maybe please buy my thing. Um, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, that’s totally fine. When I show up to sell, I am like, guys, I know I can help you, if this is your problem, I have a solution. Come on in. And because I am selling from that place of confidence and conviction, I am in turn more likely to attract clients. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Sign #4 – You avoid looking at your business financials

Another biggie that I see is that you avoid money and maybe you’ve got a lack of financial literacy. So what do I mean by you avoid money? Well, one of the ways this can play out is that you avoid looking at your bank account. You think, oh gosh, I dunno what’s in there. I just won’t look at it. Perhaps you don’t look at your business financials. Maybe you’re not sitting down and running your profit and loss reports every month ’cause you think, I just don’t want to know about it. If I don’t look, then hopefully it will all go away. Maybe you don’t even know if you’re actually making a profit or not in your business, or if your business is cashflow positive, avoiding money is a surefire sign that you’ve got some money mindset challenges going on.

Sign #5 – You find it awkward setting your prices

The next sign that you need to work on your money mindset is that you find it awkward setting your prices. Perhaps you have stories about this, like you think, what if my product or service isn’t worth that? Am I too expensive? Maybe you really struggle to value your skills and to charge accordingly. If you struggle with your pricing, this can be a surefire sign that you’ve got some work to do in the space of your money mindset.

Sign #6 – You overdeliver and under charge

And a final example that I wanted to share with you today, an example of how money mindset blocks can show up in your business is that you are over-delivering and undercharging. Now, the reason why this might happen is because you don’t feel worthy. It’s related to your sense of self-worth and your sense of self-confidence, which is all part of your money mindset. The problem with over-delivering and undercharging is that it can leave you feeling resentful. Sometimes it feels great to throw in a bonus for a client or say, Hey, do you know what, this one’s on me? And that can feel really wonderful and in alignment. But if you say yes to someone and then later find yourself feeling really resentful and thinking, why did I agree to do this? I feel like I’m getting ripped off here, then that’s a pretty good indicator there’s some work to be done there on your money beliefs.

Just to do a recap of today’s episode, some of the signs that your money mindset sucks.

1. You freak out when things aren’t going well.
2. You set yourself low goals.
3. You have a fear of investing.
4. You hate selling.
5. You avoid money and have a lack of financial literacy.
6. You feel awkward pricing.
7. You find yourself overdelivering and undercharging.

Hopefully, if these resonate with you, you are now committed to go and do some work on your money mindset, and I would love to join you on that journey if it feels aligned. Thanks so much for tuning into today’s episode, and I can’t wait to chat to you again next week. Bye for now.