We hear the term “money mindset” a lot in the entrepreneurial space lately. What does this mean? How can you identify what is holding you back, when it comes to earning, spending and saving money? And how can you shift your mindset towards more abundance, ease and clarity when it comes to money?
The patriarchal society that we all live in has a lot to do with the value we place on money, and how it shows up in our lives. On my latest podcast episode I question the layers of conditioning that have been placed on people in our society (especially women) and name some of the common “themes” of limiting beliefs that this conditioning creates:
- Security (ex: “I need to make a lot of money to feel safe”)
- What other people think (ex: “I need to have an expensive car and big house to look successful to others”)
- Society’s idea of right and wrong (ex: “Money is the root of all evil”)
- Self Doubt (ex: “I don’t have the skills to charge $150/ hour!”)
Once you’ve identified what limiting beliefs you have around money and where they come from (conditioning via society, family, community, workplace, etc.), you might start to look at how the limiting beliefs are showing up in your business. I find that these types of limiting beliefs around money usually manifest themselves in the following ways:
Overgiving
Is unfortunately SO common, especially as women growing up in a patriarchal society. We are conditioned to give, give, give. Generosity is a wonderful trait but not if it comes at the cost of self-care, rest, joy, and abundance. How are you over- giving in your business? This might look like taking on too many clients, charging too little, providing too much really valuable free content, etc.
Scarcity Mindset
Feeling like there’s never “enough” money to do what you want to do is scarcity mindset. This is super common, especially with new entrepreneurs, who fear that they will never have enough clients, sell enough products, etc. to stay afloat, much less grow their business. This scarcity mentality can be attached to making money as well as spending it.
When you make money doing something you love, and there is an energy of joy attached to it, you will be able to spend with joy. Conversely, if we are selling our precious time for money, doing something we don’t enjoy, you’re going to be stingy because there isn’t a positive energy attached to it.
Charging too little
Stop trading your time for money. That is a recipe for stagnation and resentment because your time is PRICELESS. Instead think about value for money. What is the true, authentic, lifetime value that you are providing with your services/ products and what is the equal energetic amount (in dollars) that would feel really good to you to receive? So often women charge way less than the value they are providing. Sometimes this comes from general lack of confidence (self-doubt) and sometimes it comes from a desire to people please and/ or be helpful. However, since money is energy, consider that you might be doing your client/ customer a disservice if you charge them too little- denying them the satisfaction of a high-energy exchange.
I talk about this in more detail in the past podcast episode/ blog post, “What I wish I did when I first started my business”!
Feeling icky about “selling yourself”
Selling is of course an essential part of entrepreneurship, but I see SO many women (and men too) tell me that they hate “selling themselves” (meaning their services, products, etc.).
The key is to shift the focus from “selling” to “sharing” – you have gifts that you should share with the world, and if you believe in what you’re selling, there is no reason to feel icky. Remind yourself that you are HELPING people, and that you should be compensated for the VALUE you’re providing.