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Underearning and Oversaving: The Mindset Behind these Financial Habits
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Underearning and Oversaving: The Mindset Behind these Financial Habits

Money Mindset, solopreneurs

Underearning and Oversaving: The Mindset Behind these Financial Habits

Are you saving too much money? Is your financial life bracketed by scarcity and insufficient funds? Do you identify as an oversaver or underearner? Then I invite you to take this post as an opportunity to explore your emotions and mindset which may be underlying these financial habits.

This post is inspired by Barbara Stanny’s excellent book, Secrets of Six Figure Women: Surprising Strategies to up Your Earnings and Change Your Life. Explore the ideas below and see if they’re helpful for you to explore your own financial behaviors.

Check In

Barbara interviews six-figure earners and contrasts them with women she dubs underearners. One of the contrasts that is ever present between the two is a difference in mindset. In her workshops with underearners, she uses a great exercise that I would encourage you to explore for yourself. She asks them to complete this sentence: People with money are _______________. If this as well as the title of this book bring up negative emotions, you will need to change this story before you are able to change your relationship with your earning potential.

I don’t believe that we all need to strive for a six figure income, or even that money is a measure of our success. But as business owners, if we are not able to support ourselves through our work, we will find it impossible to continue sharing the gifts that we have to offer.

Similarly, oversavers are hemmed in by their fear of scarcity. Looking at both of these financial behaviors, I am reminded of Lynn Twist’s ideas in her book, The Soul of Money. The author also remarks on how, when we let go of scarcity and stop going after things we don’t really want or need, this “frees up oceans of energy to make a difference with what you have. When you make a difference with what you have, it expands.”

Make the Shift

I believe that we need to shift to an abundance mindset. What do you think of when you think of the word abundance? I feel that this word includes many things: being grateful for what we have now, for what the future holds for us, for the gifts and talents we are able to share, the connections that we have to other people and the money that our society uses as a measure of exchange.

Including money in our desire for abundance makes it possible for us to increase our earnings and feel deserving of them. An abundance mindset also helps us to navigate the fear of scarcity that often guides oversaving.

My Mindset

I have been exploring my own money mindset recently. While I thought I had a positive relationship with money, I still found that I had some blocks as well. Because our society seems to measure a person’s value by their salary, it is easy to base your self-worth on your income. In our household, my husband earns the money that we base our lifestyle on. When I truly began exploring my mindset, I found that I was seeing my earnings as “insignificant” in comparison to his. When I began to separate the value that I deliver to my clients from my worthiness as an individual, my outlook on my potential impact also changed.

The Deciding Factor

The path to making this mindset shift towards abundance includes gratitude, affirmations about your worth, and a decision to make a change. Many of the six-figure women interviewed by Barbara started out with negative feelings around money, but they recognized that fact, made a decision to change and then put their new attitudes into practice. The fact that you are reading this blog about money already shows your willingness to change. That is a great start!

By Angela Keller|2023-06-16T17:26:31-07:00June 16th, 2023|Categories: Money Mindset, solopreneurs|Tags: barbara huson, barbara stanny, feminism, internal work, know your worth, money mindset, money work, my story, oversaving, six figure women, underearning, women and business|0 Comments

How Can Women Achieve Financial Empowerment?
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How Can Women Achieve Financial Empowerment?

Money Mindset

How Can Women Achieve Financial Empowerment?

Are we afraid of our own power? One of the things I absolutely love about Barbara Huson’s book, Secrets of Six Figure Women, is that it asks us to face this question. In a society where we are often trained to take lower pay and funneled into “helping” professions, our earning potentials are often restricted, and we participate in the repression of our own power unknowingly. Some would argue the drive to help and caretake is natural for us. Barbara pulls a quote from Fortune of Oct 2000 which reads, “Women feel powerful when they are making a difference and expanding their own capabilities.” Naturally, we gravitate towards improving the world, but we can do this while also pursuing personal power and security.

Every time you leave the beaten path and aim for exceptional, every time you silence your fear and speak with your own voice, every time you stop acting small and start taking up space, you are owning your power and emancipating others to follow in your footsteps.

Financial Security Is Power

Power does not require money, and is not exclusive to it. However, if you have the financial freedom to leave a job, leave a spouse, take time off, give money away, and allocate financial resources as you please, that can only add to your personal agency. Money gives you choices. Those choices can allow you to step into every part of your power.

When we claim our power in this way, we raise the stakes in our lives, and stop playing the small game. Barbara writes,“It’s not what we have but what we do with what we have that gives us or denies us financial security.” Whatever we choose to do, we can do more easily and powerfully with financial security.

Serious fear underlies female passivity around money. My post on wealth-building may have stirred up some of this fear for you – and it’s exactly why so many of us stall on our way to building our assets. This fear is understandable. We receive many negative messages about powerful or wealthy women. They are often the villains in animated films, and there are no positive words for powerful women. The ones that come to my mind are “bitch” and “ball breaker.” This desperately needs to change, and it starts with us as we choose to turn against it.

Claiming your power and building financial security may be uncomfortable or cause conflict. It means rocking the boat, saying no, and not always being liked or welcomed. I believe that, in the long term, these things are a small price to pay in pursuit of your own freedom and power.

Claim Power For Yourself and Others

Claiming our power is an act of self love. When we honor and value ourselves and have the bravery and financial security to live our desires – that is real self love. This love ripples outwards, and makes a positive difference in the lives of those around us. By striving for what we really deserve, we can inspire and pave the way for a new generation of people ready to do the same. When we have the resources to donate to causes we agree with, we can heal the planet and help others achieve their dreams. When we claim our power, we can also extend that power to others.

I hope that this post inspires you to reach for your dreams – you truly deserve to have the financial security you need and the agency you want. If you’re interested in working with an accountability partner to help you get there, you know where to find me! Don’t hesitate to reach out and schedule a free 30 minute Financial Self Care Consultation.

Angela

This post was originally posted in 2019 as part of a series of post drawing on the foundational concepts of Barbrara Huson‘s wonderful book, Secrets of Six Figure Women. You can read the other articles in the series on mindset, action, and wealth building at the links.

By Angela Keller|2021-03-08T11:57:10-08:00March 8th, 2021|Categories: Money Mindset|Tags: barbara huson, feminism, financial security, money and power, secrets of six figure women, women, women and money|0 Comments

Roundup: At Peace With Money’s Best Educational Posts to Level Up Your Financial Learning
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Roundup: At Peace With Money’s Best Educational Posts to Level Up Your Financial Learning

Personal Savings, Personal Spending, Small Business, solopreneurs

Roundup: At Peace With Money’s Best Educational Posts to Level Up Your Financial Learning

This week, please enjoy a roundup of some of my best educational posts yet. I’m getting close to my two-year blogging anniversary! In that time I’ve written up quite a few how-to’s, exercises, and perspective pieces on handling money. Below, I’ve pulled out some of my favorites, in the categories of business finance and personal finance. I’m recommending these articles in particular because they contain foundational info that informs my practice as a profitability coach. The tips and perspectives that I blog about here are tried and true. I share them because they make a huge difference to my clients, just as I hope they’ll make a difference for you! If you’re looking to kick your financial learning into high-gear, let these resources be your guides:

Personal Finance Articles

Business Finance Articles

What’s Your Money Why?
The In-Depth Guide to Money Mapping and How it Can Fortify Your Business, Part I, Part II, and Part III
All About Oversaving, and Why Overcoming It Can Strengthen Your Business
My series on financial self care for business owners: Working on Your Finances is Self Care, Why You Need to Separate Your Business and Personal Finances, Know What Your Numbers Are Telling You, and How to Set Informed Income Goals
Getting Health Insurance If You’re a Solopreneur
5 Steps to Get Ready for Tax Time
How to Build Your Best Money Team
How to Focus Your Offerings to Create More Revenue

Book Review: Proposals for the Feminine Economy by Jennifer Armbrust

This week, I was reminded why Proposals for the Feminine Economy resonates with me. I was on a call with my business coach feeling discouraged about my own business forays. She suggested a mantra – “I am a successful business owner.” As I was trying this on during my morning practice the next day, I knew I needed to define “successful.” The definition I’ve come up with is confident, committed, open to new clients and collaborations, self-sustaining, abundant, and growing. This definition gives me a feeling of lightness, hope and helpfulness towards others.

These principles are what Jennifer emphasizes in her book. As a society, we see business success through a lens of masculine values and results. She suggests that we instead strive to view business as a creative environment and value our business using more feminine metrics, like care, mutual aid, sustainability, and needs-fulfillment Her book is filled with beautiful illustrations, one of my favorite being the wheel of values in a feminine economy. A couple other examples of masculine vs feminine economy that have stuck with me include the differences in employing competition vs collaboration or consumption vs resourcefulness.

This book is about transforming our relationship with money and work, which are aligned with my own philosophies. I love her manifesto “100 Ways to Make More Money” and have several favorites. I particularly love these two because they are the basis of why and how I work with my clients: “See fiscal empowerment as a revolutionary act” and “Become conscious – know why you do what you do with your money.”

Lastly, I very much enjoy her thoughts about cultivating an abundance consciousness. Again, it is easy to define abundance through numbers when thinking about businesses, and particularly for me as a profitability coach. She reminds us to “feel how rich you are already” and to remember that “money isn’t the only form of wealth”. These are the lessons I try to remember when I define the success of my business and the success I am helping my clients to experience. I highly recommend checking out this book and Jennifer’s website in general. You can also read my post on the feminine economy for more information on the concept. I hope you find it inspiring!

Angela

By Angela Keller|2019-08-31T02:44:46-07:00August 30th, 2019|Categories: Money Mindset, Small Business, solopreneurs|Tags: abundance consciousness, book review, deifniing success, feminine economy, feminism, Jennifer Armbrust, mantra|0 Comments

Claim Your Power
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Claim Your Power

Financial Clarity, Money Mindset, solopreneurs

Claim Your Power

Are we afraid of our own power? One of the things I absolutely love about Barbara Huson’s book, Secrets of Six Figure Women, is that it asks us to face this question. In a society where we are often trained to take lower pay and funneled into “helping” professions, our earning potentials are often restricted, and we participate in the repression of our own power unknowingly. Some would argue the drive to help and caretake is natural for us. Barbara pulls a quote from Fortune of Oct 2000 which reads, “Women feel powerful when they are making a difference and expanding their own capabilities.” Naturally, we gravitate towards improving the world, but we can do this while also pursuing personal power and security.

Every time you leave the beaten path and aim for exceptional, every time you silence your fear and speak with your own voice, every time you stop acting small and start taking up space, you are owning your power and emancipating others to follow in your footsteps.

Financial Security Is Power

Power does not require money, and is not exclusive to it. However, if you have the financial freedom to leave a job, leave a spouse, take time off, give money away, and allocate financial resources as you please, that can only add to your personal agency. Money gives you choices. Those choices can allow you to step into every part of your power.

When we claim our power in this way, we raise the stakes in our lives, and stop playing the small game. Barbara writes,“It’s not what we have but what we do with what we have that gives us or denies us financial security.” Whatever we choose to do, we can do more easily and powerfully with financial security.

Serious fear underlies female passivity around money. My post on wealth-building may have stirred up some of this fear for you – and it’s exactly why so many of us stall on our way to building our assets. This fear is understandable. We receive many negative messages about powerful or wealthy women. They are often the villains in animated films, and there are no positive words for powerful women. The ones that come to my mind are “bitch” and “ball breaker.” This desperately needs to change, and it starts with us as we choose to turn against it.

Claiming your power and building financial security may be uncomfortable or cause conflict. It means rocking the boat, saying no, and not always being liked or welcomed. I believe that, in the long term, these things are a small price to pay in pursuit of your own freedom and power.

Claim Power For Yourself and Others

Claiming our power is an act of self love. When we honor and value ourselves and have the bravery and financial security to live our desires – that is real self love. This love ripples outwards, and makes a positive difference in the lives of those around us. By striving for what we really deserve, we can inspire and pave the way for a new generation of people ready to do the same. When we have the resources to donate to causes we agree with, we can heal the planet and help others achieve their dreams. When we claim our power, we can also extend that power to others.

I hope that this post inspires you to reach for your dreams – you truly deserve to have the financial security you need and the agency you want. If you’re interested in working with an accountability partner to help you get there, you know where to find me! Check out my Services page and schedule a call. This post is the fourth in a series I did on Secrets of Six Figure Women by Barbara Huson. You can read my other posts in the series on mindset, action, and wealth building at the links!

☮

Angela

By Angela Keller|2019-06-10T16:21:34-07:00June 5th, 2019|Categories: Financial Clarity, Money Mindset, solopreneurs|Tags: achieve your goals, claim your power, fear, feminism, financial security, inequality, investment, money mindset, pay gap, pep talk, retirement planning, secrets of six figure women, self education, wealth building, womens rights|0 Comments

Put Your Money to Work For You
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Put Your Money to Work For You

Banking, Financial Clarity, Personal Savings

Put Your Money to Work For You

Once you’re earning a lot of money from your business, you’re set – right? It’s easy to think that way, but the truth is that high earnings give the illusion of affluence without the security or freedom that comes along with true long term wealth building. I use this term to refer specifically to investing.

In Barbara Huson’s book, Secrets of Six Figure Women, she interviews many high earning women who she calls Modest Accumulators, high earners who spent too much and saved too little. Their issue was not with making money, but rather, managing it. Do you find you have this issue too? It can be easy to have cash flowing in, and yet you find you still have no savings or investments.

Taking the time to learn to manage your money and build up your wealth is a separate project all its own – and an important one! Often in running our own business we are so fixated on creating something profitable. But once we’ve got profit, we need to have something to do with it! This is what wealth building is all about – creating a mindful strategy to utilize and maximize those profits so they support your lifestyle in the long term.

Fend Off Fear

When it’s put that way, doesn’t wealth building sound like a good idea? Yet so many people are hesitant to do it. Many of Barbara’s interviewees had a wide range of excuses for not investing their savings, but the underlying reason was the same for most – fear. They feared making a wrong decision, not understanding how the market works, or not knowing what to invest in.

The ironic truth here is that the longer we delay investing, the more money we lose out on. The more time our investments have to accrue interest, the better! So the best thing to do is to start learning, and start investing. Start listening to a podcast , read a book , or check out my post on financial self-education resources. Figure out what gaps in your knowledge scare you, and start to fill them. The only way to build wealth, is to start doing it!

Invest Money To Have Money

Some say, “When I have money, then I will invest,”but it doesn’t really work that way. You won’t ever have money until you start putting money to work for you. While you’re at your job making money, your money can also be out making money, if you invest. Here’s a clear outline of how to do that, according to Barbara’s investigation.

Automate regular transfers from your bank account to an investment. Automation is one of my personal favorite tools for wealth building. You can read more about automation in my post about it!

Delegate – find a financial professional that can help you evaluate your investing decisions. Working with a professional also adds a dose of accountability to keep your investment plan on track.

Educate and Communicate – silence around money is what keeps us stuck. Comparing compensation and exposing pay gaps at work is one issue communication takes care of. Financial empowerment can also be achieved in group efforts. Barbara interviewed many of the women who were involved in investment clubs with other women. I often advocate for having a money buddy or a mentor. Breaking the taboo around money can help us all build better strategies.

Finally, I want to add a note about the need for diversification. Any professional will tell you that it’s important not to put all your eggs in one basket. One of Barbara’s interviewees realized she was investing everything back into her own business, but not actually building any wealth in a diversified way. Regardless of whether you are a business owner ensuring that you are working towards a portfolio of investments is important to note.

Now go forth, and start building your wealth! Women deserve security and the resources to take care of themselves – that’s why I do what I do, and why I want you to invest. If you’re interested in talking to me about finances around your solopreneur journey, check out my Services and book a free/no obligation call!

☮

Angela

Image: Zdeněk Macháček

By Angela Keller|2019-05-31T21:18:30-07:00May 31st, 2019|Categories: Banking, Financial Clarity, Personal Savings|Tags: accountability partner, feminism, financial education resources, gender equality, income, investment, money buddy, pay gap, resources, self education, wealth building, when to hire a professional, women's issues|0 Comments

What’s Your Money Mindset?
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What’s Your Money Mindset?

Money Mindset, solopreneurs

What’s Your Money Mindset?

If you got my newsletter this month, then you know that I’m deep-diving into Barbara Stanny’s Secrets of Six Figure Women: Surprising Strategies to up Your Earnings and Change Your Life. By doing this, I hope to lead us through a month of investigating our own earnings and making sure we’re earning what we deserve! This week’s post is about mindset, the first ingredient in that process.