Making Money

Examine the beliefs that shape how you earn, charge, receive, and give.

When I was young, my mother would give me a $20 bill before I went to the barn to ride horses.

The vending machines wouldn't take it, so my friends and I would walk down to Taco Bell in our riding boots and buy lunch. I didn't think of it as my money and their lack of money. I thought we had $20 and could do something together.

That was part of what I learned about money. It was available. It could be shared. It could help us enjoy our lives.

I love money. I love making it, and I love what it allows me to give. I don't apologize for that.

Money lets you express who you are

I want to help people with the emotional and cognitive suffering I know so well. Having a job, food, and a car doesn't mean someone isn't suffering. That is the work I have dedicated myself to.

The more money I have, the more people I can help.

I don't believe money makes you happy. I believe it makes you more of who you are. If you are generous, you can express that generosity in bigger ways. If you are worried about money, having more doesn't automatically remove the worry.

So I want you to look at your relationship with money rather than assume a different balance in your account will change your thinking for you.

You don't have to fight over one pie

Some people think that if I make more money, someone else must have less. I don't choose to see opportunity that way.

I don't believe we are all fighting over the last slices of one pie. I want to go to work and make a new pie.

That way of thinking helps me focus on what I can create and contribute instead of what someone else has taken.

At a training, I noticed people worrying that others would discover they had too much money or not enough. But the amount in their bank accounts wasn't what made them able to show up and help someone else.

I want us to stop making money a measure of our worth and start examining the thoughts we have attached to it.

What does earning money mean to you?

We use the phrase earned money as though everyone means the same thing by it. Do you mean having a job? Working a certain number of hours? Creating value? Taking care of an investment?

My mother received an inheritance. She didn't have a traditional job, but she managed and invested her money carefully. That work created more money.

She didn't tie my chores to an allowance. We were expected to do dishes, laundry, and take care of the dogs. We worked because that was part of showing up in our family.

At the same time, I couldn't wait to get a work permit. I wanted a job at the barn, and I also worked at Chevy's. The hourly pay wasn't what excited me. I wanted to work.

Later, at Nordstrom, I sometimes forgot to pick up my paycheck. I loved doing the work and wasn't constantly worried about the money.

Learning that money was available didn't make me unwilling to work. It allowed work to be rewarding beyond what I was paid by the hour.

Don't limit value to hours

If you are very attached to earning a certain amount per hour, notice the limit that creates.

I teach my students that they can hustle their way to their first $100,000. But creating $500,000 requires looking beyond simply adding more hours of the same work.

That brings up questions about value, what you are willing to charge, and what you believe someone can gain from your work.

When a student asks whether a price is right, I ask whether she would pay that amount herself and be delighted she did.

I want to feel good about what I offer and what I receive. I want clients to feel they received something worth their investment, and I want to know I brought quality into the world.

The higher-level thinking I do can create more value than additional hours of physical effort. That is a different way to understand earning.

What amount feels normal?

Your idea of normal affects your financial life. What is a normal amount to make? What is normal to spend? What amount starts making you uncomfortable?

When I told my coach I wanted to make seven figures, he treated that as a place to start. His idea of what was possible in our industry was different from what I had been exposed to.

That conversation changed my perspective. I could see people using their businesses and the internet to offer value generously and create much more than I had previously considered.

Notice where your own ideas came from. Were they taught to you? Have you questioned them? Do you like what they are creating for you?

Give freely and receive differently

I like to think of money as something moving through the world rather than something we have to hold apart as mine and yours.

You may use money to come to a training. I may use that money to attend another training. I love thinking about what we are creating together through that exchange.

I also love giving anonymously. When I pay for someone's Starbucks, I don't expect the same person to buy mine later. I give because giving feels good and because it is how I want to show up.

I believe generosity comes back to us, though it may come in another form. The giving itself is already an experience of abundance.

Ask yourself whether you want to change your financial life. If you could create more money, would you let yourself? If not, why not?

Look at your beliefs about earning, receiving, charging, and giving. You get to think about making money in a way that feels good because of what you create and what you contribute.