True story: A few months ago I almost published a post titled "Why I don't want to make more money". I constantly told myself "I don't need to make more than, you know, around $30,000."
Looking back now, I know how silly that belief was. Sure, most of my bare-bone needs are met at that amount. And I don't have expensive tastes or hobbies. But would life be easier if I made more? Yeah. Would it be nice to have more freedom for travel, treating friends to tasty meals, and perhaps even going to the dentist a couple times a year? Um, YEAH.
A "living on crumbs" mentality is easy to adopt as a self-employed artist. Essentially being entrepreneurs, we can have the 'grind' ingrained in us so much that we start to think it should always be a challenge. And who knows, maybe a part of us even enjoys the excitement of it. But there comes a point where we must shift our mindset from settling for just getting by to stepping into what we deserve.
Enter: You Are a Badass at Making Money, by Jen Sincero.
Bite-size overview: I love the simplicity of Jen's message and the practical exercises at the end of every chapter. This book was honestly a game-changer, and I've read a loooot of stuff about manifesting & money mindset prior. Her delivery is fresh and totally a read.
Here are some of my favorite lessons and a-ha! moments from the book.
SHIFTING MONEY MINDSETS YOU ADOPTED FROM CHILDHOOD
The top three money-related things I remember my parents telling me as a kid:
- Spending a lot of money is careless.
- You don't understand the burden of debt.
- You're going to regret spending money.
This exercise in Chapter Two was probably my favorite. It blew the top off of these limiting beliefs that I didn't even know I had. Through a process Jen explains in the book, I came up with three NEW, alternative statements for these three beliefs:
- Conscious spending is an act of love. (Not to toot my own horn but UM YAAAAS!)
- Money is constantly flowing to me.
- I find joy in spending money because I have a plan for the future.
GLEANINGS FROM MEDITATION
Another reason why I didn't want to make than $30,000 was because I had another belief -- "I have to work more and harder to earn more money."
I discovered this when Jen asked readers to meditate on the question, "What belief is blocking me from making money?" I sat there in silence as this belief came up. "I have to work more and harder to earn more money."
Jen suggests really diving into your beliefs and asking the hard questions to see if they will hold up. (Spoiler: 99% of the time... they don't.) You almost play devil's advocate with your own mind. I did this in my journal. Here is the brief paragraph I wrote:
"I have to work more/harder to make more." Why do I believe this? It's what is taught in society. And what if you just increased your rates, or sold more prints or paintings you already made? That's right. I guess you don't necessarily have to work more to earn more. So that belief is not fully true. Therefore, it need not apply. Here is my new thought: "I can make more money right now than ever before, and do nothing differently."
PAINTING THE PICTURE OF YOUR IDEAL DAY
This was another powerful exercise for me -- free flow and write down every detail about your ideal day, start to finish. It isn't enough to just say you want to make more money. You need to know why and vividly paint a picture in your head of what life will look like when you have financial freedom.
For me, this included: a sunlit house with lots of windows in a small town where I can walk everywhere. A big backyard and a free-standing studio. Sharing a cup of coffee every monring with my love. Mentoring artists newer in their careers. Planning climbing expeditions. Toying in my garden and getting messy with my hands. Showing my work to people who appreciate it.
I loved this exercise because it's visceral and emotional.
The book continues like this -- working on belief shifts; finding tangible reasons to be positive about money; focusing on gratitude; discovering where you're reinforcing negative thoughts; and getting really clear on the details of money goals.
I would highly recommend this book. I returned in to the library a month or so ago and already want to go check it out again!
Have you read Jen's book? Do you have any limiting money beliefs you're working on correcting? I love chatting about this stuff, so feel free to leave a comment below with any thoughts, questions, or ideas you have about money.