Mastering your money mindset can make such a massive difference to your business success and yet time and time again I find clients avoiding dealing with this difficult topic. I get it. Dealing with your money issues can be challenging. For me personally I have recently realised that I am an running a lot of shame around money. (Thanks to Brenee Brown and her amazing book The Gifts of Imperfection for helping me name this). Shame that my parents sacrificed lots to give me a good education I’ve now acknowledged is a big issue for me. And if I’m not careful this impacts all areas of my business from not charging enough for my services, to running over on sessions and giving away lots for free. An under-pinning theme of I don’t deserve it pervades and although I’m making strides in this area, it is and will always remain a work in progress. I think this is true for all aspects of our lives.
Clearing the emotional clutter associated with money takes time and this is what we will start tackling in the Master Your Money Mindset MasterClass this weekend, however it is also great to be able to put in place practical habits right now that can start moving you towards your goal.
Here are 6 simple and powerful money habits that you can implement right now that will make a big difference to your business success:
Track your income regularly. Most people advise you to track your expenses – and that’s cool too, but I find it a lot more fun to keep tabs on my income! What this does is gets me in the mindset of expecting and creating money regularly—even daily—simply because I don’t like seeing too many zeroes on my tracking sheet! I love playing games and seeing how many days that I can have money coming into my life. Some days it might just be a 10p coin I found on the ground, other times it might be through multiple income streams. Every woman should have at least 3. The more you have, the more frequently money will come in. By tracking your money regularly, you can see where it’s coming from and how to create your increase!
Automate your savings. Don’t just take your spare change to the bank. That’s what teenagers do. Instead, have your bank auto-debit your savings account at least once a month. This takes one more thing off your to-do list and before you know it you’ll have a nice chunk of cash put away. If saving automatically is already a habit, I challenge you to increase what you save each month by twenty-five percent. Don’t worry if you can’t afford to save much each month, what is more important here is the action than the amount. The action of just saving signals to the universe that you want to save. In the early days of my business I was only saving £10 per month.
Use coupons and vouchers. I used to think that coupons made me look like a cheap-o. Now I know better. Trust me, always use your vouchers and coupons. Create a place in your purse where you keep them all and then you won’t forget to use them. I can’t recall how many times I have forgotten to use the vouchers simply because I had left them at home. Don’t do this. These vouchers and coupons are money and should be treated with respect just like your money. And use then innovatively. Recently at Rideaway they offered me a £15 discount when you spent over £100. So I split my purchases into two and so got a massive £30 off my shopping. (That paid for my pony’s new, leather headcollar – nice!)
Stop money leaks. A money leak is any kind of fee, subscription or service charge you’re paying even if you are not using the service. Stop this from happening now. I know it may seem like a hassle to have to call or write to cancel the service but it is worth it. The money that’s slipping through your fingers adds up and I’d rather see it going into your savings account rather than to the gym you haven’t been to in 6 months. So every 90 days or so, scan your credit card statement to make sure there are no leaks. Also look at your service providers, are they providing the best deal? I recently changed webinar providers and this has saved me literally hundreds of pounds per year. Where else can you save money?
Clean out your wallet and your purse. A junky purse and wallet is a sign of insecurity and indecisiveness. The bottom line is this: the place where you keep your personal and most valued belongings should be clean, not cluttered with old tissue, gum wrappers, receipts, mail and your children’s toys! Money will not thrive if its surrounded by chaos. Take 10 minutes once a week and get your purse and wallet in order, ok?. I’ve been following this practice for the last year and I can’t tell you what a difference it has made. Money loves hanging out in nice places, so create a nice sacred space for your cash.
Donate. Generosity and the law of reciprocity plays a major role in helping you become successful. When you have the courage to share your resources with others even when it feels like you don’t have enough to meet your needs, you send a powerful message to the universe that you trust your Source (aka God). When you give, you show that in Source there is no lack. You send a message that in Spirit there is an unlimited supply of everything we need. Find a cause you believe in and give. When you do, magical things will happen. I guarantee and decree it. I contribute to an amazing horse rescue in Colorado called Dreamcatchers (where two of my rescue horses live) and also to Buy 1 Get 1
What money habits have worked for you? Which one of these do you plan to put in place?
And if you’d like to join the Master Your Money Mindset MasterClass this weekend you can still register at www.masteryourmoneymindset.co.uk
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
