Women & Wealth

Overcoming Limiting Beliefs that Limit Your $uccess

Dear Entrepreneur,

If success eludes you and profits are paltry, a new study sheds important light on your situation. Being a business owner myself, I found it quite illuminating.

All 357 female entrepreneurs surveyed knew what they needed to do to grow their business. Yet they “expressed doubt” about taking those steps due to their limiting beliefs.

“Female entrepreneurs limit their business success because they hold beliefs that lead to small actions instead of big ones,” the study reported. Or they may avoid taking any action altogether.

Bottom line:  The more limiting your beliefs, the lower your earnings.

The study was brought to my attention by Catherine Bown, a member of my online community, The Wealth Connection, sales trainer and one of the six researchers of the study.

Why I Have a Problem with “Rich”

My passion is helping women become wealthy. I notice, however, I rarely, if ever, use the word ‘rich.’

I remember when, decades ago, David Bach sent me a copy of Smart Women Finish Rich. My first book had just been published, one of the earliest finance books geared to women, and he wanted to talk.

I loved what he wrote, but the word, ‘rich’ turned me off. I couldn’t understand why.

Then, last week, I received a newsletter from Nick Maggiulli, titled: Rich vs Wealthy: A Comprehensive Guide to Different Financial Lifestyles.

Finally, I realized why ‘rich’ never resonated.

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A Master Class in Wealth Creation…Based on Kick-Ass Quotes

I love quotes. These tiny bits of timeless wisdom convey vast amounts of knowledge in a mere sentence or two.

This week, I’ve boiled down the secrets to successful investing into a series of pithy expert sayings. Consider it a Master Class in wealth creation.

Let’s start with economist Jeremy Siegel, “Fear incites human action far more urgently than does the impressive weight of historical evidence.” 

Financial decisions made from fear (vs knowledge) never turn out well. As history reveals, after every crash, the market eventually surges. Yet fear has us selling at a loss, missing future gains.

According to wealthy industrialist J. Paul Getty, fear can be a buy signal. “Buy when everyone else is selling and hold until everyone else is buying.”

That’s not just a catchy slogan. It’s the very essence of successful investing.

Baron Rothschild was even more succinct: “The time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets.”

Our biggest risk is not the market tanking, but our emotional reaction.

As acclaimed investor Benjamin Graham pointed out: “The investor’s chief problem — and even his worst enemy — is likely to be himself.”

The Anxiety Cure (It’s Not What You’d Expect)

Money + Anxiety  go together like a fifth of vodka and a hangover. An inevitable outcome unless you’re really careful.

Whether you don’t have enough or simply don’t know enough; whether you’re overspending or underearning; whether the market’s plunging or your debt is mounting…anxiety is unavoidable.

If you’re feeling anxious because of your finances (or anything else), what are you supposed to do? Live with the angst?

No, claims The Wall Street Journal. Try Sighing! Yes, you read the right. Let me hear an “AHHHHHHHH.”

Savings Can Be Fun! (Who Knew????)

She had long avoided savings. Until she got an idea. What if the next time she did something scary, she rewarded herself by contributing a small amount to a saving account?

“Today I dealt with a confusing problem at work and got it resolved,” she explained in The Wealth Connection chat group, “So I just added a dollar to my savings!  It’s a great feeling. I’m having a lot of fun saving! “

The moral of this story:  Savings can actually be fun when you frame it as a reward.

Positive reinforcement—anything from patting yourself on the back to paying yourself a dollar—works for one simple fact. It feels good…which triggers the release of pleasurable chemicals like dopamine, encouraging your brain to keep repeating the behavior.

Women Are Different Than Men

When it comes to women investing, I’m reminded of a quote attributed to Einstein: “If you ask a fish to climb a tree, she’ll always feel stupid.”

Same is true with money. If you try to approach finances like a man, you’ll always feel like a fish out of water.

So instead of trying to do it ‘their way,’ it’s time we value the feminine perspective. Let’s look at 5 ways the genders differ:

#1: Our Impetus for Investing

Men are very motivated by profit, perks, personal gain. No matter how much they have, amassing more is a powerful incentive.

Not women. Once we’re financially stable, we’re rarely motivated by money. Sure, we want to profit. But what really inspires us is helping others.

Power-From-Within

If you’re not where you want to be financially, consider this. Your difficulties may have little, if anything, to do with money, but your fear of or ambivalence about power…because you don’t understand true power.

Basically, there are 3 kinds of power:

1. Power Over (Domination)

2. Power With (Collaboration)

3. Power-From-Within (Dominion).

The drawback with the first two is that exercising power depends on others cooperating.

The Myth of “More”

I have always found myself yearning for more…more money, more success, more sales, more ­­­­______ (fill in the blank).

I proudly considered this constant yearning a healthy sign of a robust ambition. Until I began studying neuroscience and realized how truly unhealthy this kind of thinking actually is.

Here’s why. We literally sculpt our brain by what we dwell on. The more we think a thought or feel an emotion, the stronger that neuropathway becomes in our brain.

By constantly hungering for more, I was inadvertently telling my brain “I don’t have enough.” 

The more I repeated that thought, the stronger the “not enough” neuropathway grew, until I’d unconsciously do things that kept reinforcing my experience of ‘not enough.’

Shifting from Financial Misery to Financial Miracles in 3 Steps

I spent much of my adult life in financial turmoil. Even as I learned more about money, I still felt out of control. Then everything changed.

The answer didn’t come from a financial text, but a spiritual one, A Course in Miracles.

From the Course I learned that we have “two thought systems” or two distinct “voices” in our head:

  • The voice of Fear (the Ego).
  • And the voice of Love (the Soul).

The Soul and the Ego have conflicting agendas. Thus, they produce dramatically different results–either miracles or misery.

You cannot follow two masters,” the Course warns. “There is no compromise between the two.”

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You Say You Want More Money, But….

If intentions are so powerful, why don’t they always pan out? What if you swear you want to make more money, your intent is sincere, your desire is strong, but try as you might, your paycheck remains paltry?

If this is the case, it’s for this reason: You get what you want, not what you ask for. The distinction is critical.

When a buried intention—say, to be comfortable—is stronger than your spoken one—to be profitable—you’ll stop yourself at every turn. You may say, and believe, you want to make more, but that’s not the message that’s reaching your brain.

If you’re not getting it, for whatever reason, chances are you may not want it. Or as A Course in Miracles explains:  “What you ask for, you receive. But this refers to prayers of the heart, not the words you use in praying.”

I guarantee, setting a powerful intention and committing to it can make a big difference in how financially successful you actually become.

Meet Barbara Huson

When a devastating financial crisis rocked her world, Barbara Huson knew she had to get smart about money… and she did. Now, she wants to empower every women to take charge of their money and take charge of their lives! She’s doing just that with her best-selling books, life changing retreats and private financial coaching.

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