Have you ever known people who always focus on the fact that there isn’t enough money. They want to go to this event, but they can’t afford it. They REALLY want to coach with this person, but they can’t afford it. They want to buy this product, but you guessed it…they can’t afford it.

Then you look at their business and what do you see? An impoverished shell of a business. Sure they have a name, maybe even a great one, a catchy tagline and some copy on their site that would make you think they are gaining ground on the Ali Brown and Frank Kern’s of the world but it’s all a facade. The truth is they are living in fear that there is simply not enough to go around. Not enough clients, not enough ideas, not enough time and not enough money.

What happens as a result? They stay exactly where they are, year after year, struggling to bring in money and holding onto every last piece of it as if it were as rare as the hope diamond.

I know because I used to be this way. My pat excuse was always “I can’t afford it”, which was totally a load of crap. The real truth had nothing to do with the money. It had to do with something far deeper. The real truth was that I feared if I  spent the money, had the tools, implemented and still saw no results that I’d prove to everyone (and myself…AGAIN) that I simply was not good enough. I wasn’t smart enough or pretty enough or clever enough or fit enough or …… ENOUGH to be the success I wanted to be. 

Thinking that way was actually quite seductive, right? I could blame my low position on lack of money. People get that right? People would back me up on that right? I could imagine how big I could be if only…

But here’s the real kicker. What kind of acid trip was I on to think that my potential clients would even think of investing in me if I was too scared to simply invest in myself. If I don’t think I’m worthy enough, why the heck would they?

When I finally comprehended that fully (and then simultanously stepped fully into my purpose) and decided to take a different approach and a different path, the money was their for the taking. 

I chuckle a bit when I look back and remember what living in that poverty mindset did for me and how it was the most conveniently safe road…that led absofrigginlutely nowhere.

So, I am sharing the simple steps you can take to escape the lure of the poverty mindset starting right now. 

1. Admit you are acting as though you are powerless when it comes to money—that you have no say in the matter.

2. Understand that you have total control over how much money, wealth and abundance comes into your life. 

3. Know that doing what you have been doing will get you what you’ve always got. Make a decision to live as though there is never a shortage of money and there is more than enough to go around. 

4. Take inventory. Where is your poverty mindset showing up? Go deep. For example, the real reason you do not invest in yourself and your business is not because you don’t have the money.  If you’re at the point of asking the money question (how much does it cost?), it’s not about the money. It’s because deep down you know you are willing to let yourself get away with not doing the work to implement what you learn and achieve the ROI that is possible. (So, why are you willing to let yourself get away with that?) Let’s face if, if the program sucked, you wouldn’t ever get to the money question anyway.

5. Admit to yourself that it’s not about the money and invest in yourself and growing your business exponentially. For me this meant making 2 really big investments back to back. I invested in a private platinum coaching program that required me to write a $9,000 check right on the spot. Then a couple of months later I invested in a high level group coaching program for nearly double that. Since then I have invested thousands and thousands of dollars in my business. The difference is that now I am like speedy gonzales when it comes to implementation. That’s what investing will do for you. Take a huge leap with your money and you’ll do whatever it takes to take a giant leap ahead of it so you’ll get more in return. Incidentally, as soon as I started investing that kind of money in other people, people began investing that kind of money in me, which will in turn attract more people to them. See, the big dogs had it right. Spending money DOES stimulate the economy. 

6. Be willing and fired up to think about money in a different way. I used to not pay attention to money. Bad idea. As my friend Shawn Driscoll says “Holy shit or hallejluia is not a sound financial strategy”. Give your money, no matter how much or how little, some attention. That’s what we do to things we want to grow right? When was the last time you ignored a relationship or a plant and it grew and grew? NEVER. (Unless it’s cactus but even then the sun is paying attention to it.)

7. Get clear on the fact that you are not wrong, defective, or inadequate for not having more money. Money and worthiness are in NO way related. Get that burden off of your shoulders now.

8. Take your business seriously. One of my mentors Maria Andros says, “imagine that you just paid a million dollars for your business”. Things change a bit with that mindest right? I mean honestly, when was the last time you hired a doctor, lawyer or investor who told you – “No, I didn’t have the money to invest in my education so I just read a lot of books and practiced on some people for free for a while”? Why then is winging it enough for you?

9. Be honest about your money. How much do you make? How much do you spend? Do you hold yourself accountable to your expenses? Set up a system so that you do. you’ll be surprised at how many money leaks you have and how easy they are to plug up. Lieing about money is seriously toxic besides being really frickin bad karma.

10. When you get to work each day, think about what the money action is going to be. Monetize something. The more you bring in money, the more you’ll bring in money. Set up a money test for you and stick to it. For example I ask myself these 3 questions before I do anything? 1) What’s my ROI on this? 2) How can I increase my ROI on this? 3) How can I track this? You may have your own criteria but I suggest having some type of measurement tracking for a while. It becomes second nature after a while.

So those are my 10 steps. 10 is the number of instant manifestation so I’m stopping there:)