How to make more money (Part 2)

This is the second piece in a series on Identity.
For Part 1 – food identity – check out this link.

Back when I first started coaching, I worked with a woman I'll call Carolyn.

Carolyn was a talented web designer, who worked full-time and did freelance work on the side. "It's good work, and I love doing it," she told me, "but I need to make more money. I don't get it – I have friends who do web design, and they make twice what I make. What am I doing wrong?"

Our conversation turned to her beliefs (as it often does in coaching.)

"What are some of your beliefs around making money?" I asked.

"That I need it," she said, shrugging. "Can't get very far without it, especially in New York."

"What else?"

She thought. "That it's selfish to want to make more money. That I should make do with what I have."

There it was. I'd suspected that Carolyn was carrying around some negative beliefs around money, and now I knew for sure.

We dug deeper. I asked her where she felt it in her body when she thought about money, and what she'd always believed about her own abilities to make it. Over the course of an hour, she gave some very telling answers.

Here was what I call her "money identity" (you could also call it her beliefs around money):
 

• Rich people are selfish and/or materialistic
• I don't want to be selfish or materialistic
• I shouldn’t care about money; that's shallow
• I don't need to make much, just enough to live off of
• I'm not rich, wealthy, upper class, etc –  I'm just a normal person

Carolyn had grown up in a working class family, where her parents often had to scrape to get by. They often told her "Money doesn't grow on trees," and spoke of wealthy people with an "us versus them" mentality.

Carolyn had internalized that type of thinking, and now, as an adult, it affected her ability to make money. Her beliefs were causing her to push it away; to not ask for money when it was owed to her; to reject (or miss) opportunities that might bring her more money.

This brings me to the "cycle of beliefs," which you might be familiar with. It looks like this:

What you believe about yourself, and about the world, impacts how you feel.

How you feel determines what actions you take (and with what degree of commitment).

The actions you take determine the results you get.

The results you get either reinforce or disprove what you believe.

Carolyn started with the belief that wanting to make money is bad. That made her feel guilty and selfish, so she undercharged her clients, and didn't take advantage of opportunities that might have brought her more money. She didn't ask for raises when she deserved them, and she even worked for free sometimes, because she hated talking about pay.

All those things impacted her income level. And since she wasn't making a lot, she continued to believe (as her parents had) that making money means you're selfish and materialistic. 

So, Carolyn and I worked to disrupt that cycle. We examined her money identity, burned some negative beliefs, and took on new beliefs, things like:

• It is okay to want to make money
• Wealthy people are not necessarily selfish or materialistic
• I deserve to be paid well for my work

Within a few weeks, Carolyn had begun to put these new beliefs into practice. Within six months, she had taken on new clients had a new, higher rate; had asked for and gotten a raise; and had found a way to market herself at a rate she deserved. Within nine months, she'd doubled her monthly income.

(If you're familiar with scarcity versus prosperity mindset, then this might sound familiar to you, because it's certainly related. For more on how to create a prosperity mindset, click here.)

Carolyn's original "money identity" is not uncommon. Many people have underlying beliefs that are keeping them from earning what they deserve. Those beliefs might not at the surface – in fact, they tend to lurk in the shadows of our subconscious – so they're not always easy to unearth. But it ispossible. And one way to do that is by tapping your body intelligence.

So, I ask you: What are your beliefs around money?

When you think about money, where do you feel it in your body?

What does that feeling look like?

Does it have a sound? A smell? A taste?

What is it saying to you?

What do you want to say to it? (You can ask it to leave, if you want!)

What else comes up for you?

Notice whatever feelings, thoughts, beliefs come up. If they don't make sense at first, that's okay – maybe they will later. The more you pay attention to those things, the more you'll understand about yourself, and the more you'll be able to make decisions that will serve you.

If you have a healthy money identity, then great! Good for you – I hope that that's bringing lots of abundance your way. It's still a good practice to examine your beliefs, and make sure that they're serving you.

If you're like Carolyn was, and you have a money identity that's holding you back, then I encourage you to do some self-reflection, including the series of questions above. 

This will serve you now, during this holiday season when money can be a source of stress - and it will serve you as you move into the new year. Who knows - 2019 could be your most abundance year yet!

Pay attention to the choices you're making around money, to how you think and talk about it. Invite positive, empowering beliefs into your life – things like I deserve to be paid well, there is enough abundance to go around, I can make more money.

It just might raise your bottom line.

Go out, make that money, and shine.