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Every year around this time I begin to slow down. Even when I try to fight this urge I find myself wanting to stay in more, drink cocoa (if it ever gets cold) and spend time reflecting on the past year. I’m going to be honest and say that while there were certain things about this year that were great: I traveled quite a bit, and I met professional goals by speaking at Podcast Movement (PM17) and FinCon17. I find myself having to admit that this year has been a bit…underwhelming overall. And, to be honest:
2017 Kind Of Sucked
If I could Sage the entire year and go on a mountain retreat to recover from it I would. Alas, I can’t. I rebranded my website (and, I love it), I met some amazing people, and I’m 3 years into a cash-only budget (which I love).
So, what’s my problem?
I want more. I want to cultivate success and help other people be successful at what they’re doing to serve the world. I’ve discovered that I have one final financial issue that I would like to finish working on and it is directly connected to my #1 goal for 2018:
Earn More
I don’t mean sort of earn more, I mean earn life-changing money…because I can. I finally believe that I can and I thought I would share my struggles with an under-earning mindset in the hopes that confessing that sharing this issue may help someone else.
For a while now I’ve felt kind of weird about believing that I could earn money the way that I imagined I could. I believed that I can earn money via online business and I still do.
But, I kept struggling with attracting big money. The interesting thing about that is I attract money all the time. Seriously, one of my magical powers is finding money. I find a ridiculous amount of money. In 2016 I found almost $1000-cash.
I get free bikes, free stuff from people, basically I get the hook-up. I spent most of this year wondering “What is wrong with me?” Why was I afraid to truly commit to doing what I needed to do to earn more money. And, I figured it out and while I’m a bit baffled by what I’m going to admit-I feel empowered and free now that I’m putting it out in the world.
Earning more…in the way that I’m imagining it, makes me feel (deep down) a little weird and a little guilty. I feel weird because it’s hard for me to imagine earning the kind of money that could change my life.
Lowering expenses was so much easier to do. There was an aesthetic purity to it. Like, I’m such a good person for spending so little. Like living like a nun or eating like a vegan. That self-denial gives an endorphin rush the deeper you get into it.
When you can say that you haven’t gone shopping in months, or that you spent $20 on groceries for a week (organic). I realized that throughout my life I’ve internalized sacrifice and some levels of deprivation as my financial story.
I also realized that sacrifice and deprivation were the financial stories that I learned. Those stories were what I lived throughout my entire life. And, even though I’ve:
- Emotional shopping
- Have paid off a ton of debt
- And, have built up my general level of confidence
This is the one issue that is driving me crazy. And, I realize that if I were working for someone else I would STILL be struggling with it in terms of applying for jobs that I felt I was qualified to do. Or, I would be struggling with having that conversation about getting a raise. Basically, I would need to redefine my belief in what I’m “entitled” to…through hard work and determination.
What I Had to Admit
I felt guilty about earning more. I didn’t want to experience the purity of spending less. I wanted to feel the decadence of earning more. And, in owning that desire…I realized that I felt like I might be communicating to other people in my life that their choices were wrong, what they wanted for themselves wasn’t good enough for me…basically…I didn’t want other people to feel badly because I wanted more.
I’ve FINALLY gotten tired of the living a financial story that doesn’t serve me well. I want to earn so much money that I earn my way to freedom. And, finally, I realize that there is nothing wrong with that. Whether it’s working for someone else, owning a business, or doing both. I honestly don’t care how people earn their money as long as it’s legal.
Comparison is The Thief of Joy
I should honestly mention that I’ve also spent some time watching a large number of my friends earn more. They have all begun earning “more” in various ways. And, I’ve noticed a couple of things:
- I’m happy about their success.
- They focused. Really, really focused one…maybe two things that could make them money and they perfected the process before moving to the next thing.
- You have to set yourself up for success.
- Marketing should take up 4-5 times the amount of time you spend creating any content that you’re sharing.
- People reward the “hustlers” and will go out of their way to support their endeavors.
- Small successes are energizing.
- Small successes eventually hit a tipping point. I know because I’ve experienced those tipping points throughout my life.
The Unapologetically Money Hungry Manifesto
Yep, I created a manifesto…because I needed one and I thought if I was a personal finance influencer who struggled with underearning, that there were a number of people out there who struggled with this issue too.
The manifesto is a daily reminder of the power that bringing more money into your life will bring. I created it so that people had something to refer to that will encourage, inspire, and legitimize their goal to attract more money into their life.
I realized that in wasn’t wrong to earn more so that I could:
- Help other people
- Help myself!
- Finish my financial journey
- Live my life on MY terms.
- Create a positive vs. adversarial relationship with money.
I wanted to fall in love with money. I’m tired of being fearful of it or thinking that only “other” people can make life-changing money. That’s crap.
Get The Manifesto Today
What I’m Willing to Do
If you follow me on social media you know that I’m completely disinterested in doing any travel or attending any conferences for most of next year. I’m in serious implementation mode and already I feel a lot more productive and focused. It also helps that I no longer have to work on my community garden (that’s a whole other story).
I’m willing to side-hustle. EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. I will freelance write for as many clients as possible, and, commit to growing my digital business. Weird mental blockage be damned.
If I were working for someone else…I would be doing the same thing. Time to finish this financial journey. I literally found myself fed up…with myself.
Why Earning More is Self-Care
There is something to be said about taking care of yourself financially. It’s not enough to focus on your physical and mental health. Focusing on growing your income is closely connected to maintaining mental and physical well-being. There are numerous studies that show a link between debt and bad health. And, I will be candid and say that as I pay down my debt-my health has gotten better because I’m under A LOT less stress and dealing with fewer people.
As each bill shifts to the paid-off pile, I feel an intense sense of relief and a weight off my shoulders.
2018
The focus for both myself, my readers, and followers across all platforms is to earn more income. I would like for you to own your money blocks and money hungry ways.
You’re not greedy-you’re just smart. I look forward to supporting you on your earn more journey as I continue on mine.
Hang Out With Me!
I do “all the things.” Hang out with me at one (or, all) of the following places:
- Girl Gone Frugal (again) podcast-subscribe today!
- Become a part of The Unapologetically Money Hungry closed Facebook Group-We will support one another as we work on ways to earn more money, I will share different tools that I use to save money, run my business, and live a mindful life.
- Check out the Michelle is Money Hungry Instagram feed. I take dreamy pictures.
- I never rage tweet-so, it’s safe to follow me on Twitter: @MichLovesMoney
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“An aesthetic purity”. YES I had never heard it described his way but you so perfectly summed it up. There is no guilt or fear that goes closely with frugality like there is with earnings.
I spent a lot of time trying to really figure out why I felt so weird about earning more. And I just spent time listening to the things that people would say around me about their spending/lack of spending and it was very, very telling.