I’ve spent a lot of my adult life in a financial hot mess. As a result of that I’ve spent a lot of time worrying about my money. Or, to be honest-my lack of money and my money mistakes. In the past year or so I’ve noticed a change in my relationship with money-and it wasn’t just because I was blogging about money. I had stumbled upon something profound that has basically eliminated my penchant for worrying about money. What is it?
The #1 Way To Stop Worrying About Money:
Learning how to identify money making opportunities, stop selling yourself short by asking for too little, and became entrepreneurial.
That’s it. But, with this skill came a huge shift in what I think is possible. At this moment I believe that it is always possible for me to make money, or, identify money making possibilities. I am still getting used to the process of “pitching” to drum up new business, but the more I do it the more comfortable I become. I’m convinced that for a lot of people once they’ve tapped into this skill, it changed everything for them.
With each win I become more and more addicted to connecting with a new person or organization, helping them in some sort of way, and then actually getting PAID for it.
I am slowly but surely feeling the tentacles of needing to work for someone else letting me go. A traditional job is not my only money making option anymore.
When I was reading personal finance bloggers’ posts about their “eureka” moments with money I constantly wondered what mine would be?
I have to admit that I’m tired of doing my job-HOWEVER, I’m trying to stick with it as long as possible because sometimes that’s what you have to do. I have a great new boss and work with a wonderful group of people. I’ve just worked the job for too long. So, I’m making some micro-adjustments so that I can continue to be successful and challenged by work while I’m still there.
Because when I make the switch to being self-employed-I won’t turn back.
As for finding learning how to identify money making opportunities before I started side hustling I’d never considered looking at Craigslist for short-term gigs. I’d never thought about writing articles for blogs, or any other publications. I’d never thought of saying NO to money making opportunities that promised $10 an hour. I learned instead to find opportunities that were $20-$20, even $100+ an hour. I’d never thought about my life energy vs. the payout.
I think about that now. Seriously.
It has been a challenging process because I’m so used to finding a part-time job in the mall, standing on my feet for 16 hours over the weekend, and making around $150 bucks for the weekend. There became a point where it just wasn’t sustainable for me to do that anymore. I DIDN’T want to do that anymore because I still managed to stay in the same place emotionally and financially.
I’m enjoying starting to feel empowered. In my financial life I’ve never felt empowered. I began my adult financial journey at 17 when I began working my first job. I had no freaking clue what I was doing. I knew how to work hard, I just didn’t know how to: save, invest, and retirement wasn’t in my vocabulary until my late 20’s. Really.
Now, I know how to make money outside of my regular job, save (still working on this), leverage relationships in a good way, have purchased a property, have a retirement, and am about to start investing in a Roth IRA.
So, maybe the second way to stop worrying about money is to keep educating yourself about how money works until you figure out a way to tackle your personal financial situation.
All I know is that feeling empowered about money is an intoxicating feeling. I still have nervous moments, but they are fewer and fewer as time goes on.
What do you think? Have you had your “Eureka Moment” yet? What is the #1 Way You’ve Discovered to Stop Worrying About Money?
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I really like what you said about energy vs. the payout. When I was paying down my student loan debt I would take almost any side work to make money. Now that I’m out of debt I look at some of the things I was doing and think to myself, “man that was so not worth it”. By the time you figure in time, energy, commuting costs to the job etc etc. the job might not even be worth taking. The pest way I’ve found to not worry about money is having an emergency fund and being debt free. I still worry about money (retirement, not saving enough etc.) but I know that I’m in much better financial shape then I was 5 years ago. That gives me hope to keep plugging away so that 5 years from now I’m in a great place.
Quite honestly KK, I just don’t have the energy to deal with these tiny little payouts anymore. There are so many things that I need to take care of that I get overwhelmed wanting to get it all done. I have to be realistic and go at a pace that is sustainable and manageable for me. If I get overwhelmed then the risk of quitting is really high. So, I just need to focus on making as much money as I can without going crazy and exhausting myself. I’m hoping to pay off everything in 3-4 years.
This post resonates with me more than most. I also have always relied on those $7-10/hour jobs when I needed to make extra money. I often feel that they are the only thing I’m qualified to do, but that’s absolutely selling myself short. I also need to push myself to pursue only the money-making opportunities that value my time and my abilities. Good luck with your continued ventures, and I’ll keep you posted as I work on mine.
Andrea-we are more than qualified to find opportunities that will make us more money in less time. I’ve learned this the hard way. After too many years of working retail/at Starbucks, etc I’m no longer willing to settle for less than what I know I’m capable of. We are ROCKSTARS Chica! Let’s go out into the world and kick some a@@!! Keep me posted.
A lot of what you just said made me think about the part time gig I just had that interview for today. It’s TV related, but it’s only 15 per hour and I’d lose SOME flexibility in my schedule. It makes me wonder if it’s worth pursuing or and I just settling for “small rocks” as I like to call them, instead of focusing on big rocks. I don’t “need” the money per say, although it could be nice. Sometimes you gotta weigh those pros and cons…not sure if that answered your question exactly, but it’s something to think about…
I’ve worked for free and the payout was priceless (internships/volunteer work). But, I’ve sold myself short so many times for so little that I’m unwilling to do that anymore. As I discover ways to make the equivalent of what I make in a day in one or two hours I find myself basically addicted to duplicating that process over and over again! I’ve sold myself short for way too long.
Making extra money gives you the confidence to try other things and helps alleviate money worries. I am starting to realize the difference between energy vs payout and I’m about at my limit. I want to focus on the bigger jobs, and grow, learn and make that money!
The more I learn how to identify money making opportunities the more in control I feel about my situation. As I was already super burnt out prior to starting this whole journey, I was very resistant to doing anything that would have me: standing on my feet/not paying enough/etc. I’ve already put in more than enough time doing that and it just wasn’t working for me. M-you will make money!! You’re ready for it.
I am not too sure if I have had the “moment” yet, but I think I will be ready for it when it happens. Right now I am in the vicious cycle of worrying about the lack of money. I am working side jobs and hustling, but I always want/need to make more to accomplish my financial goals.
Michelle, just stay consistent and the moment will happen. Are you going to FinCon? We have to swap stories. Let me know.