There’s a story about an experienced mountain climber who trips, falls, and is clinging precariously to the side of a ledge.
“Help me, God,” she cries.
Suddenly she hears a voice.
“I’ll help you Sadie, but first you must do one thing,”
“I’ll do anything,” she says.
And the voice replies, “You gotta’ let go of the ledge.”
I dream of the day when every woman knows, deep down, that she has the capacity to create wealth and the confidence to actually do it.
I suspect for some of you, however, the mere mention of the “W” word feels wrong, bad, like ‘how can I be rich when so many are poor?’
But consider the words of Abraham Lincoln: “If you want to help a poor person, do not be one.”
Besides, creating wealth is about far more than amassing riches. It’s about waking up to the truth of who you are and the power you have, the enormous power, to not only create wealth but to use it as a tool to help others.
All my life, I’ve been a self-improvement junkie. Show me a seminar touting personal growth and it was like throwing raw meat to a ravenous lion. I’d hungrily pounce on it.
But then, in 2020 when life went into lockdown, removing a myriad of distractions, I noticed something disturbing—how brutally critical I am of me. This wasn’t a new insight, of course, but I began to see how awful it felt.
So, I made a conscious decision. Rather than pushing myself to improve, I decided to practice Radical Self-Acceptance, loving myself, warts and all…especially the warts.
Don’t get me wrong. I still aspire to be better. But I’m finding a remarkable sense of freedom and well-being as I learn to fully embrace my shortcomings and my strengths, my achievements and my failures, without fear or false humility, without shame or recrimination.
One thing I know for sure—Your financial foundation is only as strong as your personal integrity.
The word integrity comes from a Latin root, meaning wholeness or entirety. Integrity demands your words and deeds consistently reflect your deepest truths.
Or, as A Course in Miracles puts it, “There is nothing you say that contradicts what you think or do.”
Whenever you’re settling for less than you truly desire, working at a job you hate, making excuses, rationalizing, spending money you don’t have, not honoring your most cherished values and authentic truths, you’re out of integrity, giving away your power and sabotaging your success.
I spent most of my adult life in a financial fog as opaque as pea soup…and frustrating as hell. If you can relate, you’re certainly not alone.
Millions of women today are stuck in a financial fog so thick and threatening, they can’t find their way to wealth and well-being. And the consequences can be devastating…on our self-esteem as well as our future security.
The way out of this miasma is not by learning more financial facts, but by first understanding then lifting the fog.
This fog is made up of a matrix of issues–suppressed emotions, limiting beliefs, childhood wounds stemming from cultural conditioning, parental messages, unhealed trauma and hidden shame.
Let’s talk about the Higher Work of Wealth—something I believe is missing when we talk about financial success.
The financial media focuses almost exclusively on the Outer Work of Wealth—learning the practical facts, like understanding the difference between a stock and a bond or how to diversify your retirement account.
Granted, we’re seeing more articles, even books exploring the Inner Work of Wealth—overcoming internal blocks, negative attitudes and limiting beliefs we have about Wealth.
But discussions of the Higher Work of Wealth are rare. Though it’s certainly a hot topic in my online community, The Wealth Connection. I believe for most women, the real motivation to create wealth–what keeps us going when resistance rears its ugly head—is not amassing more money.
In work, as in life, there are only 2 games you can play.
I call the first game the Underearners Game or Not to Lose Game. The second game is the High Earners Game or To Win Game.
Underearners play the Not to Lose Game, which means focusing on playing it safe, looking good and staying comfortable, avoiding anything that could possibly be scary, awkward, embarrassing or (gasp!) lead to failure.
High Earners play the To Win Game by going as far as they can with all that they’ve got. And when they fall, they get back up and keep going. Which means, despite their fear, they keep playing full out.
Which one are you playing? (Be honest, now!)
Want to make more money? Well, I’ve got the secret. And I’ll bet it’s not what you think.
It sure wasn’t what I expected when I interviewed hundreds of high earners for my books; Secrets of Six-Figure Women and Overcoming Underearning®.
Very few of these highly successful women were driven by money, yet they still demanded to be well compensated because – and here’s the Big Secret – they felt they were worth it.
The good news is that it’s possible for all of us to build up our self worth. Here are some tips for pumping up your self-esteem along with your net worth:
I want to share the inspiring tale of a woman (I’ll call her Jane) who discovered the stunning power of women joining with other women to take their financial lives higher.
I’ve never met Jane. But recently, she emailed me to say a good friend started an Overcoming Underearning® Book Club, that she joined. The club of five women meet monthly, at 7:30 am for what they dubbed, “OU Power Breakfasts.”
They read a different financial book each month. I am proud to report the first was mine — Overcoming Underearning®. Next was On My Own Two Feet: A Modern Girl’s Guide to Personal Finance by Manisha Thakor and Sharon Kedar.
