My Declaration on Money - When I Grow Up

My Declaration on Money - When I Grow Up Todays the start of the Money topic for The Declaration of Yous Blog Lovin Tour, and I feel a bit frozen. See, Money was the chapter that almost didnt make the book. When Jess I decided on the Big Topics we wanted to include, Money was a no-brainer because, well, it seems to be The Biggest scary topic we could find. So big and scary, actually, that it was the very last one we wrote. We talked about cutting it. About it being Too Big to include. About leaving it to someone else. About it not fitting in to these less tangible topics in the book. But we know probably, subconsciously, because we wanted to scrap it how important it was to leave in. How our relationship to Money is often a factor we hear about again and again in what stops us from defining, creating, and living a passionate, fulfilling life. How it makes up really valid, very tangible excuses as to why one thing and/or another cant be done. How its the root of very many fears. Of course, if you want to tell your jerkface boss to shove it without having to follow it up with a move to your parents basement, youll need money. And in order to delegate the stuff that doesnt play to your strengths (think laundry, designing graphics or painting your house), youll need money. And to engage in extreme self-care (like a week-long cruise or a spa retreat), youll need money. And to fund your Big Glamorous Goals (like that summer house in Sonoma), youll need money. We not only need to go from a scarcity mindset to one of abundance, but we need to be able to see that money can be used as a force for good but most likely doesnt need to be a motivating force. Even though its super scary for me to admit to you, Ive had the goal to have a six-figure business for the past 2 years, and Im not there yet. Im on track to get there or at least get closer than I ever have before this year, but since Ive fallen short more than once and it still often seems like a pipe dream, it sometimes makes me feel like Im failing. Like Ive been doing something wrong. Like who I am and what I do isnt enough. I realize now that The Six-Figure Goal Ive set for myself and the fact that I havent reached it negates all of my other amazeballs work. The thousands of people Ive helped. The relationships Ive formed. The book Ive published. The corporate job that I left. The people Im able to employ. The positive message I send. The optimism I enthuse. I never got into this coaching business because of all the money I expected to make. On the contrary I expected to struggle for quite a while (if not longer) and even to being an optimistic pessimist back in 2007 spectacularly fail. I became The When I Grow Up Coach because, above all, Im motivated by building relationships, knew that I was a stellar communicator (yup, Ill own it), and was lit up by the thought of being the career coach I needed when I decided to give up acting. Im not sure when the shift happened. When the main way I felt validated was to count the money coming in to feel badly when it fell below expectations, to be on a high when it rose above them. That said, I have gotten a big case of the warm fuzzies celebrated in various ways when I reached the milestones I listed above, so thats not nothing. Now, with this post, my declaration around money is to release it. To let go of the goal and all expectations. To keep moving forward with the work that lights me up, that helps others, that builds relationships. That is when Ill know that Ive done everything right and I can trust that the Money will follow. What belief around Money is holding you back? How do you want to reframe it? Whats your declaration around it? Use the comments below to answer these questions, or join us by writing a post on your own blog!