A Small Habit To Welcome Money In:
“I can’t keep it in my wallet.”
My coaching client was upset after I had assigned her a money-mindset exercise: Keep a crisp $100 bill in her wallet for the month.
The exercise was meant to reflect a larger pattern she had of bringing plenty of money into her business, but finding ways to let it leak out. “I just can’t hang onto money.” Her business should have been profitable, but she was barely getting by.
Why do I encourage people to have a $100 bill? Because our small habits communicate big things. I wanted her to get comfortable having money.
Another way to look at it: as business maven Dan Kennedy says, “Money likes friends.” Having some extra cash lying around is like an invitation to a party; more money will want to join its “friends.”
On a deeper level, the exercise communicates a lot to your brain (and heart): that scarcity doesn’t rule here. That money flows here.
It’s the same reason I encourage people to leave big tips and donate to charities right now, even if their business hasn’t taken off: there’s a flow of energy to money, and the party is more fun when more are invited, and they’re circulating throughout the rooms, without locking the doors and saying “you cannot leave!”.
Back to my client: Remember what I said earlier about our Money Stories? Well, when we dug a little deeper into why that $100 was so hard to hold on to, she shared that she had grown up poor, in a community that was also poor. She recalled a memory from childhood, when she had stolen a classmate’s school-trip money, and felt so guilty and ashamed that she never told anyone.
The stolen amount? $100.
This is where my background as a therapist was helpful. Together we talked through how this wasn’t about bad financial-skills, this was about the horrible guilt she still associated with money, her deep belief that “I can’t be trusted with money”.
She did some deep work to heal from her childhood mistake, to forgive her younger self, and to come into the present with fresh eyes. Her profits increased, and more of her money stayed (even as she was generously giving to others). But even better, she was able to enjoy it, because she trusted herself again.
I talk about money (and power), but it’s not about the money: It’s about your business wanting to heal you and grow you.
I want to challenge you to try it. Put a $100 bill in your wallet. Leave some cash lying around here and there, where you can see it. Carry plenty of $5 bills in your pocket so you can leave extra tips when you get coffee or takeout. Notice what it brings up for you. Does it feel good? Uncomfortable? Strange?
Feel free to let me know about your experience. At the very least, bring kindness and curiosity to your responses to money. And be on the lookout for more thoughts about this topic in the future.
-Jane