Finances are quickly becoming a priority for lots of us these days. Whether you’re already noticing your budget’s squeezed more than usual, or just “get finances sorted” to the long list of things you really ought to make some time to think about it can be hard to know where to start.
After all, there’s plenty of conflicting advice out there.
- Should you be ditching the fancy coffees and cutting the treats from the grocery budget?
- Booking in a professional to tell you what to do with pensions, ISAs and investments?
- Looking at changing careers or getting out of the salary trap and starting your own business?
It’s not simple.
Confused about where to focus when it comes to getting your finances sorted?
I remember so vividly that feeling of confusion around my finances, and how much underlying shame there was around not knowing what to focus on. Conscious or not – if you’re a high-achiever who likes to achieve her goals and feel competent – shame will likely be there.
Personally, I always hated feeling confused about my financial priorities when I was so clear and driven in other aspects of my life.
Yes, I’m lucky. I had the luxury of a fantastic education and a supportive family – and I’m well aware of that privilege. But in a way, that only added to the guilt I felt about not really feeling confident when it came to decisions about money.
It wasn’t that I didn’t have the resources to be on the path to financial freedom…
… I just didn’t have a clue what that really meant or where to start.
When I started trying to get my finances sorted I was just starting to learn more about personal development. I remember listening to these “wealth manifesting” meditations and thinking “is this really it? Do I just need to open my heart to abundance and watch my bank account grow?”
(Urmm, no.)
And I wasn’t an exception.
You don’t know what you don’t know
I might have known enough to get into medical school. I might have trusted my instincts enough to drop out of said med school and choose a completely different field instead.
But when it came to really taking control of my money, and understanding how my day to day spending connected to my personal goals and the change I wanted to create in the world…
I drew a blank.
Now, having supported thousands of women to take the steps to look at their money stuff, I know just how widespread this is.
Women are routinely sidelined when it comes to finances. So it’s no wonder many of us don’t feel confident.
We’re patronised. Undermined, or called “naive” or “idealistic”. Told money’s something men know more about. That we’re only going to mess up. That we don’t know enough about investments, or we’re going to make bad decisions. Or just that money isn’t something to be talked about.
Maybe you’ve unconsciously ended up in a relationship where your partner tends to have the final say in your finances. Or you find yourself replicating patterns of earning and spending that feel like hangovers from your student days, instead of considered decisions from a woman in control.
It’s OK. You can change your approach to money.
In the words of Emilie Bellet, founder and CEO of Vestpod and host of The Wallet podcast,
“All too often, women feel patronized and excluded when it comes to financial matters. That, combined with the fact that money is still and taboo and that most of us were never taught how to manage our finances, makes it difficult to know where and how to start making better financial decisions. The financial services industry is laden with jargon and the products on offer – from ISAs to pensions – are difficult to navigate.
It’s important that women aren’t too hard on themselves. It’s okay to start from scratch, as long as you start somewhere. “
It starts with the choice to change
For me, eventually, something shifted.
I realized that in every other area of my life where I’d achieved success, I’d made an effort to learn what I needed to know. No one expected me to rock up on the first day at med school and make a diagnosis, or take a blood sample, or reassure a frightened patient.
As an actor, I knew I’d have to train to feel confident standing on stage. To know how to feel natural in my body, and connect with an audience, and project emotion.
I was prepared to start at the beginning, and learn. To approach getting my finances sorted as just another thing I was excited to learn about and practice.
And as soon as I did that… I started to see results. Not big ones at first, but a sense of confidence. Of knowing where my priorities were and how I was going to get there. Baby step by baby step.
Once I started to see those results…
… I started learning more.
… raising my goals.
… beginning to imagine how I could give back with my money (this is something so many women do. We don’t see money as status, we see it as a way to create change.).
And that financial confidence?
Went from feeling good, to opening up brand new possibilities.
What changes when you sort out your money stuff
For me? Everything.
I took my second business to 7 figures in 12 months.
I was able to step up as a financial investor in The Hunger project – an organisation whose mission I adore.
I founded One of many to help empower one million grassroots women leaders around the world
The more I understood what wealth could help me achieve – and how I could make progress towards it. The more I was able to have the impact I really wanted to.
Want to get your finances sorted?
On 19th February, I’m going to lead a group of women through Wealth Insights.
A 4 hour live virtual training to help you understand where you’re at financially, and how you can figure out your priorities.
So you can go from someone who feels like getting their money stuff sorted is an endless thing on the to do list…
… to being a confident, focused women on the path to financial freedom for her and her family.
This is for you if you’re ready to…
- Understand why you are where you are financially, and the beliefs and patterns impacting your decisions.
- Focus on what will make the biggest difference to your finances. Should you be cutting out your expensive coffee habit or moving your ISA?
- Start to see your money as really making an impact – to you, to your loved ones, and to the causes you support.
- Be a real force for generational change as a woman wielding financial power.
- Shape a just, equitable and sustainable future for all of us.
Frankly, this is the training I wish had existed when I was trying to figure out how I could really make a difference in the world.
Whether you’re in chaos or just wondering why being financially responsible has to feel so bloody hard…
I’ve got you.
And if you’re keen to get started right away – here’s something to dig into right now. It’s called the Stages of Wealth and it’s a free tool to help you figure out exactly where you are right now, and what you need to focus on next. Click here to download it now – we’ll dig into all the details on the 19th.
Our intention is simple. To support professional women to handle the day-to-day so they can unleash the bigger impact they feel called to make in the world.
We believe real leadership is less about skill, and more about having a well of physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual strength to draw on. Every week we support thousands of grassroots leaders globally with our free articles, videos and online trainings with powerful tools and methodologies created BY women FOR women.
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