Are You Scared of Money?

Are you scared of money? At first glance, most people, especially if you are an entrepreneur or small business owner, will respond with, “That’s ridiculous! Of course I’m not afraid of money; that’s the very reason I’m in business for myself. In fact, I’d love to make a lot of it.”

(If you would prefer to listen to this article, just click on the player below, or continue reading)

Fair enough. Then let me ask you a second question. Are you making as much money as you would like in your business? I’d wager the answer to this one is a resounding “No!”

And, I’m betting at this point you are busy justifying that “no” with a laundry list of reasons why you aren’t more successful, with common excuses such as “the economy is awful and no one is buying”, “I have too much competition” or even “I’m just so busy doing everything in my business that I don’t have time to market it!”

I’ll save the detailed reasons why all those arguments are false for another day, just suffice it to say that even in this economy, plenty of people are spending money, you can easily differentiate yourself from the competition and until you make some time to work “on” your business instead of “in” it, you will never make your business a success.

Whenever I’ve had an in-depth conversation with someone about why they are not as successful as they want to be in their business, it always comes down to one thing…

fear.

I’ve written articles before dealing with some of these Fear Factors, as I like to call them, things like being afraid you don’t know enough, fear of failure and so forth, but the underlying fear for many people is…

you guessed it…

fear of money. This fear is almost never directly stated and is most often articulated as the fear of success, but it really comes down to actually being afraid to make large sums of money.

Why is this? After all, money is something most people would love to have more of, as it enables you to not only provide for the basics such as food and a house to live in, but let’s you enjoy some of the finer things in life as well, such as great vacations, sending your children to a really good school or finally getting that sailboat you’ve always dreamed about.

But let’s take a closer look. Deep down, what do you really think about money? One way to get at this is to ask yourself what sorts of things did you hear about money in your family when you were growing up?

Were they messages of scarcity? Money doesn’t grow on trees you know! We can’t afford that! A penny saved is a penny earned. We’ll never be able to own a car like that, but oh well, we have each other.

And look at how our culture characterizes wealth with these common expressions: filthy rich, dirty money and so forth. Rich people are commonly portrayed as bad, unfeeling monsters in the movies and on television.

Some of our religious institutions have done little to alleviate the problem, with their mischaracterizations of money as evil and leading people to believe that poor people are somehow more noble than people who have worked to accumulate wealth.

And, some solo entrepreneurs, particularly coaches, seem to think that making money and serving their clients are mutually exclusive. Getting stuck in this type of “poverty consciousness” is common.

You may think you are immune to such influences, but don’t negate the power of your unconscious mind to absorb these negative money messages you have been exposed to over your lifetime. New research shows that even something as ordinary as the softness or hardness of the chair you are sitting on at the car dealer’s can influence how much you end up paying for that new vehicle!

So what should you do with this information? A first step is to really look at your associations around money, especially the messages you got from your family and how you think about people who are really wealthy (be honest with yourself!)

Then look at your own money behaviors. Are you resisting raising your fees because you are afraid your clients will see you as greedy or self-serving? “But Ellen”, you say, “I’m just basing my fees on what others in my industry are charging.”

I’ve got news for you. Most coaches, consultants and other service professionals are way undercharging for their services, so if you are modeling your fees after them, you are on a one-way street to the poorhouse!

Take my word for it that you can raise your fees today by a third, and no one will even blink an eye. Of course, you have to know that the value you provide to your clients is there. If you can demonstrate that value to them, then they will gladly pay you for your assistance.

So give yourself a money makeover. Examine your deep beliefs about money and if they don’t serve you anymore, then discard them for new, empowering ones. Then get really clear on the value you provide for your clients and raise your fees.

Now the only problem you’ll have is what to do with all that money!