how to play the money game our way
Ultimately it’s an imperfect system. Like every other system in the world. But what we can do, while we chip away at creating a better future, is learn how to play the current game. On our terms.
The other day a friend and I met up for dinner and we talked a lot about financial independence and how important it is to be financially independent to feel well, to have good self-esteem, and to be able to make choices that benefit all.
Over several 4-bites-per-serve sized seafood mains that should have been tapas, shared out equally, and glasses of white wine from the vineyard we looked out on, we relished our momentary opulence.
Ultimately, we agreed, that what we all want is to feel secure, circulate wealth, enjoy our lives and do good.
The past six months have brought about some pretty drastic changes across the globe. Costs of living heightened, wages barely increased, some people lost jobs and it all felt kind of extreme and demeaning and unfair.
Just as we had come out from under a domino of disasters, did we need another reason to feel squeezed in our lives?
No.
But.
We get to do some really cool shit with money.
We get to live in homes with running water and heating or cooling respectively to our needs. We get to choose the foods that we like grown under the conditions of our preference. We get to go to places and see art under soft lighting or artists under spotlights sweating for their craft. We get to be those artists graciously demanding to be seen by paying for the tools required. We get to go places and have adventures and meet people who like the things we like. We get to walk down mostly safe streets and drive down mostly asphalted roads and buy steaming cups of coffee and bagels or doughnuts or little energy balls made of dates and coconut…
All those simple delights require some kind of exchange.
The exchange of currency.
Money.
Ultimately it’s an imperfect system. Like every other system in the world.
We can either feel resentment and bitterness around its deficiencies and cringe and complain about the day-to-day of our lives and the necessity to exist in this imperfect system to support ourselves. But that isn’t going to make life any better or easier.
Or…
We can accept that change is small and incremental. That change happens slowly and then eventually hopefully all at once. That what we can do, while we chip away at creating a better future, is learn how to play the current game.
On our terms. Our way.
As women, especially.
We need to learn how to play the game of money.
Whenever I speak to women about money three big stakes come up:
Feeling WORTHY and able to hold on to/manage/be good custodians of larger sums of money
Being able to ASK FOR and RECEIVE the amount of money they want/need/are worthy of, whether in a salary or in a business where they are selling products and services.
How they FEEL about money, the two ends of the spectrum being either shying away from talking about and looking at your money/accounts — or being overly controlling, but either way feeling FEAR.
I took this conversation to Instagram and asked:
WHAT IS YOUR MOST SPECIFIC MONEY CHALLENGE YOU WOULD LIKE TO CHANGE?
There were many many many good answers but these were the most common:
Sitting on the edge of the ocean in the sand on the weekend I watch a little hermit crab scurry past on its 10 little legs moving sideways over tiny sand dunes. He stops. Hesitating many times. Circling me. Searching.
I see him find a shell. A tusk-shaped spiral a little bigger than his own. He turns it around. Waddles past several times. Looks inside. Stops, again.
A few moments later that little crab crawls out of his shell, naked and alone, without protection or a home. So vulnerable. Anything could happen.
He circles his old shell a few times. Stops. Then scurries to the new one and hides inside. Slowly, slowly those 10 little legs reappear. Sideways, he’s off again.
I’ve never seen a hermit crab change shells before. It reminds me of growth. And those terrifying moments of complete defenselessness, unprotected and alone. I find myself in that strangely vulnerable place again.
Being self-employed and responsible for 100% of my income I started thinking about all the ways this could all go wrong. Old habitual thought patterns arose.
Expansion is always preceded by contraction.
I find myself in this place, every time I take a leap and grow. First comes the inner struggle. Then comes the discomfort. Then the awareness and the willingness to change. Followed by results.
I’ve been doing this process every year or so since 2014. 10 years of educating myself about finances means I know a thing or two.
I’d like to share it all with you.
her wealth
the women’s money training
5 weeks. 4 live classes. 1 accountability partner.
& a community of women from around the world, just like you.
starting: Tuesday, February 27
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