Finding your financial flow

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Finding Your Financial Flow

Transcript of Finding your financial flow

Finding Your Financial Flow

What is Money?What is Wealth?Changing our Money MindsetUnderstanding our Beliefs on MoneyUnderstanding our Money PersonalityPricing our Services Understanding and Communicating our Value

What we’ll be covering

15 Years in Financial Planning Industry

Seeking work / life balance in 2011 started my own business

9 months later we decided to sell all our possessions, buy a caravan and travel around Australia

My Story

Spent 18 months “on the road” ran my business which grew to 10 staff

2013 sold my business

2013/14 became writer for online financial literacy website

2014 studied yogaBecame partner in financial planning business

My Story

• When many of us think health and wellness, we think exercise, nutrient-rich foods, sleep, healthy relationships. We rarely think money.

• But financial wellness is a component of overall wellness.

• Finances are one of the leading causes of stress and stress is one of the leading causes of illness.

Financial Wellness

• Having a conscious and purposeful relationship with money that is satisfying and not overly stressful.

This might include things like:

• spending money based on our values,

• savings towards meaningful and personal financial goals,

• having low debt,

• having a safety net and emergency fund.

Defining Financial Wellness

• I like to think of money as energy.

• We use money to value our time, energy, talents, wisdom, services, skills etc.

• We also trade money for things we need and want in our lives that we don’t have the skills, time or knowledge to be able to create ourselves. Like a car, or a loaf of bread or some clothes.

• As with all energy - it needs flow – a lack of flow can cause dis-ease and stress.

• Energy also needs balance. When we have balance, we know that whatever we need will be provided for.

Defining Money

Let’s imagine for a moment that money were a person… would you?

1. Be best friends.

2. Avoid it like the plague?

3. Avoid getting to know it?

4. Beg for it to be there for you – but never open the door or let it in?

5. Blame it for all your problems?

6. Expect it to leave you?

What if Money were a Person?

• Even if we’ve got a “healthy” relationship with money… we don’t often talk about it.

• Because we don’t talk about it, and we aren’t taught to manage it from early age, we lack awareness of it.

- Asking someone how much they earn?

• For most of us, money is wired to a lot of emotional and psychological buttons.

• We tie our self-worth to our salary or bank balance and we hold many limiting beliefs on an unconscious level

• In society we often use the Money and Wealth interchangeably which means wealth accumulation is often defined as the generation of more income or assets to create a better financial position.

• Money is a tool and it can help us obtain and achieve wealth. But it's not wealth itself. You may think you truly value money, but I would suggest that it's more likely to be the peace of mind and security that money brings, or what you can do with your money that you truly value.

• As we learn more about our relationship with money, a new way of thinking reveals itself about what it means to be truly wealthy.

Money Vs. Wealth

1. Be aware.

We need to be aware of our money challenges or story. Our beliefs. We need to look at them for what they really are.

2. Accept what is.

Acceptance has to come from deep inside, even if it’s uncomfortable.

3. Allow changes to occur.

This is where we invite some flow into our lives and create an environment that is conducive to flow (i.e. healthy habits).

4. Take action, we take small steps.

We involve others, whether it be family or friends or professionals and we reward ourselves when we make progress.

4 Steps to Changing Your Money Mindset

• What many of us don’t know is that we personally get to define what it is that makes us wealthy and we can work towards it.

• When we stop and think about what is meaningful and real for us, it can be so much easier to achieve.

• Have you ever really considered what things in your life you would need in order to feel truly wealthy?

What is Meaningful to You?

1. My family and the friends

2. My health

3. My yoga practice

4. Time at the beach

5. Freedom

6. Travelling

7. Giving back to others

My “Wealth” List

A wealthy life means to me is:

• Doing what I really enjoy while making money doing it

• Having strong relationships full of mutual love and respect

• Knowing why I’m here and living my purpose every day.

• Wealth = connection, love and a sense of purpose.

Create a list of all the things that you need or would like in your life, in order to feel truly wealthy.

Remember:

• It’s your list so you get to make the rules

• The list can be as short or long as you need it to be.

• It can include emotions, feelings, possessions, experiences, and specific people.

• Don’t put down things that you think you should be putting down.

• Go with you intuition on this and write the things that resonate most with you.

• There are no right or wrong answers here. We are just exploring what it is that makes us feel wealthy.

Defining Wealth - Exercise

Love Coffee Singing Freedom Being a Leader Red Wine Dreaming Dancing Training Beach Hugs Music Holidays Peace Health Laughter Exercise

Business Creating Sense of Purpose Friendship Cooking

Story Time Family Trust Money Music

Travelling A Happy Home Pets Growing/Gardening Kisses Sleep Independence Nice Clothes

Good Food Surfing Photography Learning

Some ideas…

• Our adult money habits are set by the age of seven years old!

• Money beliefs are ideas, thoughts or opinions that impact your money behaviour.

• Most people believe that money beliefs are formed as a result of experience, however our beliefs may have been influenced by our parents, peers, schooling and the media.

• Beliefs actually come from the way we interpret our experiences.

• As our beliefs are reinforced over time, they move into our unconscious mind.

• These beliefs that lurk in our unconscious mind can interfere and challenge us and unless we articulate them consciously, they cannot be confronted or changed.

Our Money Story

• High income = high net worth / Low income = low wealth

• If I work hard, I deserve to do well financially

• Financial Standing = Social standing/ self worth

• There is not enough money to go around

• Rich people are greedy

• I’m not smart enough to make lots of money

• Money scares me

• Money isn’t important to me

• I’m creative, money bores me

Common Money Beliefs

• What you believe about money will play a great role in your level of level of financial success or lack of it. Most of us don’t think about our beliefs, we just act on them.

• We can replace limiting beliefs and with empowering and supporting beliefs and overwrite the limiting beliefs by replacing them with positive affirmations.

But there’s a catch:

• You won’t develop empowering beliefs just by deciding that you want to.

• Conscious decision about what you want to believe isn’t enough, for a belief to really serve you, it has to be something that you resonate with on every level, conscious and unconscious.

Limiting Money Beliefs

1. Discover the limiting belief and write it down/ share it

2. Dismantle this belief – where did it come from? Is it really true? How is this belief holding you back / limiting you from what you want to achieve? Adding new information and evidence – to dispel this belief.

3. Replace this with a new empowering belief. This new belief has to be one that you generate yourself, in your own language so that it reflects your world, your values. It should provide you with a sense of motivation

The 3 Step Process

1. Money is the root of all evil

Money is neutral and a resource to do good in my life

2. Money is not that important. It’s only money

Money is one of my priorities in life

3. Money is there to be spent

The money I don’t spend, makes me rich

4. The rich get richer and poor get poorer

My financial reality is entirely up to me

5. I’m just not good with money.

I learn and use knowledge about money everyday

The Top 10 Limiting Beliefs

6. My family has never been rich

I can create my financial independence by learning and acting on it

7. Money is a limited resource

There is enough money to create financial abundance

8. You have to work (too) hard to get wealthy

To get wealthy I just provide REAL value for others and ask a good price for it.

9. I need money to be happy

Money is just one part of my life and one part of my happiness.

10. It’s selfish to want a lot of money

The money I earn shows the value I create for others.

• Your Money Personality indicates what your money preferences are

• Recognises that different people prefer to pursue their financial and lifestyle goals in different ways.

• Similar to the Myer – Briggs type profiling

• Provides info on:

Strengths / Growth Opportunities / Goal Setting

Wealth Creation Style / Communication / Stress

Your Money Personality

Owl – The Logicals

Dolphin – The Humanities

Labradors – The Custodian

Monkeys – The Adaptables

In 2002 a study was conducted to identify the ideal psychological type for money management.

Interestingly, as published in the paper “the psychology of money” (Ware), the researcher was unable to identify the ideal psychological type for money management.

Instead, it was concluded, “all personality types can be winners, but they must first understand their own strengths and weaknesses and compensate accordingly. This sort of self-knowledge leads to wisdom and personal mastery.”

The Ideal Money Personality

• You don’t have to choose between love or money. Many of us think we have to choose between doing the work we love and earning a good living. Or we believe that by putting a price tag on doing what we love it will change or even ruin it.

• Additionally, when we are starting out, many of us are happy to get “any” money from our services or for our products, particularly if we are passionate about what we do.

• BUT if you settle or expect less, you not only leave your potential on the table but a lot of money on the table as well.

Pricing our Services & Understanding Our Value

Most of us charge too little for our work. We unconsciously set our pricing based on fear, self-doubt or limiting beliefs around money.

Top 5 common limiting beliefs when it comes to charging for our services:

1. I’m not worthy / Who am I to charge that much?

2. My tribe / clients / customers doesn’t have money

3. No one else is charging that much

4. The economy is bad

5. I don’t need to charge that much

Common Limiting Beliefs around Pricing

How not to price your services / offering:

1. Charging by what we think we’re worth

2. Charging based on what others are charging – there is some value in knowing your industry’s prices in general.

3. Charging on a per hour basis – you are offering way more than just your time.

How not to price

Instead we should:

Charged based on results – the value we provide

Clients want to know they are getting a Return on Their Investment in our product or service.

Unique value for passion-based workers is very close to the heart. It’s why you do what you do. It’s the heart and soul of who you are.

Start by looking at your mission. Don’t just expect that others will “Get it” show them why.

Ask yourself:

• Why do you do your passion?

• What do you bring to the table that no one else does?

• What do you contribute to the world?

Your Unique Value

Some things that your clients might get from working with you / buying from you:

• Money

• Time

• Health

• Beauty

• Wellness

• Peace of Mind

• Freedom

• Direction

• Connection

• Sense of Purpose

It’s important that you show clients that the money they are spending will tangibly improve their life in some way that they will get their investment back and more, in ways that are meaningful to them.

Things Clients Value

The fact is, when you don’t charge enough, people don’t value what you have to offer.

You don’t want to overcharge, but research has confirmed that people don’t value what they don’t pay for.

“Influence” by Robert Cialdini – tells of a friend, a jeweller who asked her assistant to reduce the cost of some turquoise jewellery to half price, because no one was buying it. The assistant misunderstood and doubled the price – the jewellery sold out.

Higher price quite often = higher quality (perception) in people’s minds.

1. Start giving written quotes – illustrate value

2. Have a set price list – take the emotion out of it

3. Stop Apologising – sorry devalues our value

4. Remember that people choose to buy from you – they are not forced to make a decision to buy from you

5. People need what you have to offer – maybe you can’t imagine being paid for something that comes so easily to you, but remember, to someone that needs it, your product, service or skill is valuable. And people are willing to pay for what they need.

6. Let go of the need to be liked all the time – we’re in business to do something we love, we’re good at and to be paid for it.

7. Be comfortable that we can’t win all customers – not everyone is going to like you. Focus your energy on those that resonate with your message and business.

8. Know your offer – it can be very hard to promote something that isn’t clear or doesn’t make sense to you. If it doesn’t make sense to you it won’t make sense to others either. You constantly have to explain yourself. Get clear on your offer and business.

Top 20 tips for charging/pricing

9. Break it down – Keep it simple and make it easy for others to understand.

10. Always round up – instead of rounding down, we should round up!

11. People are willing to pay for quality – if you go above and beyond for your clients, you’re a rare find. Mediocre is rampant. People prefer to work with someone who offers quality and who they like and trust over someone who charges less. Be the person who over deliver then you’ll be confident in the value you offer.

12. Be clear on your value proposition – what you offer than no one else does.

13. Keep a personal achievement file – listing goals and accomplishments, awards, or anything that shows your focus and dedication, as well as genuine testimonials

14. Know your client – the more clarity you have on who you want to work with and what value you can add to this market, the more confident you will get in promoting your services.

15. Don’t listen to the “you’re not deserving/good enough” voice. ….

16. Know your bottom line – how much do you need to charge to make money? How much money do you need to make per client?

Top 20 tips for charging/pricing

17. Be confident – it takes nerves and self-belief. It’s okay to be uncomfortable at first.

18. Don’t fear rejection – it can be the perfect weeding out tool for clients. I’ve worked in businesses where we have had to put our ongoing price up, in some cases by double. We lost some clients but actually attracted more clients, we

19. Be okay with being paid well. I know this sounds ridiculous – who wouldn’t be okay with receiving more money? If you have a hidden belief that you’re not worth much your brain kicks into self-sabotage mode. Pay attention to how good you are at receiving money, whether it’s income or a gift. Do you get uncomfortable or a little twitchy?

20. Realise your own value. You want to go out to the marketplace and proudly say:

“This is what I bring to the table, this is what I’m worth, this is what I want to be paid” and not only believe it, but feel good about it!

Top 20 tips for charging/pricing

Questions

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