ļ»æOUTLINE
0:00:00 Introduction - Erin discusses women's emotional struggles with money.
0:00:51 Visionary Planning Day - Erin invites listeners to her event for female business owners.
0:06:00 Women's money struggles - Erin explores how beliefs and "money stories" impact women.
0:09:17 Overcoming struggles - Erin provides strategies to shift mindset and improve financial literacy.
0:18:52 Call to action - Erin encourages listeners to attend her event and use her free resource.
0:20:13 Closing - Erin thanks listeners and provides connection information.
THE ERIN DAVIS SHOW
Welcome to the Erin Davis show where we talk about money, mindset and confidence. I know that being in control of your money means that you can step into the rest of your life with confidence, because everything starts with confidence. But I also know that women carry a huge, invisible mental load when it comes to their money. Being an accountant for over 30 years, I know all the ins and outs when it comes to money, and just how heavy that emotional load can be. So while I love talking about money, for me, it goes so much deeper. While I want you to explore your relationship with money, I also want to show you how embracing connection, expansion and abundance will make you feel more centred, inspired and aligned. So are you ready?
Let's get started.
Before we get started today, I just wanted to remind everybody about the visionary planning day that I am hosting very shortly at the most beautiful place, Carrington house in Newcastle. So this Planning Day is for female business owners who really want to just take a step away from their business for the day, to be able to slow down, pause and have some clarity about what it is that they want to achieve for the next 90 days. We know that if you continue in the day to day and don't take that time to slow down and pause, everything is going to feel hard and overwhelming and just like you're on that hamster wheel continuously. So the idea of the visionary Planning Day is to just pause for a moment, slow down, get some clarity, really feel into what it is that you want to achieve for the next 90 days. Spaces are limited so itā€™s going to be nice and intimate. We're going to have other like minded female business owners there that we can bounce ideas off. And while this plan will be unique to you, it'll be your plan. However, through discussion and collaboration, we're able to draw on inspiration from those around us and really just focus on and determine what it is that we want from our business. So if you want to come along, enjoy the most beautiful space, Carrington house and indulge in some delicious treats, morning tea and afternoon tea, as well as lunch, and just really slow down for a moment, then I encourage you to take the time out and give yourself the permission that you need to be able to sit quietly and focus on your business, rather than working in your business all the time. Spaces are limited, as I said, jump on to www.erindavis.com.au/planning and you will find all the details in there.
So jumping into today's episode, itā€™s all about why we struggle with money as female business owners. This is something that I see quite often in my accounting world. And it really comes down to I believe those emotional beliefs that we have attached to money and our money stories, the struggles that we are experiencing around money often go much deeper than just that surface level idea that we have. So as women, we attach stories to everything and the emotion that's attached to that story gets stronger and stronger every time we tell a story. Now that's why you can remember something that happened yesterday, and then the same situation happened six months ago, and maybe that same situation happened five years ago. However, every time you remember the story or retell the story, the emotion that is attached to that story gets stronger and stronger and takes us right back into that space.
So when we're talking about money, it is those things that we're taught as children, like money doesn't grow on trees. You get what you get, and you don't get upset. You have to work hard for a living, or women aren't successful, whatever those stories are that you were told as a child, and it even goes back further than that. You know, it can be from our grandparents, our friends and our family, things that we were told at school, like, don't put money in your mouth because it's dirty. Anything really that has a negative connotation attached to it is something that we intrinsically just take on. And I know that for me, I have been guilty in the past of saying, Oh no, we can't afford that, or we need to watch what we're spending. And while it's good to educate our kids on money, and for me, I don't want to just go and waste money, but it's all it's all about that language that we use. And as I said, it's often unconscious. We don't even realise that we're saying those things.
However, that language is what we're talking about all the time, and it just becomes a natural way of speaking. And so I think that why women really struggle with money and in their business in particular, is because of that relationship that we have with it, which is pretty much ingrained in in our whole being. So we attach the emotion to the story. The story gets stronger and stronger. We're often ingrained with that scarcity mindset, and coming from a place of lack rather than abundance. So we're always watching for things we need to buy things on sale. You know, there's people that never pay full price for anything. They will hold out? No matter how much they need something, they will hold out until it comes on sale, and that may be completely inconvenient. However, the thought of paying full price for something really is doesn't sit well with them, and I think that we as women attach a lot of our worthiness around our money stories. And if we have that scarcity mindset, it's really like a feast or famine space that if we have money coming in, we maybe get a bit nervous, so then we have to spend it. We are fearful about investing. We're fearful about having our own money, because quite often, women are not allowed to have their own money, and I know that that still happens today, that the male partner in the relationship tends to control the money and the female is given an allowance, rather than having her own money.
So I think it's really important that we take a step back. And when we're looking at a business, and why we struggle with money in business, it comes back to our relationship with money in general. I think as women, we're also conditioned to prioritise relationships and taking care of people and putting yourself behind others. We're always putting others first. We're not putting ourselves first, and we sacrifice our own financial independence because we have to do everything for other people. And you know, when I say have to do everything for other people, a lot of people don't have to however they feel like they need to. And I know that was the case for me. Nobody ever has said to me that I need to do something or I need to act a certain way. However, the expectation that I put on myself to do things was really quite limiting, and it stopped me from really stepping forward and stepping up. So when we talk about struggles in business and with female business owners, it comes back to you know that we need to put our boundaries up to protect ourselves, so that we say yes to the right things we say no to the things that don't align, we build our confidence and build our mindset around being able to really hold our space and hold our own when it comes to money.
And I believe that we need to improve our financial literacy, which effectively just means improving our understanding of money. You know, we're not all taught at school about money. We're not all taught how to manage our money as we're growing up. I know my mum didn't teach us, but that was because she wasn't taught so there are. A lot of ingrained money stories that just flow through the generations that we don't even give another thought to. However, it's those money stories which are really impacting us and limiting us as business owners. So what can we do about it? Because it's great to become aware of these money stories. But then the next thing is, well, what do we actually do to move ourselves forward so that they are not limiting us and not holding us back?
So the first thing that I would do is increase your awareness. Start to listen to what it is that you're saying to yourself, it is about taking notice of those conversations that you're having in your head when they pop up, talking to yourself, about reframing them. So instead of, say, for instance, focusing on how much debt you're in with a home loan or a car loan, whatever business debt that you have. How about reframing that to say, well, look at this asset that I have. I have a lot of wealth sitting in this asset and focusing on that rather than the debt that's associated with it, because when you look at your home, the banks will lend various amounts, and I know that everybody is different.
However, there is going to be some equity, more than likely, probably, in that asset that you've purchased, in that home that you've purchased, which is more than the debt. But when we keep focusing on the debt, the debt is negative, and it has that heaviness that it feels and in so if you flip it around and reframe it and start to think about, well, how much of an asset, how much value is in that asset, it will start to feel lighter, it doesn't change the situation. The debt is still going to be there. When you start to reframe how you're thinking about money, the energetics of it changes. So that's the first thing that I would do, is become super aware of what it is that you are thinking and what you're saying to yourself, particularly around money, particularly around that worthiness.
Because I, as I said before, I find that the feelings of unworthiness and the struggles with money are connected. Self- doubt is connected. So when you resolve self doubt, you resolve that struggle with money. So the second thing that I would do is open yourself up to learning a new way. It is important as leaders and business owners that we are always open to learning and not thinking that we know everything, and being okay with not knowing everything, relying on people around you, finding that support network that know more about a particular topic compared to what you do will allow you to grow and When we remove that ego out of having to know everything and having to be on top of everything, particularly around money and success and what that looks like, and the fear of judgement and the self doubt and the unworthiness that we have when we remove that and strip it right back and just allow ourselves to be vulnerable and open to learning new things, it then becomes clear what those areas are that are missing, where we need to improve our learning. And you know that these things are not coming naturally to a lot of people, a lot of people actually need to learn it.
So it's okay to learn things, and it's okay to not know everything, and it's okay to rely on other people to show you and support you. So I would surround myself with people who are modelling the behaviour that you want to achieve, in business, the success that you would like to achieve. And then I would also take a step back and really connect in what is important with for you to you, because we don't want to be comparing ourselves to everybody else, however, it is important to look forward and look towards those people who are doing what you want to do, but come from a as a place of I want this for me, and they have done it so it is. Possible. So when you're talking about the struggles with money as female business owners, really check in with what it is that you're saying to yourself. We need to identify those money stories, and we need to really come on top of them, because otherwise they're going to keep perpetuating they're going to be sneaky little buggers that just show up when you least expect it, and stop you from really stepping into your power of making good smart money decisions. And we know that women, smart, modern women, make smart financial choices, and it is important that we get over this struggle, we need to be able to leverage our skills and our gifts and talents to be able to generate an income that is matches our deservingness, because we really do deserve to create the life that we want.
And so if money struggles are stopping you from stepping forward in your business, and they are really holding you back from moving to that next level, then I would check out my free download, which is at www.erindavis.com.au/kickstart and that Kickstarter is really about getting clarity on what it is that you need some help with. It's a moment in time where we stop and pause and look at where you are, and then really just step into that space of owning these money stories, owning your struggle, and being vulnerable enough to go, Yep, it's not serving me. I need to change it, and I need to do something about it. So if this is something that you would like to overcome and put those struggles behind you. Then jump into my checklist. Connect with me on socials. I love to chat about money and mindset and confidence, and I really think that when we start to address these issues, we as women can create some more money. Beautiful money allows us to do beautiful, connected things.
It allows us to create the business that we want. Because money is not the driver for a lot of women. It is what money provides. So if you are struggling with money and making more money, or struggling with the amount of debt that you have, or unsure about anything connected to money, it is going to impact on the life that you want to lead. And we know that money creates freedom, and it also gives you time freedom, so then you can create the things that really fill your cup and when you feel good, everybody around you benefits. Your energy changes the way you show up, changes the way you interact with your kids and your friends and your clients. Everything changes, which then has a ripple effect out to the whole world. So let's get these money struggles under control. Let's really step forward and own what it is that we're feeling. And if you're not sure what to do next, then reach out, because that's my zone of genius, and that's where I love to help my clients. But the first step needs to come from you. It needs to be that you recognize there's a struggle there, and that you don't want to deal with that struggle anymore. You don't want it to be a struggle.
So I hope that that has put a little fire in your belly to go. I need to do something about these. I want to change these struggles and turn it around, reframe it, look at things from a different perspective. Because when you do, everything changes. So again, if you want to come to my visionary Planning Day, it is happening at the end of September 2024 in a beautiful Carrington house. We are going to be talking about money struggles. We are going to be talking about those money stories, but we're also going to be planning for the next 90 days. We're going to really hone in on what it is that you want get some clarity, which is another way to overcome these money struggles when you are very clear on your goals and your directions and you're aware of the emotions that are attached to it, and you have those real drivers which are emotionally based, it makes showing up in your business so much. Easier, so I will put all the links in the show notes, and I am looking forward to chatting with you next week.
