Hey leaders! We’re here for episode 46! I love talking finances, especially with you in the Direct Sales community. Financial freedom is one of the best perks of a successful Direct Sales business yet I sense the topic is still taboo for so many. So let’s get into it.
This episode is logged in my podcast category “Big Leaps To Future Financial Freedom”. I have several episodes in this category around Wise Wealth. You can find them all at crazybigdreams.biz/podcast. I hope you’ll take a listen to each if you haven’t already.
You can find the full transcript of this episode at crazybigdreams.biz/46.
What does it mean to you to feel fulfilled financially? To have a high level of satisfaction with your finances. Let me qualify what I mean by finances first and then I’ll ask you to choose a number between one and ten. Ten being high and one being a low level of fulfillment with your finances.
When you rate your current level of satisfaction and fulfillment with your finances I’m not asking if you’re content with the amount of money you have. Most could always want more wealth. And if you’re curious about the difference between wealth and money take a listen to episode 4 at crazybigdreams.biz/4.
What I mean when I ask you how you feel about your current finances I’m referring to your relationship to your finances, not how much money you have.
Does that surprise you?
So what do I mean when I refer to your relationship with your finances? How you feel about this is largely influenced by the adults that raised you and had an impact on your upbringing. Parents yes, but others as well.
It’s how you view your current finances and how you feel about money and wealth.
For some, there’s insecurity regardless of the zeros in the bank account. For others they don’t want for anything and wealth has maybe become a love-hate topic because of how it’s changed important relationships in their life.
Let me share a personal story to give you an example of what I mean when I refer to your relationship with finances.
For over a decade when I worked in corporate America, climbing the ladder, I worked one hundred percent on commission. Literally, the more money I made, the bigger my paychecks were, and the more successful I was at my job. There was a direct correlation between how much I was making and how successful I saw myself, professionally. That’s what the compensation plan was rewarding.
I had no idea I was defining my professional success based on the size of my paychecks until I left that job and that company.
Suddenly I felt like a complete failure because my paycheck was a whopping big fat zero. I felt I had no professional worth. It was an identity crisis of no small proportion. Remember, I was in that compensation plan for over a decade. So it was ingrained in me.
Riding the highs of the big, almost unbelievable paychecks and what I would do with that. The independence it gave me. To navigating creatively through the painful, low, scary, frightening paychecks looking forward to the first of the next month and that fresh start. Can you relate?!
Isn’t it funny how weighty the first of the month can feel, either way? Because what a refreshing feeling when we learn to not look at the calendar. I dedicate episode 47 to this topic. You can grab a listen and get the full transcript at crazybigdreams.biz/47.
I would have rated my current level of fulfillment and satisfaction around my relationship to finances a zero at that time because I didn’t have a healthy separation between success and earnings.
Direct Sales earnings are so much like working on commission. You work your business in income-producing activity and your earn, for the most part. There are nuances, yes. But it’s much more like commission than salary, hourly, or any kind of guaranteed type of pay. You get me with this? Yes?
So let me ask you, on a scale of 1 to 10, what is your current level of satisfaction and fulfillment with your finances? It’s tricky, isn’t it? Don’t factor in how much you do or don’t have, or how many zeroes are in your bank account. It’s not about the amount, but your relationship to earnings, to finances, to currency. 10 is high and 1 is low. What’s your current level of satisfaction and fulfillment to your finances?
Here are a few questions to help you rate your current level of satisfaction and fulfillment with your finances.
Are you riding the roller coaster of emotion with the calendar week to week and month to month?
Do you operate with a spending plan that you look forward to each month, quarter, and year?
Are you invested in all the areas you want to be for future financial security?
Do you have open and supportive conversations with your family about finances or is it a stressful topic that’s avoided?
Do you engage your kids in educating them about finances and do you all have fun with it?
Do you have a well-rounded definition of success for yourself?
If you have children, teens, or older, how would they describe your definition of success for yourself? What about your definition of success for them?
These are just a few questions to get you thinking about how you would rate your current level of fulfillment and satisfaction with your finances. I hope they help you see that finances are about so much more than the amount.
I think of money as currency. It’s simply what we exchange for goods and services. I’ve done a ton of work over the years to redefine success for myself professionally. That work was worth it and I enjoy a much healthier perspective when it comes to my finances.
Hop over to Instagram @Yourcrazybigdreams and share 1 to 10 what your current relationship is to your finances. Aren’t you curious how others feel about this?
The best is yet to come. Always.
