#30 Money Mindset: Empower Your Life - The Art of Decisive Action Part 2

Join me on part 2 of an enlightening journey through the intricacies of decision-making and money mindset. Explore the powerful distinction between preferences and decisions in the realm of personal finance. Uncover the significance of awareness, identifying patterns, and making intentional decisions in shaping a robust money mindset. Learn to cut off from mere desires and embrace actionable steps towards financial empowerment. Dive into actionable insights to shift your mindset from playing small to embracing an expanded identity, and discover the importance of consistent action in achieving lasting financial change. Tune in to this episode and embark on a transformative journey towards financial empowerment and abundance.

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Today I want to dive into a crucial aspect of personal finance – the decision-making process and how it can shape our money mindset. In a recent discussion, I explored the profound difference between preferences and decisions, and it got me thinking about the choices we make in our financial lives.

1. Preferences vs. Decisions: Cutting Off from the "Would Like" Mentality

Let's start by addressing a common mindset trap - the preference game. I asked the question, "Would you prefer to have less financial stress?" It's easy to say yes, but the real power lies in making a decision. Deciding means cutting off from the mere desire and committing to action.

2. Awareness and Patterns: Understanding Your Financial Landscape

To truly make impactful decisions, awareness is key. Take a closer look at your current financial patterns. Evaluate your results in areas like health, wealth, and relationships. Understanding these patterns allows you to identify priorities and make informed decisions about where you want to go.

3. Riding the Decision Line: Embracing Change

Many of us find ourselves dancing on the decision line between our preferences and actual decisions. It's crucial to recognize the difference between saying, "I'd like to" and "I'm doing this." When you've made a decision, the back-and-forth dance stops, and you commit to a path.

4. Identity Shift: Embracing an Expanded Identity

Our brains are wired to avoid pain, seek pleasure, and conserve energy. This often translates to staying in our comfort zones. To break free, consider the identity you've embraced. Are you playing small to avoid discomfort, or are you ready to embrace an expanded identity? Remember, you're made for more.

5. Doing the Reps: Consistent Action for Lasting Change

Making a decision is just the beginning. Like a gym membership, it's not enough to show up; you must do the reps. Identify areas in your life where you're already succeeding and replicate that success elsewhere. Take baby steps, be consistent, and watch the positive changes unfold.

6. Applying the Mindset Shift to Finances

Now, let's apply this mindset shift to your money matters. Whether it's budgeting, saving, discussing finances with your spouse, or exploring additional income streams, identify one area where you can cut off from preferences and make a firm decision.

Embrace the Journey to Financial Empowerment

In conclusion, transforming your money mindset is a journey that requires awareness, decision-making, and consistent action. Recognize your patterns, cut off from mere preferences, embrace an expanded identity, and commit to doing the reps. You're made for more, and with each decision, you step closer to financial empowerment.

Here's to embracing a mindset shift and transforming your financial future!

Transcription:

00:00

Let's talk more about that decision line and making a decision, which if you remember from the last episode, if you didn't listen to it, go back and listen to it. We're talking about the word decision, which has Latin roots meaning to cut off from and to actually what a decision is versus this is where I want to dig into this a little bit more that like, well, I'd like to and we're going to talk

00:28

preferences versus decision. So here's the thing. I wanna ask you, would you prefer to have less stress in your life financially? Would you prefer to make more money, to have another stream of income? Would you prefer to have higher savings? Would you prefer to be a better steward of your money? Would you prefer

00:58

To have a bigger emergency fund, would you prefer to have your house paid off?

01:05

Or are you going to decide and cut off from? When we say, well, I'd prefer, like if we actually, if you listen to your words, well, I'd like that versus I'm doing this. Those are two very different statements. Well, I'd like to do that. That would be nice. I wish versus I'm doing this, right? And so this comes back to,

01:35

I started to touch on this a little bit, but I didn't want the episode to go too long. So the first piece is you have to have awareness of those patterns, right? Like being able to say, okay, what are my priorities right now? And I talked about that with like looking at your results. So you know what your results are. You can look at where you are, right? Whether it be in your health, in your wealth, with your finances, right? With your relationships, whatever those pieces are.

02:02

And you can start to see some patterns of what you do, right? Of how you show up, how you don't show up, what your priorities are. Now, sometimes in that season of life, those are where the priorities are at and that's okay. Having the awareness and then you get to decide. And here's the thing, cause so many people sit in like, well, it's a season of, I get to be really intentional raising my kids in, maybe you homeschool your kids or maybe.

02:28

You know, you're you've got lots of other things going on and you really need to be supporting your spouse and and just kind of keeping all the balls and plates spinning. Right. And so but then it comes with this side of, well, I'd prefer to make more money while it would be nice. I wish we could take some stress off of my husband with the finances. And so while you've made you like have this.

02:56

Preference and you've decided you can see where your priorities are to you know, be an intentional homemaker Let's say right and spouse and to keep all the plates spinning but then you have this like shame and judgment and Stress of like well, but finances well, but I I should be right and I talked about shoulds in the last one and You sit in it doesn't feel good. You're not feeling good

03:26

on either side of the tracks, right? Because you're riding that decision line. You're constantly dancing on the decision line on one side or the other of, well, am I right in doing this? Should I sit, you know, should I keep doing what I'm doing or should I go get a job? Should I try to make money from home or should I just go get a job? Or, you know, like, and you play that, you dance on that line back and forth. And I have done this, you don't worry. I'm preaching to the choir right now, okay?

03:56

As per usual. So you have the awareness, that's step one. You see the patterns, you see where you're at. And then number two is that decision piece. And are you riding that decision line of like the preferences versus the like to cut off from?

04:19

And I think this is so crucial when we talk about going all in on something. It doesn't mean it like consumes you necessarily and takes every waking second, but you stop dancing on that decision line and like going back and forth and like in or out, right? You're either in or you're out. Instead of that, like back and forth, waffling. Okay. Then number three, when you're like, okay, I've made the decision. I want to do this.

04:49

Number three is what I started to talk about with how our brains are wired to avoid pain, seek pleasure, and also you could say like conserve energy in there, right? Our egos are trying to keep us safe. And so when we're avoiding pain and seeking pleasure, well, it's way more comfortable to sit on the couch and watch TV, catch up on the latest episodes and be able to like

05:17

Post a fun post on Facebook about how you caught up on the latest Virgin River episodes or whatever that is, versus creating another stream of income for your family, versus whatever those things are, right? But that identity piece is going to keep, your current identity is going to keep you safe. So whether you're,

05:45

We're wired for that. So like I talked about, when it feels uncomfortable and unfamiliar, that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. It's something new.

05:55

but we get to choose if we're gonna sit in that space of our identity and often our limited identity that is like, well, it's kind of scary, it feels uncomfortable, it's trying to keep us safe. Well, this is like, well, maybe you have a, and like you'll see yourself kind of buffering and in those places of, you see overwhelm or you're feeling overwhelmed by taking this new thing on.

06:24

or you have a lack of discipline and fear is blocking you, or you try to micromanage it and you can't move forward until it's perfect, right? You have to have the perfect spreadsheet with the perfect budget and all those pieces. And that's just a whole lot of scarcity and victimness, right? Or you can choose an expanded identity and what could be.

06:51

and how God created us so beautifully capable. And like two of my favorite, well, my favorite line probably that I've had to really soak in, I've got to really soak in and sit in and learn for it to like.

07:13

really feel it and accept it and believe it, is I'm made for more because I'm made of more, only because of God. Like I'm not saying that I'm, there's no like, well, you're perfect, you can't do anything wrong. No, I'm completely flawed, only because of God.

07:38

But he created us for so much more. He gave you like these beautiful brains in your head and he's wildly capable. Like you're so capable of doing these things. But you get to choose if you're gonna sit in that limited identity, in the scarcity and the victim-ness and like, well, I can't do this and I don't have enough time. And my husband doesn't support me in this and he feels uncomfortable. And the kids don't have like the perfect lunches anymore for school or whatever those things are.

08:06

or like it's not the right timing or the economy or inflation or blah, blah, whatever, all those things. Or an expanded identity. And what would that look like if you expanded into that possibility and looked for more?

08:27

Because that's how God created us. That you're courageous and to be passionate, to show up and be creative and show up as a leader and like whatever those things are for you, to show up with purpose, to be purpose-filled.

08:46

And this is where so often we play that, like, you get all fired up, you know, you, maybe you listen to a training or you read it, listen to a book or you read a book or you listen to a podcast and you're, you get all excited and fired up and, or, you know, you read your Bible and you feel those things. And then you go to do something and all of a sudden, like that ego that's trying to keep you safe, right? Your brain that's like, red alert, red alert, red alert. That could be painful.

09:16

You might face rejection. You might face failure, even though neither of those things are bad.

09:24

and it wants to stop you. It wants to keep you and pull you back, right? Like the crabs in the bucket analogy, right? You don't have to put a lid on the bucket because as soon as one crab starts to pull out, crawl out, his friends will pull him back down, right? Your brain's trying, like you're safe, right? You're safe in the bucket. That small little bucket. But like the ocean's on the other side of that bucket, right? This beautiful, vibrant ocean.

09:54

So much more.

09:59

Okay, so come back to riding that dancing on that decision line, right? You have the awareness, you see the patterns. You get to choose if you want to continue those patterns or reject them. Now I talked about if it's serving you or not a little bit. To dig into that a little bit more, staying small and playing small, or like the patterns you have going on right now, they're serving you in a way.

10:29

And seeing how they're serving you, it's not just like, oh yeah, well no, obviously that's not like living into like the best version of me. So obviously that's a, you know, but no really saying that, like how is it actually serving you?

10:45

How are you gaining significance from that? How are you, you have certainty in that, right? You know it's gonna stay the same and it feels certain where you think it's certain, even though nothing under the sun is certain, but it feels safe and it feels good and it's like that cozy comfy blanket.

11:09

So you get to identify how is that serving you?

11:16

And then you get to decide if you want to accept that and keep that, or if you want to reject it. If you want to reject it, that's where you get to make that decision and like to cut off from. Now, it's not you can make the decision. That doesn't mean that the reps are all done for you. It's like, so you bought the gym membership. You've decided to go. Now you get to do the reps every day, possibly even more than that.

11:45

to actually show up and do the pushups, right? I know a lot of people that go to the gym and spend 90% of their time on their phones, right? Talking to the friends, getting water, taking pictures, doing all the things.

12:01

They don't actually do a lot of reps. It's not enough just to show up at the gym. That's like 80% of it. You have to make that decision. But then you also get to do the reps. And it gets easier. And the more you win in one area, you'll see this expand into every other area of your life. So identify an area where you're already doing this. See where you're already winning. And then go, OK, I'm going to duplicate that and maybe do it 10% better in this other area.

12:32

And how can I take baby steps? This isn't like a all there or like, you know, a one and done. And you might decide and then come back to like, well, no, I actually want to keep that as a preference. Or I decided today that that was a preference and I opted out.

12:49

shifting that, but like really seriously, like, no, that's, I no longer operate like that. I no longer do that.

13:00

what's one area of your life, whether it be in your finances, maybe it's with budgeting, saving, with spending.

13:07

with adding another stream of income?

13:13

with having discussions with finances with your spouse about avoiding your finances completely.

13:21

The stories you tell yourself about finances, maybe it's in a completely different area of your life. But I wanna apply this to our money mindset because this is all such a huge piece of it.

13:34

So having the awareness, knowing what your patterns are, seeing your results right now, that's how you can find those patterns is what are my results, looking at those things. Are those results you wanna keep or not? Number two, you get to make that decision to cut off from, not preferences, decision. And then you get to decide and choose that identity piece. Are you gonna stay in the scarcity and victim and that limited identity?

14:02

Or are you gonna step into abundance and being a victor and an expanded identity? Stepping into being made for more, because you're made of more because of God. Only because of Him, always.

14:23

And then you get to do the reps to choose that. It's not like a one-time choice of choosing an ex, yeah. I choose an expanded identity. This is like the new me and I only have to choose that once. And then like, I wake up like a purple unicorn tomorrow. No, it's like an everyday minute by minute decision.