A dense fog surrounds some of us—a money fog. This fog wraps us in a fuzzy embrace, whispering that perhaps everything is ok. Maybe you have enough money. Maybe everything will be just fine. Maybe. But an ever-present anxiety seems to go hand in hand with this fog.

When you don’t know exactly how much money you have, how much money you owe, or where all your money is going, you are in a money fog. It’s that last one that is a particular problem when it comes to earning enough money to live the life you want.

Think of it this way—if you don’t know where all your money is truly going, (not what you THINK you spend) do you really know how much money you need to earn?

Of course this gets complicated fast because many of us are uncomfortable with where some of our money goes. And some of us feel that there is not enough money to begin with, so looking at our financial lives feels depressing. (We just know we need to earn more….) But this leads to vagueness and stress. If you walk around saying “I need to earn more money!” this will likely lead to free-floating anxiety. It is simply not very helpful. How much more do you need to earn, really?

I had one client track where all her personal money was going. (Gulp!) After a few months, the money fog started to recede. She got clear about what she actually needed. (And yes, she did make some spending changes when she saw what was actually happening.) Then, when we looked at her small business, we were able to see exactly what she needed to earn. We broke this down into how many more clients she needed to see. I had her raise her rates. We started planning her business spending. And one day, she realized that that ever-present anxiety was gone.

Here are the common signs of being in a money fog:

• You don’t balance your bank account
• You don’t know where all your money goes (both in your personal life and in your business)
• You don’t know what you owe in debt
• You are not clear on your investments
• You have no plan for how you want to spend your money in your personal life and your business life.

If you identify with any aspect of the money fog, start by picking ONE action you can take. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Do you know a friend who regularly balances her bank account? I suspect she would be happy to share with you how she does it. Can you pull out your credit card statements and write down all the balances on a sheet of paper?

If you are feeling foggy and overwhelmed, try this: print out your on-line bank statements from the beginning of the year and write down all your income deposits on a sheet of paper, by month. You will see what you are earning each month. Do this for June also, and you will have six months of data to look at. (If you divide the total by the number of months worked, you will have your average monthly income.) Then double this six month total. If you continue to earn at the same rate, this is how much you will bring in for the year. How do you feel about this? (Is it time to charge more money?)

Coming out of the money fog is a process. It takes time. But when the fog clears, you can see your life ahead of you. Possibilities take shape. You are in control and life is good.