Often times, I run across people who say they want to earn more, but then consistently hamstring themselves when it comes to bringing in more money. They are late sending out invoices, they don’t follow up on jobs, or they don’t advocate for themselves financially in the work place.
For some, there is an unconscious belief that money is bad- and people with money are greedy. Sound simple? Perhaps. But it is one of the many beliefs that can fuel underearning. Remember, underearning is when we consistently earn less than our potential. So what about you? In your heart of hearts, do you see money as good or bad?
Too often, we unconsciously equate money as something negative, and we view people who have a “lot” of money in an unfavorable light. I call this viewpoint “noble poverty”. When we operate out of noble poverty, we believe there is somehow virtue in not having money and really good people don’t have a lot of it. This can be typified in the phrase “it’s better to be good and poor then rich and evil.”
The dilemma is that if we believe this, we may not allow ourselves to have money! Why would we allow ourselves to become that which we may (unconsciously) despise? If we see the wealthy as greedy, insensitive or superior, why would we allow ourselves to become those horrible things?
So what about you- do you fall into noble poverty? Ask yourself these questions:
- Do you see yourself as greedy when you think about wanting more money?
- How do you really feel about the wealthy?
- Do you believe there is virtue in not having money?
What do you do to heal this belief?
Here is an exercise: Begin to notice all the good things that money does in the world, and in particular, all the wonderful things that wealthy people do with their money. Those who fall into noble poverty consistently only notice wealthy people who are not generous, or are not good role models, while ignoring all the amazing philanthropists who fund good projects with their wealth.
Over the next month, see if you can find as many positive examples of wealth as possible. Look through the news. Create a list on your smart phone of “positive wealth role models” and write down examples you find. Who is doing good things with their money? How do they use it? As you begin to focus on the positive power of wealth, you will feel an internal shift. Give it time. Soon, you will no longer want to count yourself among the “noble poor”.
Here’s to wishing you prosperity and abundance!
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