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09/02/14 | Uncategorized

Entrepreneurs: 4 Myths That Hold You Back from Asking for Money

Newsflash: Asking for money is the easiest part of being an entrepreneur. That’s right. At least, it is if you allow yourself to believe it. Here’s how to think money-positive.

By Katie Weiler (Entrepreneurial Transition Coach)

Take a moment and imagine the last meeting you had with a potential client or investor. Things were easy and fun, and they were loving you and what you were working on. Then the conversation started to come to a close and you had one opportunity to make it all worth it: it was time to ask for the sale.

You knew you had to do it, and they knew that’s why you had been meeting, but that didn’t make the conversation any less uncomfortable.

The Cringe Factor

It seems like it should be easy. After all, you’re selling your baby. The business you’ve been putting your heart, soul, blood, sweat and tears into for who knows how long. You believe in it and know that there are people out there who need what you’re selling, yet when it comes time to ask for money, you start to question everything you’ve been working on.

You’re not alone in feeling this way. Every entrepreneur I’ve worked with has the same issue to some degree.

And thankfully, you have the power to reverse all of it.

Reverse the Beliefs You’ve Come to Accept

It’s possible to ask for money — and a lot of it — without feeling guilty. You can increase your prices without feeling nervous, and you no longer have to settle for accepting less money than you know you or your product is worth.

All you need to do is identify and reverse the beliefs that are causing your money paralysis to stop this self-sabotage.

Here are the top four limiting beliefs I’ve reversed in the entrepreneurs I’ve worked with.

Pay attention to how your body feels as you read each of the beliefs below. Just listening to what your body’s telling you will give you an idea of which beliefs might be blocking money from flowing effortlessly into your life.

1. “Money is Scarce”

People who believe that money is scarce don’t believe there’s enough money in the world for them. It feels like there’s a finite amount of cash out there, and every human being is fighting for just a tiny share of the pot.

If you grew up in a home where it felt like there was never enough money, even if there was, this is probably ingrained in your subconscious somewhere.

An abundance mindset is essential to allowing money to flow into your life. You must believe that there’s more than enough of it in the world to go around. If you believe that there isn’t enough money to go around (or at least, not enough for you), then your scarcity mindset will continue to hold you back.

2. “I Have to Work Hard to Make Money”

This is huge. If you believe you have to be working hard all the time to make money, it’s impossible for you to begin generating large amounts of money or passive income. This is likely to be your belief if your family worked constantly. They rarely took a day off, even if there was more than enough money, and their days off included more work.

There’s a place for hard work, but it is possible for money to flow easily and effortlessly into your life without having to work hard 24/7, and only if you believe that it’s possible. Until then, you’ll be stuck trading time for money and working to the bone to make a few dollars.

3. “People with Money are Greedy”

Mainstream media really propagates this belief because it makes for great entertainment. The Real Housewives of Blah Blah Blah Place, The Kardashians and all those other shows about rich people throwing money around and acting ridiculously rude. Oh right, and everything related to politics.

It makes sense that we believe that these people are greedy, bad or rude, and therefore do not want to be like them, because that’s exactly what you’re seeing.

In reality, tons of rich people are not greedy, or rude, or materialistic. There are millionaires and billionaires who have the most caring and loving hearts and who donate both their time and their money to make this world a better place. You are just as worthy as they are of having money.

4. “I Can’t Make Money Doing What I Love”

This sometimes relates to having to work hard for money, but can be completely separate for some people.

I see the same thing time and time again. People keep a job they hate to make money, then do what they love for free or for very cheap on the side.

If you have this belief, at some point in your life you learned one of two things:

  1. Either you have to work hard for money, so you can’t be working hard if you’re enjoying what you do
  2. You just can’t make money doing what you love

This belief is only true if you allow it to be true. Honestly.

There are professional cuddlers, dog walkers and video game testers. You can make money doing what you love, no matter what it is, but only if you believe that you can. Until then, you’ll be stuck working awful job after awful job, working yourself to the bone, making minimal money, and doing what you love in your spare time for nothing.

Reverse the Beliefs, Make the Money

If you want money to flow into your life easily and effortlessly, you have to believe that it can and that you’re worthy of it. Until then, your money beliefs are going to keep you rooted exactly where you are. At least you won’t have to worry about someone keying your Ferrari in the parking lot.

Want to learn more about how to build your business? Join us at our 2014 How To Conference in San Francisco on Sept 30th and Oct 1st!

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