Ep #45: Overcoming Underearning

The earning law states that all wealth is created by the human mind. Increasing your wealth is a matter of increasing the quality of your thoughts,” Phil Laut, author of Money Is My Friend. On today’s episode, we’re going to continue to talk about under-earning, and specifically continuing on from last week, about how to overcome under-earning.

You are listening to The Art School Podcast; a show for artists and creatives who want to become the next greatest version of themselves. Learn how to cultivate an extraordinary way of being and take the mystery out of making money, and the struggle out of making art. Here is your host, master certified life coach, artist, and former lawyer, Leah Badertscher.

Welcome back, everyone. Thank you for tuning in. I am speaking to you from Dallas, Texas. So, I’m down here for a mastermind conference with The Life Coach School, which is where I have done a couple of my trainings. I did master coach certification here and my initial life coach certification. And there are hundreds of coaches here. I’m getting to see colleagues and friends, so lots of energy, lots of ideas.

And I also just got off a call with my Art School class and I’m just heart-blown-wide-open, mind-blown-wide-open, and am so grateful f or them, and yeah, blown away, and almost had to stop crying before I hopped on this podcast so I would be audible and clear because I’m just really moved by the work that they’re doing.

I mean, who knew – I don’t think I know, maybe a part of me knew – that in creating this, I would be so inspired. And it really is like rocket fuel for me, to want to be even better and to also give me these epiphanies about how much better I can be and what I really want to be able to help people do. And the more I see the astounding things that they are capable of, then the more I’m like, yes, let’s keep going.

There is healing to do, and there is also, like, simultaneously, it doesn’t always have to be linear. There is also this immense creative desire in people to see what they can do, to see what they’re capable of, and then to be in a space where people are like, “Then yes, then let’s go do it.” It is contagious and builds upon itself.

And it reminds me, I’ve been thinking a lot about this idea. And this relates so much to today’s topic about overcoming under-earning, this idea that, as humans, we have always built tools, that they’ve been this extension of ourselves. And you might have heard a similar saying of how, as humans, we build our tools and then our tools build us.

And so I was thinking, gosh, that’s even true with The Art School. I was building this tool, like an extension of me through which I could deliver coaching, offer coaching, provide this experience. And it is helping people build their career, build adventure in their life, a sense of, like, a true deep sense of worthiness, inner shift, do inner work, inner healing, and also create amazing things in the outer world. And it is also helping me do that too.

And then so today, while we were in the morning mastermind session, there was a question posed that we were given some time to think about. And the question was, what is your self-concept versus you? And again, what came to mind – I think this could be answered many ways, but what I had chose to think about  and write about was how, like, the idea of self and self-concept, what if the self, who we are versus the self-concept, who we think we are, what if, again, it’s like the human and the tool?

What if who we are then helps to build – we build self-concept using self-concept as the tool. And then in building self-concept, that tool then informs who we are. So it’s not necessarily one or the other, even binary, so versus I don’t even think is accurate to say.  But then it becomes this synergistic thing. And what is even driving that whole process?

And for me, I just feel innately this knowing that – it’s that line from Dylan Thomas. It’s like the force through which the green shoot drives the flower. To be in touch with that process is so innately rewarding. And so here is how I think it applies to under-earning and then overcoming under-earning. And here is, again, why I believe money work is such sacred work, why I believe so deeply and strongly in helping people to be financially free and to feel economically empowered.

And that’s because, like, money can be this tool and we can build this mindset, as that quote in the intro stated. Increasing your wealth is a matter of increasing the quality of your thoughts. All wealth is created by the human mind.

So working on cultivating the kind of mind that creates an ability to have and use this tool that is economic power, and how then can you use that tool, that economic empowerment, then to nourish and further support and facilitate and unlock the potential of your mind and then it can be this back and forth. And too often, I think we are conditioned to think that prosperity and fulfillment, that materialism have such a bad rep. But materials have always been what humans have needed and reached for in order to then build ourselves and evolve ourselves.

So thinking about this process of how can you build the mindset that allows you to then use materials in the world, money, that then allows you to continue to build not only a mindset, but also nourish and nurture all aspects of yourself. Mind, body, spirit, the whole beingness, and why can’t that be a continuous spiral upward, and the more awake and aware we are, then the more awake and aware and conscientious we are about how we use our tools and that it can be this beautiful up-current.

So what I want to offer you today in terms of some concrete tools, some things that you can begin to do immediately and then put into plan and build into your life, a regular practice in order to – well, making the commitment, first of all, to overcome under-earning, if that’s what you think you are doing, or to overcome an impoverished consciousness as it relates to anything in life.

Like I’ve said before, impoverished consciousness can be not feeling that there is enough love in the world or that you’re good enough, so focusing in on whatever impoverished consciousness that you are going to overcome leaving that behind, saying that was just a relic of my former self and now I’m ready to evolve. Now I’m ready to be reborn. Now I’m ready to re-imagine and reinvent myself. So what is that mindset that is going to help me create a prosperous consciousness. What is that way of being, mindset, also body and spirit, that is going to support a prosperous consciousness.

Because here’s what else I believe, is a rising tide lifts all ships and that this work is not selfish, but you doing this work lifts that tide level. You doing this work increases prosperity consciousness everywhere. So don’t get thrown off by thinking it’s selfish. And then, if you’re still stuck on that, don’t just take my word for it, but question your own thoughts. Is that true that it’s selfish?

Don’t let yourself just take your thoughts as the truth. If they are the truth, then they should be able to withstand a little bit of curiosity and challenge and questioning. And then – so here today, there are so many tools and so many things I want to talk to you about. I’m going to constrain myself today to some things that I want you to focus in on, think about deeply, start to take action from a different place.

So, first of all, I’ve said it again and again, do the work on worthiness. Make a commitment to yourself that, you know what, my life is too precious to spend another day not questioning this feeling of unworthiness. I am going to sit with this. I’m going to ask myself, could that really be true? And I’m going to just open myself a little bit more, like what would it be like to be worthy? How will I know I’m worthy?

What if your worthiness is off the table? What if Leah is right about that? What if my worthiness is off the table? What would that feel like if I just let myself believe that right now. And then just notice what your body feels like, what your mind feels like, even for a nanosecond if there’s a shift there. That’s a portal. That’s an opening into an entirely new world of possibility for you, a world of possibility where you create not from lack, but from knowing your deep innate worthiness and how free and how fun and empowered and powerfully creative could you be from that place?

So let yourself spend more time every day – it’s so easy for us to default to the assumption of unworthiness. Question that. Summon something within yourself to question that, to kind of pull yourself out of that. It’s like we have this prison that we don’t even realize that we’re in when we’re just trapped in unworthy consciousness. So question, is this really the world and is my self-concept of unworthiness, is that the truth? What is the real me? What is my self-concept versus who I really am?

And then second, make a commitment to build the mindset, the physical wherewithal and resources, strengthening your central nervous system, strengthening your spiritual wherewithal and your depth and your self-regard for yourself, cultivate that way of being. Make a commitment to it. Cultivate that way of being that builds economic power, financial freedom, and wealth. Make a commitment to being a creative human that builds that kind of tool that is then going to help you build and evolve your being and you doing that builds and evolves the whole world.

Number three, it’s kind of – three is a little bit of a sub-point to two, but give yourself permission to make as much money as you want, or listen to me and be like, “Hey, until I feel like I have permission myself or can do that, Leah says she’s giving me permission to make as much money as you want.”

Think of how, has anyone in your life ever said, you know – they say you can be whatever you want, but how many people say you can be whatever you want and you can make as much money as you want and you can be the kind of person that you want to be in the process. You can have the process be what you want it to be.

That’s being creatively powerful. It’s one thing to say, I want to make all of this money and all of this success. It’s another thing to say, I’m going to do that and I am also going to be committed to who I’m becoming in the process.  I’m also going to be committed to not indulging in stress and anxiety and overwhelm.

What if I can make myself a stronger person, a more resilient person, a more peaceful person, a more centered person and be more powerfully creative, including in creating money and wealth at the same time? Give yourself permission to make as much money as you want and then write down the number.

And so go through this exercise too, like take yourself through how do I feel if I’m making 25, 50, 75, 100, 250, 500, one million, two million, five million, 10. Take yourself through this meditation exercise where you consider, drop into your body and mind, see what your reaction is when you consider making that amount of money and just get familiar with where you think your ceilings are, or if there are points at which you’re like, bored, bored, bored, now I’m excited, what’s that? How was it that I felt like I was totally unmotivated and kind of lethargic inside at 50, but now when we’re talking 250, something in me just woke up and is like, hey, now we’re talking.

Because here is the other thing – we tend to assume that to go bigger, to make more is going to require more work. And I’m not saying that bigger or more is all better. So hear me out on this. What I am saying is turning a dial to bring your vision into focus and clarity, sometimes I find with myself and with clients that we have more fogginess around a goal because we’re not turned into the right frequency. But we’re like, well, I’ve never made two million before, so I should probably just start with $100,000 this year, but that feels like static. But then, when I turn the dial up to $500,000 in a year, then I have crystal clear clarity on what I need to do next and where I need to go and who I need to be and how I need to speak.

So just play with that dial, turn it up and down, because sometimes, a goal that is half of what we really want to say is so much harder and requires overcoming so much resistance and requires so much more work. Whereas a lot of times, there’s this certain kind of economy that can come when we tune into going for what we really want, whether that looks bigger or whether that just really looks like giving ourselves permission to want what we really want, to love what we really love, and to allow ourselves the experience that we want to have in the process of creating it.

Number four, and this is taking number three and taking it a little bit more specific but further – give yourself permission to make money and have it be fun. Give yourself permission to let it be fun. And if that is even you having some resistance when I say that, sometimes this works for my very hard-working contentious clients, not only am I giving you permission to make money and have it be fun, but I’m making it your goal, sacred twin intention. I talk to clients about having it fun and done. Those are the only two requirements, now go. Your brain will want to complicate it.

It will want to tell you it can’t be done, it’s just not done that way, she’s making it sound too simple. Simplification has cleared the path for me in moving forward and getting traction and building momentum, as for my clients. So do not just assume your mind being serious and heavy and complicated is the way forward.

And again, question everything. Ask yourself, well, how is that working for me so far? And ask yourself too, are there people who are doing it in a complicated hard way and is that the only way? Are the other people I can look to who are doing it in a way where it does seem easy and fun? And if all things are available to me, why do I feel like the default should be the hard and complicated? Why don’t I give myself permission to create and cultivate this other way of being and creating?

Number five, here is the simple and power question for how do you build the mindset, the way of being, mind, body, and spirit? And it’s embedded in the way I introduced it there. It’s asking yourself how, not, again, like I’ve said before, the change of inflection changes everything. It’s not how do I do this, like throwing up your hands. It’s how, how do I do this – giving your brain that directive and expecting yourself and demanding that you answer that question; how do I build a mindset that’s financially free, economically empowered? How do I transform my thoughts, my feelings, my beliefs, my attitudes, my decisions about money until I am somebody who is just very efficient at creating value in the world for myself and others and who is open to receiving it and open to being a great steward of it and creating more and who is open to using it well and trusting themselves to be worthy of it and use it well? How do I do that?

And write out lists that will become like your action steps. Don’t make the action steps too big. Keep the vision big, the action steps small, and start to execute on those things.

So, here is what I have for you for coach with me today. And again, this is the portion of the podcast where I want you to do more than just listen. I want you to really lean in, work with me, take this information, do something with it. Apply it to your life, integrate it. Take the information and make it transformational.

So, I have a challenge for you today. And this is, in part, inspired by those of you who have written in and told me about things, the art babies you have been making from listening to this podcast. It’s been almost a year, you guys. And I am so moved whenever I hear from you about what something has meant to you and what you’ve done with it.

So for this particular podcast, since we are talking about prosperity consciousness and overcoming under-earning, and I know that continues to be a place where a lot of you are, like, I am done with under-earning, I am committed – like, this is the time, this is now, I’m figuring this out. There’s no way I’m not figuring this out. So you’re committed.

And I’ve heard from those of you who are already making money. Like, you’re not even my client, you’re just making money because of things you’re implementing from this process and you are committed to overcoming this pattern and the habit of being an under-earner and you are committed to transforming your self-concept from being that of an under-earner to being somebody who creates incredible big beautiful value wherever he or she goes, for yourself and for the world.

So, here’s the challenge I have for you. I’m setting this intention so we’re all conspiring together like co-inspiring, like inspiration, all of us contributing our energy, doing this together. I want to call this the two-million-dollar episode. So, you’ve heard about my moonshot goal, but this is different. This episode, this just feels so fun to me. So talk about making things fun and done, I’m setting the intention, and I would love for anyone listening to join in because how fun is this – let’s make this the two-million-dollar episode.

So, a year from now, take what you’ve learned from this episode, take things I’ve given you in other episodes. Ask yourself that question over and over again. I am committed to becoming a high earner. I am committed to becoming a powerful earner. I’m committed to overcoming under-earning and transforming my mindset into being somebody who is so good at creating value for others and myself.

And let me know how that process goes and let me know what you create because I’ve been hearing from those of you writing in or people doing discovery consults how you had one woman, beautiful woman I talked to the other day, oh my gosh, she’s awesome. She said, because of one podcast, she had set a $60,000 a month goal and she made $30,000, and she said that was more than she had made as an artist in a month before, which just, obviously, makes my day and beyond.

And I’ve heard from other people who are like, you know what, I negotiated my salary and I got $50,000 on top of the base they were going to give me, or I negotiated a bonus, or I’ve been making offers and I’ve brought in an additional five or $10,000 this month. Like, more and more stories like this.

And so I thought to myself, this is fun. And now, how can I take that and put even more energy behind it? It’s by announcing these two million dollars. So, a year from now, I’m going to be keeping track of the people who write in and let me know – so if it’s you – of things you’ve implemented, how you’ve answered this question, how do I build the mindset that builds economic power and wealth. And then let me know numbers, because two million, that’s 200 of you making an additional $10,000 that you wouldn’t have made in a year. That’s not that much, guys.

If you commit yourself to it, you will be astounded at how within your grasp that is, or that’s like two of you making a million-dollar deal, or one of you even. That would be cool, have one person write in and be like, done, I just did it, that would be awesome too, then we’ll just up the ante later. Or let’s say 20 if you, what is that, making $100,000 apiece. That would be awesome and fun.

So join in with this challenge. And here’s two more practices you can incorporate to edify and support you in this process. Journal, think on, meditate on how does the quality of your current thoughts affect your relationship with money? How does the quality of your future self, her thoughts, his thoughts affect your relationship with money? And here is a really fun one. This one, some of you might be like, what is she talking about? This is a little weird for me. And others of you are all about this and I’ll be speaking your language.

But wherever you are, just keep an open mind. Listen. You can take it or leave it. it might be a way that you’ve never considered thinking about creating wealth, creating money before. But a process I love in coaching and life and creativity is to bring things down to like an energetic level. So to drop language, to drop categories of things, and to think about it in terms of energy.

So for instance, if I’m working with a client and they are putting in so much work but receiving so little financial compensation for the amount of energy that they’re putting in, to me, that tells me, okay, there’s an imbalance somewhere. There’s a deficit somewhere.

We could just look at the surface of things and at cashflow and about, well, do you need to make more paintings, do you need to increase the price of your offer? Do you need to change your product line? All of that kind of stuff which can be helpful, but what I have found to be more profound and powerful is to look at the pattern of deficiency. Because if there is a deficit showing up in one area of your life, for instance in your bank account as an under-earner, to me that tells me that there, somewhere, is an energetic deficit because I believe we all are imbued with this huge big potently creative energy and that we can use that to create lives that support us and allow for our thriving.

And if that’s not happening, then I want to pull things back to the energetic level, because maybe it is just a cashflow issue, a pricing issue, a negotiation issue, or maybe we need to go back to the source and see where are you running short on the energy you need. Where, maybe, are you always having this pattern of doing more work but not getting enough in.

It could be in relationships that’s showing up over and over again. You’re not honoring your worth. You’re not honoring your own boundaries, your standards, your self-regard in relationships, and that’s creating an energy drain that because you are the core of everything that happens, because there’s a deficit and imbalance there, that’s going to show up in other areas.

So, play with that concept. There’s so much more I could say about that, but I just wanted to offer that as another way of thinking about this. and again, for some of you, you’ll be like, no thanks, I think I will stick to my QuickBooks and my debit credit, and that’s great and I’m happy to talk to you about that world.

My husband has a PhD in accounting, so I’m totally down and comfortable talking in those terms. And I also like to think like an economist in terms of energy and in terms of just personhood and beinghood and think about the economics of energy and weaving spirituality and creativity into that.

And so, for some of you, you will feel more at home in that realm. You might be more intimidated by some of the numbers and the spreadsheets. So don’t be intimidated. Still look clearly with the numbers and spreadsheets. Still take care of that stuff and then also pull it back to the energetic level and make sure that you are not running a deficit there, or if you are, ask yourself not that why am I earning a deficit so much, but that how can I create just an abundance of life-giving energy. How can I create an abundance? How can I nurture and nourish an abundance of life-giving creative energy? And then, how can I channel that into my life, use that in a way that helps me build the tools of the economically empowered financially free mindset that helps me bring in money, that helps me create value and bring in money. And then how can I use those materials of money, tools, resources, to then help continue to build up that energy, to support my soul, my highest purpose, my life.

Thank you so much, everyone, for listening to another episode of The Art School Podcast. If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, if you’ve found things useful, the best thing you can do to support this work and this content is to go to iTunes and leave a review. I so appreciate your feedback. I appreciate the views. They allow me to reach more people and keep the momentum of this work going.

If too you’re really enjoying this talk about overcoming under-earning and creating prosperity consciousness, be sure to go to my website, www.leahcb.com and subscribe to my newsletter. I’m working on a few new projects, including workbooks and journals that will help you build those tools that you need to create a financially free and economically empowered mindset.

My goal in designing these workbooks and journals is to give you an inside look into how I approach this process, my own process, and with clients, and then also to be a kind of scaffolding for you. Because there are as many paths as there individuals in this world, and I think too that there are certain patterns and tools that we can share and replicate. And so I want to help share the tools that will help you build the kind of mindset you need and the way of being that you need to be creatively financially empowered so that then you can then build that you that is essentially you and do the work that you were meant to do in this world and to live the life that you were meant to live, contribute what you were meant to contribute.

So, the best way to find out about that and all the other things, exciting things I have coming up soon, is to get on my website, again, www.leahcb.com.  I do not share your email with anyone and I do not send out a lot of newsletters; only when I think I have something very valuable to share with you.

So for today’s closing inspiration for the podcast, I hope you’ve listened all the way through because I want to reward those people who listen all the way until the end. So I have another – to me, this is a life-changing gem. It took me a while to get this, but I will never go back. And that is that success is a social activity.

So whether it’s building a successful career that’s financially rewarding, building a successful career as an artist, building healthy successful relationships, don’t do it in isolation. Seek out kindreds. Be intentional about cultivating the kind of community that believes a rising tide lifts all ships. But just keep this in mind. Success is a social activity. You don’t have to do this alone. And besides that, it’s so much more fun to do together.

Have a beautiful rest of your week, everyone. Take care and I will see you next time.