Tag: limiting beliefs

Are Your Ingrained Money Myths Secretly Sabotaging Your Progress?

During life’s big transitions, we would all like to think we’re making cool, calculated financial decisions. But here’s bad news: your limiting beliefs about money—the ones we picked up from childhood, school, society, or your cousin Sandy’s doomsday predictions—are quietly sabotaging you.

I have discovered (the hard way) that limiting beliefs about money can significantly impact my financial decisions during life transitions, often hindering my progress and creating lots of unnecessary stress.

Ever heard that “money doesn’t grow on trees”? I know, it doesn’t. But that little phrase could be the reason you’re stuck agonising over every dollar during a major life change, instead of planting new seeds for future growth.

In this article, we’ll look at how your self-imposed scary money stories (spoiler: most of them aren’t even true) can complicate your financial decisions during transitional periods. By the end, you’ll be ready to say goodbye to your cash-related baggage—and maybe even order that fancy latte guilt-free.

First, let’s determine what financially limiting beliefs are:

Limiting financial beliefs are deeply ingrained assumptions or perceptions we hold about money, that constrain our potential and restrict our choices. These beliefs often form during childhood through experiences, cultural conditioning, or significant life events. They become the invisible barriers that shape our financial decisions, behaviours, and ultimately, our life outcomes.

During life transitions, whether it’s changing careers, starting a new business, or moving to a new city, financially limiting beliefs tend to surface with heightened intensity. They activate our fear response, triggering anxiety, insecurity and self-doubt. These limiting beliefs can paralyse us just when we need to take decisive action. These thoughts create a self-fulfilling prophecy where we either avoid opportunities or sabotage our financial progress.

Now let me show you how dangerous financial limiting beliefs can be:

Sandra sat at her desk, fingers hovering over the keyboard. The email she needed to send would confirm her acceptance of an extremely high-paying consulting job—a dream opportunity that is 100% aligned with her training and skills. But she hesitated.

Nothing you can do is worth this much money, Sandra, a little voice whispered.

Sandra grew up in a household where money was tight, her parents often said things like, “We’ll never be able to afford that,” or “The love of money is the root of all evil. It corrupts decent people.” She internalised these beliefs, carrying them into adulthood like an invisible shackle.

Her career was successful by most standards—steady jobs, good reviews, regular promotions—but she always stopped short of pursuing anything that promised substantial financial growth. The fear of earning too much, of being judged for wanting more, held her hostage.

That fear had cost her dearly last year when she turned down a project that would have doubled her income. Instead, she watched a less-qualified colleague soar to success. The bitterness gnawed at her, but she convinced herself it was “better to stay humble.”

Until today.

The consulting job offer stared back at her, the large numbers bold and bright on the screen. Sandra suddenly remembered the conversation she’d had with her friend Beth last week.

“You’re sabotaging yourself, Sandra,” Beth had said bluntly. “You’ve got these debilitating ideas about money that are paralysing you.”

Sandra had scoffed then, but Beth’s words lingered. They echoed louder now, drowning out the old whispers.

What if I’m wrong? she thought. What if earning more doesn’t mean selling out?

Her heart pounded as she moved the mouse to click ‘reply.’

“I am pleased to accept your offer…”

Sandra smiled. She finished the email and quickly hit ‘send’ before her limiting beliefs could resurface.

How limiting beliefs can affect decision-making during transitional periods:

1. Your Limiting Beliefs can cause Risk Aversion and result in Missed Opportunities

In professional contexts, limiting beliefs can significantly impede career advancement and job transitions, resulting in missed opportunities. You might possess the necessary skills and qualifications but hold a belief like “I’m not leadership material.” Such a belief often prevents you from applying for promotions, negotiating better salaries, or pursuing entrepreneurial ventures. A conviction that “I’m too old to change careers” may prevent you from pursuing a more fulfilling and potentially lucrative job opportunity and a “It’s too risky to leave my current job, even if I’m unhappy” belief can keep you stuck in an unfulfilling career.

These beliefs can cause you to pass up on valuable opportunities for financial growth and career advancement during transitions.

2. Due to Your Limiting Beliefs, You may Undervalue Your Skills and Potential

Limiting beliefs often lead to underestimating your worth:

• “I don’t have the right skills or experience for a new field” can prevent you from negotiating fair compensation in a new career.
• “I’m not smart enough to go back to school” might stop you from pursuing further education that could lead to better financial prospects.

Such beliefs can result in settling for less than what you are worth, impacting your long-term financial well-being.

3. Limiting Beliefs may cause a Scarcity Mindset

A scarcity mindset, characterised by beliefs like “There’s never enough money,” can significantly impact financial choices during transitions:

• It may lead to hoarding money out of fear, rather than making strategic investments or taking calculated risks.
• This mindset can cause you to pass up opportunities for personal or professional growth due to concerns about future resource availability.

4. You may avoid Financial Planning because of Your Limiting Beliefs

Beliefs such as “Money management is too complex” can lead to avoidance of crucial financial planning during transitions that result in missed opportunities to improve financial health through budgeting, investing, or saving. It may lead to poor financial decisions due to a lack of engagement with your finances during critical transition periods.

5. Your Limiting Beliefs May Impact Your Long-Term Financial Health

Limiting beliefs can have lasting effects on your financial well-being. The belief that “Future financial security isn’t as important as enjoying the present” can lead to prioritising immediate gratification over long-term financial planning. This short-term focus can be particularly detrimental during transitions, where strategic financial decisions are often crucial.

How to Overcome Financial Limiting Beliefs

Overcoming financially limiting beliefs during life transitions requires a combination of a mindset shift, practical strategies, and consistent action. Financial beliefs often stem from past experiences, cultural conditioning, or fear of scarcity. Here’s a detailed guide to help you address your elf-imposed limitations and replace these beliefs with empowering ones:

1. Identify Your Financial Limiting Beliefs

• Reflection: Write down the financial thoughts that come to mind during stressful moments. Common beliefs include:
  • “Money is hard to earn.”
  • “I’ll never have enough to feel secure.”
  • “I’m bad at managing money.”
• Example: During a job transition, you might think, “I can’t afford to take risks.”
• Action Step: Journal about where this belief originated. Was it influenced by childhood experiences or a specific event? Awareness is the first step to breaking its hold.

2. Challenge and Reframe These Beliefs

• Question the Validity by asking Yourself:
  • “Is this belief universally true?”
  • “What evidence contradicts this belief?”
• Reframe Your Beliefs with Empowering Statements: Replace “Money is hard to come by” with “I have skills and opportunities to create value and generate income.”

3. Educate Yourself about Finances

• Why It Helps: Knowledge reduces fear and builds confidence. Financial transitions feel overwhelming when you’re unsure how to navigate them.
• Action Steps:
  • Take a basic course on budgeting, investing, or personal finance.
  • Read books like Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin or The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape.

4. Set Clear Financial Goals

• Why It Helps: Clear goals shift your focus from scarcity to possibility.
• Action Steps: Break larger goals into manageable steps. For example:
  • Goal: Save €5,000 during a career transition.
  • Steps: Review expenses, cut non-essentials, and create a weekly savings target.
  • Automate savings to make it easier to stick to your plan.

5. Adopt a Growth Mindset About Money

• Why It Helps: Viewing financial challenges as opportunities to grow increases resilience.
• Action Steps:
  • Instead of thinking, “I’ll never make enough,” adopt, “How can I increase my income or reduce unnecessary expenses?”
  • Practice gratitude for what you already have to shift from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset.

6. Surround Yourself with Supportive Resources

• Why It Helps: People and tools that reinforce a positive money mindset can counteract limiting beliefs.
• Action Steps:
  • Join financial accountability groups or communities.
  • Work with a financial coach or mentor who aligns with your goals.

7. Take Small, Consistent Action Steps

To overcome these limiting beliefs and make better financial decisions during transitions, experiment with side hustles or freelance work to increase your income. Or if you firmly believe you can’t save, start with €10 a week. Over time, you’ll see progress and build trust in your abilities.

8. Visualise Your Financial Triumph

• Why It Helps: Visualisation primes your mind to seek opportunities that align with your goals.
• Action Steps:
  • Create a vision board of your financial goals: debt-free living, travel, or a comfortable retirement.
  • Spend 5 minutes daily imagining yourself enjoying financial freedom.

9. Learn from Setbacks

• Why It Helps: Financial transitions often come with mistakes, but each setback is a learning opportunity.
• Action Steps: After an unplanned expense or financial misstep, reflect on what caused it and how you can prevent it in the future.

10. Participate in a Transformational Experience like the From Troubled to Triumphant retreat

Imagine stepping away from the constant noise of life into a sanctuary of peace. On the Camino de Santiago, each step is a journey back to your authentic self—a rare chance to break free from the stories holding you back, including those about money.

This Camino de Santiago hiking adventure is more than a walk; it can completely shift your mindset from scarcity to abundance. for example, a limiting belief like “I’ll never make enough to live comfortably” can be replaced by “With creativity and perseverance, I can find multiple ways to increase my financial stability.”

In these serenely tranquil surroundings, you’ll gain the clarity you need to step into a future where financial freedom feels not just possible, but inevitable.

The From Troubled to Triumphant: Find Solid Ground during a Life Transition retreat isn’t just a break from the ordinary—it’s your gateway to an extraordinary life.

Are you ready to take the first step towards financial abundance?

How to Break Limiting Beliefs

Overcoming limiting beliefs requires conscious awareness and deliberate action. The first step is identifying these beliefs by paying attention to our internal dialogue during challenging transitions. Once identified, we can challenge these beliefs by seeking evidence that contradicts them and creating new, empowering narratives.

Support systems play a crucial role in challenging and overcoming limiting beliefs during transitions. Mentors, therapists, coaches, and supportive friends can provide objective perspectives that help us question our assumptions and see new possibilities. They can also offer encouragement and accountability as we work to replace limiting beliefs with more constructive mindsets.

The cumulative effect of limiting beliefs on life transitions can significantly alter our life trajectory. Each time we allow these beliefs to prevent us from taking action or pursuing opportunities, we reinforce patterns of self-limitation. Conversely, when we challenge and overcome these beliefs, we create new patterns of growth and possibility, leading to more fulfilling life experiences and achievements.