EPISODE 278

Money mindset at every income level

Here's something I want you to hear.

You don't reach a certain income level and suddenly have it all figured out.

The money mindset work doesn't stop at six figures. It doesn't stop at seven. It just... evolves.

Sometimes it's new challenges you've never seen coming. And sometimes, honestly, it's the same old stuff showing up again and going: hi, remember me?

In this week's episode of Chill & Prosper, I'm talking about how to upgrade your money mindset at every stage of business, because there is no finish line with this work. There is just growth, and the awareness to keep going.

I cover things like:

• Why hitting a new income level doesn't mean the money blocks stop
• The "new level, new devil" pattern and the recurring sabotage that follows most of us for years
• Why pricing feels so hard at the start and what's really going on underneath
• How fear of failure quietly closes businesses at every stage, from startup to successful
• Why self-love and compassion are the most underrated business tools you have

Because here's the thing. When something goes wrong, and it will, you get to choose what it means. You don't have to make it mean you're a bad person or a failure or that it's all over.

You can just go: okay, here's another thing. I've got the tools to deal with it.

xx Denise

P.S. July is all about money blocks and the free Money Blocks workshop is a great place to start spotting which ones are showing up for you right now. Click here to watch now

Prefer to read?

Here's the transcript for this episode:

We're talking about upgrading your money mindset at every income level and every stage of business because, I still think that we have this idea that there will be a time where everything will be perfect, we won't have any more money mindset issues, and we just have to find whatever that is, right? And it can feel very isolating.

I think at the start of your business, when you don't even realize you have money blocks, but then as you grow and change, there will be new ones that will come up that again, you'll feel very isolated with. They'll be old ones that come up and you're like, oh Jesus, this one again. And it is really normal. Okay, so this is what I want to, talk about today.

No matter where you are, you are in business. There will be sometimes completely new stuff that comes up, and some of those things will be normal rites of passage you've never seen anyone go through. So you think that they're bar and horrible and other times you know they will derail you, derail you a little bit unless you, you know, have the tools to deal with them. Okay.

So, let's talk about that. Yeah. Now, I love, this phrase and I first heard it from David Nagel, who I think is still a money mindset mentor. So if you still around, but he talks about new level, new level.

And that phrase just like really stood out for me. New level, new level. And now I've worked with so many people over the years and I'm like, yes, new level, new devil is always something new. You know that you'll discover and explore.

But most the time it's new level, old devil. And it is that recurring sabotage that might come up again and again and again for you. So you've kind of got to look out for both, right? And I mean, gosh, I wish it was just so easy.

I wish we could just make money. We could just set prices. People pay them, everyone's fine. They go away.

And it's just so simple and easy. But unfortunately we've got all this stuff in our brain that creates stories. We have beliefs, we have fears. We have all of these things that really derail the process and make a very simple thing into like scary, horrible experiences for us where we don't want to talk about money, we're terrified to set prices, were terrified to have money conversations with, terrified to set boundaries with people.

And it's messy. It's messy because life is messy. Okay, so you might think, oh, but when I hit that next income level, everything will be perfect and it won't. You know, there'll be different things that will come up at, at different times.

And as I said, there will be some things where will follow you. They'll follow you all the time, and there'll be things that will evolve and you'll never think about it again. Okay. So mindset, you have to evolve your mindset with your business growth.

But I think the biggest thing is there's always going to be something. And I think the one thing that helps everything is self-love and compassion and self-acceptance. Because when you're in your own corner and you just go, oh my God, it's just a new thing, then you don't make it mean anything big about yourself. You don't make it mean, wow, there's something really wrong with me.

I'm a terrible person. I shouldn't be in business. I'm a fraud. All that kind of stuff.

You can just be like, oh, okay, here's another thing, right? And it's okay. And I've got the tools to kind of deal with it. The goal is, yeah, self-love and acceptance, right.

That's really what it is. Okay. So let's talk about some of these issues that come up at the very start of your business. And this is where I see people really struggle with things like pricing because they're like, oh my God, I don't know what to charge.

It's so easy when you work for someone else and they're like, okay, here's your billable rate. Or here's, you know, the price of the hamburger. You don't have to think about it. But when you work for yourself, it's like putting an energetic figure on what you do feels so gross.

It sometimes feels like you're being greedy. You are being like yourself, too big for your boots or that kind of stuff. And recently I had a massage and, you know, the lady was like, oh, you know, what do you do? And I was, I was saying, yeah, you know, due money mindset.

She's like, what is that? And I was like, you know, helping people deal with their with their stuff around money. But the example I used was around pricing. Right.

And she goes, oh yeah, I want to increase my prices. But you know I'm worried that people are not going to think it's affordable. And the same stuff I say on this podcast, I was saying like on the massage table just in my undies. But I was like, you know, I said, we're always trying to find a critic proof price.

We're always trying to find a price where people think we're nice and kind and generous. And often what we do is we're looking at everyone else's prices and we're putting ourselves in the middle. And she's like, that's exactly what I did. And I'm like, you know what there is?

There is a massage therapist for pretty much every price point. I'm like, you can charge whatever you like. And I think so many of us still don't believe that. We think there must be a formula, there must be someone must know.

And so if I average out my pricing for everyone else, then I'll be just in a sweet spot. And we don't realize how many money blocks most of us have, and how. Most especially female businesses on the charge. Right?

And so we're sometimes doing ourselves a real disservice by doing that because we're just taking on everyone else's money blocks. But I think that is probably the biggest mindset issue at the very start of the business is pricing feels so personal. It feels so scary. And it's like, I think it really comes down that people won't like and approve of me.

Right? And it gets perpetuated. Someone will send you an email and say, you're too expensive, and you go, oh my God, my worst fear came true. People think I'm greedy.

They don't think I'm kind. Do they think, I'm excluding them? It is such a big pain point. Okay, so I think that is that first, mindset thing to overcome is it's safe for me to charge.

It's safe for me to charge. And it could be, Excuse me. I just got to have for a second. Sorry.

I'm just gonna leave that in. That's fine. There could be a lot of mindset work, even just at the start of your business, around. What am I allowed to do for work?

Am I allowed to do something that I enjoy? Am I allowed to make money out of something that's easy for me? And I think that is like just such a fundamental, fundamental money block for so many of us is I can only earn money through hard work, hustle, stress, inconvenience, you know, just hard work. And, I think it is really hard to start a business without exploring some of that.

Okay. It's it's it is true. And even if you've been in business for a while, it still might creep in where I'm like, I can't be really this easy. Like, I really have to, I should suffer.

I'm not allowed to hire people. But I think those are the two things what to charge? And am I allowed to do something that I love? Okay.

And I think at the start you probably don't know a lot of other entrepreneurs. Maybe you don't know people who've made money in the way that you want to make money, and one of your jobs, I think, is to surround yourself with people who are in this conversation around mindset. Because if you've if you've only got, you know, your partner or your family or friends and they're saying to you, are you allowed to make money from that? Like, are you allowed to charge that?

You're you're always going to perpetuate that feeling of like greed or it's not okay, okay. So big, big thing, save your business. Surround yourself with other entrepreneurs, with other people who are positive and and having these conversations of course. Oh, I've got one that I've made earlier for, you know, honestly, if you've been hearing about my money boot camp, that is a really great place to come into great investment.

The start of your business, because it helps you deal with those mindset issues. Right. It helps you see that it's okay. It's okay for you to do that.

You don't have to join it. But hey, why not tell you about the thing that I've got? Okay, let's talk about the the kind of next phase of business. And this might be like a little bit of the growth phase.

And again, these same issues kind of come up of, this is where you might start increasing your prices, setting boundaries with clients, because you're starting to see the holes in your system of going, oh crap, I'm under charging for that. Oh, I'm not including that in or oh geez, I can't I can't work, you know, with people who don't respect me. And so again, listen listen how it's the same issue. People won't like me.

People would like me if I set boundaries around time. People won't like me if I say no to them. People won't like me if I enforce my cancellation policy. It's the same issue, right?

New level, new devil. No new level. Oh devil. Same thing.

People won't like me. Okay. And then this comes to you when you start to, you get to a point where maybe you're the bottleneck. You have to start hiring people.

Maybe you have to start leveraging your time. Maybe you bring in like passive income or you you know, I bring in a team member to help you. And this is where the work hard one gets you again. Okay.

So I had this lady who said, you know, I've hired someone to come in and be at the shop and be in my shop manager. But now I feel guilty about making money from the shop because I'm not there all the time. And I feel guilty that I earn more money than my assistant. And you might go, what?

But I've heard this so many times, right? The feeling of like, but if I'm not there, how am I getting paid for it? And it's like, well, you're taking on all the risk. It is your business, it's your creativity, it's your container.

You you're responsible for everything. You deserve to make money from that, even if you're not physically there. And this is true when you hire out something for the first time, you know, you delegate something, you outsource something. You go, am I still allowed to get paid for this when I didn't have to burn the candle at both ends?

When I have found an easier way, I found a system. And this is why we resist it, right? Because we go, no, but I have to work hard to make money. Doesn't make sense anymore.

And I've spoken about this how when I created one of my first ebooks and it was $10, and every time someone bought it, I was like, oh, but where's the transaction? I have to call them up and read it to them over the phone to earn that $10. Because how am I still getting paid for something that I created a a couple of months ago? And then the longer that went, I mean, I still get royalties for books I wrote 15 years ago, and it's like I had to be okay with that.

It's okay for me to make money for my ideas, for my talent, from my the, you know, things that I've created for people. But it went against the grain of I have to work hard to make money. Okay. So that same thing, that growth phase where you have to leverage, you have to like for your own survival, you have to set boundaries with people.

Right. And it's those same two things. People won't like me and I have to work really hard to make money. Okay, let's talk about that next phase of business.

So maybe you've created some really great success around this. Maybe, you're at that six figure or seven figure kind of income and this is, I think, where some other boundaries come up where they're not as common, you know, and so maybe something happens, like you get sued for the first time and you just go, oh, my God, this is the worst thing that's ever happened to me again. This is where you need to surround yourself with people who are having those conversations. Okay, so if you're in, for example, a mastermind with people who at that same level and higher, that will be a normal rite of passage and you'll be like, oh my God, guys, the worst thing is ever happen to me.

I'm getting sued. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but it could. And then there'll be people who'll go, oh my God, that I remember when that happened to me. It feels so horrible.

Here's how I dealt with it. Or here's the name of my lawyer or, you know, let us support you through that. It's it's fine. And, you know, it's just a normal rite of passage.

If you don't have people in your life like that, you are going to feel like there's something wrong with me. This is bad. I don't want to do this. This feels really horrible.

And it comes down to again, oh my God, someone doesn't like me. Someone. I've done something wrong. I've been misunderstood.

You know, sometimes it it is your mistake. Sometimes there will be people who will unfairly sue you for things. And it will feel like, oh my God, I've done something wrong. I've done something wrong.

So that could be the that next level of like big girl panties, right? It could be. I have to protect myself. I have to have legal conversations.

I have to, you know, structure my business in a certain way. I have to have terms and conditions. I have to, have contracts with people. And some of that stuff comes from that trial and error.

But it also might bring up again that feeling of, oh, my God, you know, I'm doing something wrong and people won't like me. You know, I might be shamed. I don't want people to know about this kind of stuff. And again, that feeling of like, I have to work hard to make money, but also I have to I have to suffer to make money.

I something bad has to come in to balance out the good instead of seeing it as a neutral thing of going, I can deal with it. Okay. And so, let's take a quick break and I want to tell you about something that happened to me recently that felt really shit. And what my financial team said to me to make me feel good about it.

It's Joe Mode from Genius Partners and Network Marketing Woman from Sydney, Australia. I absolutely love Denise. My favorite book is get Rich Lucky Bitch. I've just listened to it again.

I probably do that every 18 months or so, but gap is my favorite place to hang out, and I think I honestly tell at least 2 or 3 women every week to get inside with us because, oh, it's uplifting. It's everything that we need as female entrepreneurs. Okay, cool. So again, there will be no income level where everything is perfect and you feel great about everything all the time.

There'll always be something because most of our businesses deal with humans and humans can be messy. Okay, so I made a really big, mistake. You know, like, lost a ton of money from something. And my, my lawyer was just like, oh, well, it's only money, you know?

And I was like, yeah. And it's really painful. But it was again, still that same experience. And for me, it wasn't I wasn't even really angry about the money so much.

It was more about like, oh my God, other people will think that this is like something that I've done, that I've done something wrong. And so for me, again, it was still that same old money block. People are not going to like me. People are going to misconstrue my, intentions.

They're going to think that I did something wrong, you know, like just that same feeling. Right? And so the fact that he was just like, oh, well, I mean, he's a lawyer, right? He sees stuff like this all the time, every day.

And I think he just immediately put that into perspective for me. He's like, I'm going to a funeral tomorrow, you know, and he's like, he wasn't saying that to minimize the experience because it was a painful experience for me. But, he was just like, it's only money. You'll make it again.

It's fine. You know, he's like, you just lost money. And I mean, yes, there was a lot of other stuff there too, but it was just like, yeah, cool. And I think that's again, then being around people who have experienced those things.

Okay. So, you know, I've been really fortunate to be able to spend some time with some very, very successful people over the last couple of years, you know, people who make so much more money than me to, you know, to the point of being a billionaire kind of thing. And again, listening to those stories, I go, oh, okay, this is what happens, you know, and I remember telling you about some of the challenges I was having with the project. And she goes, you know what?

I always see people who, you know, like they get to that kind of million dollar mark and they, they get ripped off by someone or they make a bad investment. And I was like, oh yeah, okay. This is so reassuring, right? Because I was like, oh, no.

Now I'm like, this is my only chance. And like, I've screwed it up and like, I don't deserve money and, you know, all this kind of stuff. And she could see it from a much broader perspective of going, wow, this is just a this is just part of being an entrepreneur. And you'll learn about this from next time, and this will be a learning experience for you.

And I honestly thought that if I told people about that experience, and I obviously can't tell a lot of the details on this podcast because they're all reasons. But anyone that I have spoken to about it has given me such reassurance of like, oh babe, I'm really sorry that happened, and that's a really normal thing. And this happened to my client and this happened to my client. And, you know, to hear people whose businesses are, you know, ten times more than me have gone, oh, yeah, that happened to me.

It's like, oh my God. And here's the mindset lesson again is that we always think there's something wrong with us. There's something wrong with us. And I've done something really bad and wrong.

And this is a sign from the universe that I'm not meant to have money. And, you know, I'm mortified that people won't like me or respect me, and I'm ashamed. And that's it for me. And I'm done, you know, and I've seen people close businesses at so many different phases, like from startup to successful.

And it's because something like that happens that, I don't know, it just makes them feel like it's not meant to be, or I'm a bad person or I'm a failure. And I think sometimes, when you look at like really successful people that we, a lot of us look up to, it's like, oh my God, I've had so many failures. And the thing that has, prevented them sometimes is like narcissistic personalities are just like, whatever are going to keep on going. But it has come from people who are just like, oh, well, I'm such a creative person.

There's always more ideas, you know, and it's like a little bit of delusion, but also they're in it for the love of the game, you know? And I think it can be such a painful experience when beautiful, creative people, see those things. I'm talking about myself here. To see those things are such painful experiences that they'd rather just give up, you know?

And I think what what I'm really grateful for, for any of those experiences at all stages of my business, is just like going, okay, that happened. What's next? Because I am in it for the love of the game. And I think so many people listening to this, you are in it for the love of the game too, because you're a creative person, you know that you'll always like come up with new ideas and there will be blips along the way that are painful, that are horrible, and you can turn those into cautionary tales for other people learning experiences for yourself.

Even though I can't, you know, I don't want to talk about the details, you know, super explicitly. I am grateful for some of those experiences because I'm like, oh, wow, that has really taught me so much. I am grateful. Sometimes I can turn into, like a whole new offering for you, you know, it can be a book, a course, a speaking engagement on that topic.

It can be a whole, whole new business. It can just teach you more compassion for other people. I know, I know several people who work in, you know, PTSD kind of help and support for other people who did not believe in PTSD until it happened to them. They were just like, oh, no, that's just for like certain people who can't hack it.

And something bad happened to them. It gave them a whole different perspective on it, and now they can share their experiences and help other people from a completely new place of compassion. And I feel like that would make me such a better mentor as well, instead of just like, oh, well, that's never going to happen to you whatever, to be like, you know, it could happen to you. And here's some things we can do, you know, to avoid it.

But also here's like when it happens, if it does happen, you're a good, kind person. And that's okay and it's fine. And you don't have to quit because it's just part of it. It's just a rite of passage.

And I feel like I had that compassion for other people. But then when things happened to me, I was like, oh no, this is because I'm a bad person. Oh. It is because the universe doesn't like me.

It is because, you know, forgetting that it's that new level old devil thing. So something else to let you know too, is that imposter syndrome will happen at every income level, and money doesn't necessarily make that go away. But don't let those things calcify, you know, and I, I really hope for me, like, I don't think it is because I feel like I've kind of gone, oh, yeah, cool. I can trust again, but trust with caution, right?

And so don't let things that are bad become you don't overcompensate and then just go, okay, I will never hire anybody. I will never trust anybody. I'll never do an event again. I'll never do this thing again because it was so painful.

You can learn from it. Do better next time. Have compassion for yourself. You can share that experience with other people.

You can transmute it into something really beautiful. And know that is just part of the journey. Okay. So, you know, again, being around people who are in similar, phase of life in business or of mindset can be really helpful.

And sometimes people like to be, around people who are like, really stretch them. Sometimes people like to be kind of more in the middle, and that either way is fine, right? But do it with intentionality so you can when you hear the stories, it does help you acclimatize. It does help your nervous system kind of adjust to more wealth because there's just something about us as humans.

When we're one degree of separation from something, we go, oh, okay, that's not so bad, you know? Oh, okay, I've got support, I've got help, I've got people that I can confide in. I've got people who can give me advice and signpost things along the way. But also sometimes it's a bit of like monkey see monkey do.

When you see people, it's like, oh, well, they increase their prices and they're fine or oh wow, they had a big launch and they're fine. Oh, they've made a big public mistake. Oh my God, they're fine. And that I think, can be very comforting for us to realize that you don't have to be perfect, okay?

And if you don't have that, you feel very alone. You know, you internalize it, you feel really bad. And sometimes people quit because they just don't. They don't have the support.

They really don't. Okay. So, I think that's super important. You know what masterminds, are you in?

What things are you listening to? That could be podcasts. That could be mentors. You know, who are you working with?

What kind of mentor? Supportive you got? What are you doing to kind of prepare yourself for that next phase, knowing that there's always going to be more challenges and mindset lessons more and the same. Sometimes more in the same.

Isn't that fun? Okay. Cool. So, it's normal to have money mindset issues and it's normal to have different ones at different times and same ones at different times.

It really is. So if you're curious about what some of your blocks are, you can go in and listen to my free workshop money blocks at denisedt.com/blocks and, yeah, I've got one final thought for you after this last great sand attack. My name is Mark Tweedie, and I'm the proud owner of Canning Crystals Ducati UK. When I first started out, I was purely a product based company and then came along.

Get rich. Lucky bitch. I devoured the book within a day. I started following Denise and I subsequently became a member of Money Bootcamp.

The lessons that I've learned have been totally invaluable, and now I make 12 times more in a month than I did this time last year, mostly thanks to the idea of having a passive income, which now accounts for just over 80% of my sales. Using Denise's tips and guidance, my podcasts shot up the charts and even went and number one here in the UK for both spirituality and self-improvement. So I just wanted to say a massive thank you, Denise and everyone else involved in Money Bootcamp. You've changed my life forever and for that I am truly grateful.

Yes. Okay. I think there is just so much usefulness in acknowledging your humanity and just being like, I don't have to be perfect. I'm not going to be perfect.

I'm going to make mistakes and to reassure yourself. And a tool that I use a lot is EFT. Most I think most people kind of have heard about now it's called tapping. It's called emotional freedom.

Technique might still be new to you. That's totally fine, but it is a really great one, I think, to help you deal with money mindset issues is something I do a lot I do with my kids when they're having challenges, but the reason why I think it's so great is because you tap on different points of your face, which is kind of arbitrary, I think. But then you say, you know, even though I have these blocks or whatever it is, even though I feel bad if though I made a mistake and then you finish with a deeply and completely love and accept myself, I deeply and completely love and accept myself.

And I just think that's just so beautiful. It's such a beautiful lesson. To give yourself, I, I deeply, completely love and accept myself. And I think that can be very calming for your nervous system.

But it's also really great whenever you're fearful about something or you feel shame about something can really help you to transmute it so it doesn't become a groove, it doesn't become, you know, a sabotage, a long term sabotage, and then you can just move on. You can go. It was a rite of passage, and it is what it is, and I'll learn from it, and I'll I'll pick myself up again so deeply and completely loving you. Accept yourself.

I think it's a very powerful thing to do. Okay. I love you and I hope you have a really great week. And, yeah, it's time.

It's your time and your authentic self. I'll see you next week.