What are some of the reasons you find it hard accepting money? Discovering them helps you understand why you’re not building up wealth and not enjoying the financial freedom.
Once upon a time, I would not have accepted money for helping someone out with computer issues. This was for a friend, who runs a small sporting goods store. Her computer that I built somehow became infected with malware. I would do an hour’s worth of work to fix it. At the end of that hour, she had a hundred dollar bill in hand, ready to pay me. Instead, I turned it down, thinking she was overpaying me. I told myself I was doing this for a friend, and friends don’t charge friends, right?
Wrong. I was telling myself a story. Underneath it all, I had failed to see the value I provided.
I learned a valuable lesson that day. I didn’t fix that computer in just an hour. It took me over twenty years of experience to fix it. This in turn enabled her to continue sales in the shop without missing too many beats.
This brings us to some of the reason why we cannot accept money, even when someone gives it to us in exchange for the value we provided.
Not Knowing Your Value
It’s not unusual to underestimate the value we provide. What we think we are capable of doing, we often relegate to favoring other people. We think they are somehow better and more knowledgeable than we are.
Part of the reason is thinking we’re frauds. For others, it’s their need for perfectionism. It is that seeming need for perfectionism that keeps a person from ever taking meaningful action. This makes it hard accepting money.
The Most Money You’ve Ever Made…
What’s the most money you’ve ever made? The answer here will tell you why some people have troubles accepting $100 for an hour’s worth of labor while others do not.
If you would like to reach a 6-figure salary, then you have to start by accepting you’re worth $50 an hour because that’s how much per hour a $100,000 yearly salary is. After you factor the overhead costs of running a business, such as renting a space, providing electricity, janitorial services, benefits like medical insurance, vacation time, and snacks in the breakroom, your hourly rate far exceeds the $50 an hour the company is paying you. In fact, to cover these hidden expenses your employer is probably making 2 to 3 times more than what they are paying you!
Not Knowing How to Accept Compliments
Someone says to you, “Nice sweater.”
How do you respond? Do you say, “It’s not that nice. I got it at Goodwill.”
Or do you simply say, “Thank you.”
How you accept compliments is a reflection of how you accept money. If you find it hard accepting compliments, how does this work when it comes to money? Be grateful, say “thank you” and accept the compliment without feeling the need to qualify yourself. People rarely say nice things as it is. Enjoy the moment.
Money Myths
Another reason you cannot accept money is you hold faulty beliefs about money. For example…
- I’m just a slave to money.
- The rich stole their riches.
- All debt is bad.
- I can never be rich.
- I don’t need money to be happy.
Replace these beliefs with more productive ones, which will help bring more money into your life. Otherwise, you’ll continue to find it hard accepting money.
Money Only Comes From Jobs Means Hard Accepting Money
This is another source of faulty thinking that causes us to reject money unless it comes from a job. Ever since we are children, being indoctrinated through 20+ years of schooling, parenting, and following the rules of the world, we are taught to believe that the only way to make money is through jobs.
We cannot see that money also comes from other sources, such as investing in real estate or the stock market. It also comes from running a business.
I heard this song and dance growing up. “You need money to start a business.” Yet, the person (my mother) who gave the advice never started a business or did much that is meaningful with her life. Instead, she fed me the same bullshit that most people are fed. Go to school. Get good grades. You’ll find a good job one day. Don’t take business advice from someone who has never ran a business.
Yet, jobs come with a ceiling as to how much you can earn. There’s only so many hours you can work in a day. You’re always at the whimsy of your employer, who can fire you in a heartbeat. You have to ask another grown-up if you can take a day off. Imagine the irony of being an adult and asking someone else for permission on what to do with your life!
If you have a hard time accepting money now, then imagine what happens when you start working on other sources of revenue stream, some of which will be far easier than trading time for money (e.g., the stock market). You’ll likely let money walk out the door because it seems too easy and is somehow wrong in your belief system.
Hard Accepting Money: It’s All About Poor Self-Image
In the end, how far you get boils down to one thing: You only get as far as the image you hold of yourself.
The amount of money you make is a reflection of that self-image. A lot of people have an unhealthy attitude towards millionaires, accusing them of dishonesty. Chances are these same accusers are not successful.
Partly in those accusations we find misplaced and unfounded guilt. When a person feels guilty about making money, she’s less apt to do the things necessary to create wealth.
We are the sum of all that we do. If you find it hard accepting money or being hesitant about it, especially when someone is ready to give some to you right this moment, is often a reflection of how we carry ourselves in the world and the value we provide.
The best financial advice in the world will fail you if you have bad mindsets around money. What are some examples of bad money mindsets? Investing is only for the rich. I can never afford that. Money is the root of all evil.
I had many of the same money mindsets that you may now have. Through a concentrated effort, I was able to change most of these around. In the process, I transformed from a clueless guy–feeling like he’s barely making it–to someone who’s achieved a measure of financial freedom.
I invite you to get your free gift, 7 Money Mindsets Preventing You From a Positive Cashflow, today.
Discover the 7 most common myths (false beliefs) around money that’s keeping you from having more money!