5 Habits to Remove Money Blocks + Upgrade Your Money Mindset in 2025 with Karen Eley

🚨 Are Your Money Blocks Keeping You Stuck? 🚨

Feel like no matter how much you earn, you just can't seem to get ahead? Maybe you avoid checking your bank balance, struggle to ask for a pay rise, or always feel like there's "never enough" money.

This week on the Ladies Finance Club Podcast, I’m joined by Karen Eley - a former financial advisor with over 15 years of experience and now a money coach helping hundreds of Aussie women break free from financial stress.

🔥 In this episode, we’re unpacking:
✅ The 5 most common money blocks holding women back
✅ Why you feel stuck in a scarcity mindset—even if you earn good money
✅ How self-worth impacts your salary and investing confidence
✅ Why so many people avoid dealing with their finances (and how to stop!)
✅ Simple mindset shifts to help you feel financially empowered

If you’ve ever thought, “I’m just not good with money” - this episode is a must-listen.

💡 Want to dive even deeper? Check out our Feel, Behave & Do Better with Money course - designed to help you rewire your money mindset and build lasting financial confidence. Grab it here. 

This episode is brought to you by InvestorKit, Australia’s #1 Buyers Agency for 2023 and 2024. They specialise in helping investors find high-growth properties utilising industry leading AI and data driven research process across Australia. 70%+ of the properties they purchase are off-market and they have consistently outperformed national average capital growth rates by over 49%. Whether you’re looking to build your property portfolio or secure your first investment. Check them out here.

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Intro: Welcome to Let’s Get Rich
01:25 - What Are Money Blocks?
03:06 - Money Block #1: Scarcity Mindset
06:45 - Defining 'Enough': A Key to Overcoming Scarcity
07:22 - Money Block #2: Undervaluing Yourself & Feeling Unworthy
09:39 - Money Block #3: Avoidance & Procrastination
13:22 - Money Block #4: "I’ve Left It Too Late"
16:46 - Reframing Your Relationship with Money
20:17 - Money Block #5: "I’m Just Bad with Money"
23:19 - Mindset Shift: Gratitude & Money
25:00 - How to Take Action & Work with Karen
27:00 - Final Thoughts: "It’s Not Money, It’s You"

LINKS AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE

The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson - https://www.niallferguson.com/the-ascent-of-money

CONNECT WITH KAREN ELEY

Website: https://www.womentalkingfinance.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/women.talking.finance/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-eley-95523324/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/women.talking.finance# 

CONNECT WITH LADIES FINANCE CLUB

Join our free Facebook group - Ladies Finance Club Money Chat
Website: https://www.ladiesfinanceclub.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladiesfinanceclub/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ladies-finance-club/

TAKEAWAYS

• Money blocks are subconscious beliefs that limit financial success.
• Scarcity mindset can persist even with ample financial resources.
• Emotional awareness is key to overcoming money blocks.
• Undervaluing oneself can lead to poor financial negotiations.
• Avoidance of financial tasks is a common issue.
• Self-forgiveness is essential for moving forward financially.
• Changing the narrative around money can alter perceptions.
• Gratitude for money can enhance one's financial mindset.
• It's important to set clear financial goals.
• The journey to financial empowerment requires internal work.

SOUND BITES

"Scarcity mindset is a common block."
"Money needs a goal and a direction."
"It's not money, it's you."
"Whatever is in the way is the way."
"I'm learning to be better with money."

TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Molly: Hey, welcome back to Get Rich, the podcast helping you do just that. Get rich and stay rich. I'm your host, Molly Benjamin, and I am so glad you stopped by today because we're diving into something which might be secretly holding you back from building wealth and you don't even realize money blocks. So I'm joined by Karen Eley.

[00:00:18] She's a financial advisor, turn Money Coach, and a Total Ladies Finance Club favorite. If you're one of our members, you will be very familiar with Karen. She's worked with hundreds of women around us. Australia, helping them uncover and break through these hidden beliefs that are stopping them from getting ahead financially.

[00:00:35] And today she's exposing the five most common money blocks that might be sabotaging your success. And trust me, you will wanna hear these because I reckon you might be struggling with one or two. And the thing is, once women uncover their blocks, money starts flowing into their lives in ways they never expected.

[00:00:55] And here's the deal, if you learn something new in today's episode, you will thank us [00:01:00] by hitting the subscribe button. All right, deal. Okay, now let's get into it because this episode might just change the way you think about money forever. Hi Karen. Welcome to the show. Hi Molly. Thanks for having me. Now you are a ladies finance club favorite, and today what I thought would be really interesting if we talk about those five most common money blocks that you see and what we can do to overcome them.

[00:01:25] So you've, as I mentioned in the introduction, you've been a financial advisor, you are now a money coach. You've worked with hundreds and hundreds of different women on this. I guess to kick off, can you explain for the listeners what a actual money block is in case they're not aware?

[00:01:40] Karen: Yeah, so money blocks, think of it as like a subconscious belief or attitudes or emotional patterns that actually limit people's abilities to relate to money.

[00:01:51] So they often act as mental or emotional, psychological barriers that prevent people from actually going ahead and doing [00:02:00] those things that they wanna do. They kind of almost feel stuck. Yeah. So it's, yeah, it's just like an energetic, emotional block

[00:02:06] Molly: block. Yeah. And I think sometimes, are people even aware of these blocks?

[00:02:10] Karen: No, because that's, like I said, they sit in our subconsciousness. Yeah. And so we don't have an awareness to it. We are not actually conscious around that. So if we look at the study of the brain, you know, there's different parts of our brain, so some parts we're aware and conscious of. And then there's other parts of our brain that we've had certain events and things happen to us, or beliefs that we've created in childhood that are stored in a part of our brain that.

[00:02:36] Is in our subconscious part of our brain, which we don't have access to. So on a conscious, aware level, we're not going, I just wanna start to grow my money, invest my money, earn more. But subconsciously there's some area in the brain that's holding you back or blocking you from achieving those practical things that you're looking to do.

[00:02:53] Molly: Yeah, that sounds extremely common with the comments I hear as well. So as I [00:03:00] mentioned, you've worked with lots of different clients, so what is like one of the most common money blocks you hear?

[00:03:06] Karen: So the most common one that I see is around scarcity.

[00:03:09] Molly: Hmm.

[00:03:10] Karen: And what I mean by that is that there's just never enough.

[00:03:14] I don't have enough, I can't make enough. Just living pay to pay. Just really that scarcity mindset and energy around money.

[00:03:24] Molly: Yeah. With these thoughts and beliefs around money, these blocks, is this something that has been in them since they were a child, or have they developed it as they've gone into adulthood?

[00:03:36] Karen: Absolutely Molly. Based on the work that I've done with clients, it always stems back to what they experienced, how they experience money and their finances from a very early age. So when I work with clients that have scarcity, sometimes they actually do have like limited financial resources that sometimes Molly clients have more than enough money.

[00:03:58] They earn like six figure [00:04:00] incomes. They've got assets in the bank, they've got superannuation, however. They still have that scarcity block.

[00:04:07] Molly: Yeah. I'm actually picturing, um, A LFC member right now and they're doing really well, but they keep saying how poor they are. Pretty much, and I'm like, in my head I'm just like, you are, you are doing so well.

[00:04:21] So how do people then overcome that to kind of go actually. Because I always used to think as well, like for me personally, I definitely had scarcity mindset, especially at university, and I was just always broke. Everyone was broke. We were all broke. That's just how it was. We're always looking for the cheapest thing.

[00:04:38] And then some of us grew out of it and some of us didn't. Yeah. I guess how do we make that step to then go from that scarcity to the abundance?

[00:04:45] Karen: Yeah, so there's a couple of things there. We wanna look at different levels of that. So that first level is really around your emotions. And I think one of our greatest addictions as human beings is addiction to our own emotional states.

[00:04:59] Molly: Mm. [00:05:00]

[00:05:00] Karen: So, and what I mean by that is you can kind of have a little bit of a stock take and say like, on a weekly basis, what are the three most common emotions that I experience? Is it joy? Is it gratitude? Is it struggle? Is it not enough? Is it resentment or envy that others have things? 'cause we can have a mood.

[00:05:18] We can feel that emotional feeling. And if we move out of it pretty quickly, it stays a mood. But if we experience it and we sit in it with a long period of time, it almost becomes a bit more of a way of being.

[00:05:32] Molly: Mm-hmm.

[00:05:32] Karen: And so we move from that being emo. A mood to more of like a Yeah. Just we identify with it more.

[00:05:40] And so when we experience that over and over again, it actually becomes part of our identity. Mm. I'm an envious or jealous person, like I'm a a stressed person, or I'm a joyful person. It becomes part of our identity. So that first step, Molly, is really around being conscious of, what are those common emotions that you experience [00:06:00] relative to money?

[00:06:01] Yeah. Them being really intentional around, yeah. I wanna shift those. I don't want to feel those emotions around money anymore. Yeah. And so we almost need to Yeah. Just create it in our body that okay, we're gonna start to feel gratitude or joy or positivity. Yeah. But because we've never experienced it before, we, we've gotta be really intentional about, I'm just gonna feel this in my body and I might just do it for like a minute.

[00:06:22] A day.

[00:06:22] Molly: Yeah. Or a

[00:06:23] Karen: couple of times a day. And you just grow it like you're going to the gym and building up a muscle. Yeah. We need to do the same thing with our emotions.

[00:06:30] Molly: Yes, big time. I love that. Okay, so that's the most common one you come across that, um, having enough and it's so interesting 'cause I speak to a lot of women and that always comes up.

[00:06:42] It's like, I wanna have enough. And I said, great. Do you know what enough is? And they say, I don't know what enough is. So. I'm like, well, how do you know what you're getting to if you don't know what that amount is? So it's really interesting that one, I think our

[00:06:55] Karen: financial goals, like our money needs are goals and a direction and purpose.

[00:06:59] [00:07:00] So I think what you said around, well, how much is it we need to be really clear and articulate. What is that amount that make me feel safe and secure? Financial security or financial freedom, what is that actual amount? Yeah. That they're working towards, towards.

[00:07:13] Molly: Absolutely. 'cause then exactly, you can put a plan behind it and hit that what's, uh, probably like the second or another really common money block you see?

[00:07:22] Hmm. The second most common

[00:07:23] Karen: one is around undervaluing themselves or feeling unworthy. Think unworthiness definitely is number two. Okay. And so how this plays out is often I work with people that they have such great skills, talents, and abilities. They're really good at their job. Mm-hmm. But they really struggle negotiating hay rises.

[00:07:46] Yeah. Or to be paid what they're actually worth.

[00:07:49] Molly: Mm.

[00:07:49] Karen: Or if they've got their own business, they're charging properly or they feel uncomfortable asking

[00:07:55] Molly: Yeah.

[00:07:55] Karen: For their worth. Mm-hmm. That, that's really like a big one that I see. [00:08:00]

[00:08:00] Molly: Yeah, totally. And so what are some things if someone's listening and they're like, oh yeah, that's definitely me.

[00:08:07] How can we work on that self-worth?

[00:08:09] Karen: Again, we've identified ourselves as being unworthy or not worthy enough. Yeah. And not being good enough.

[00:08:16] Molly: Yeah.

[00:08:16] Karen: And so I think one of the first things is to go back and recall when was the first time that you felt unworthy or not good enough? Because early back, as you can remember, because.

[00:08:29] We now identify with being unworthy or not good enough. And so we need to do more, be more, have more.

[00:08:36] Molly: Mm-hmm.

[00:08:37] Karen: But we wanna kind of find out where do we form that belief that we're unworthy of wealth or earning or asking for what we are worth? And it's normally somewhere in childhood. So it's about going back and having a look at when did I decide that I'm, I'm worthy.

[00:08:51] Molly: Yeah.

[00:08:52] Karen: And really exploring that because you'll be quite surprised as to what comes up.

[00:08:57] Molly: And

[00:08:57] Karen: then you wanna kind of jump back to the future and [00:09:00] say, well, I need to find evidence of being worthy. And it might be asking other people, it might be speaking to people that you work with or you do business with and just say, yeah, I'm just really curious, like what is it that I do that you value?

[00:09:14] So we just wanna build up that evidence that, yeah, I actually do have worth and what I do is really important and worthy of wealth.

[00:09:22] Molly: Yes, I love that. And we actually have an episode on salary negotiation with Maggie Palmer. So if you're listening to this and you need to negotiate your salary, make sure you check that one out as well so you can be.

[00:09:33] Fully prepped. Another common, the third most common money block. So number

[00:09:39] Karen: three, drum roll is avoidance. Ah, yes. So the, um, the bank statements come in or the emails come in. I just don't wanna open it. Like what might be in there. Yeah. Or um, yeah, I know I need to start investing. And I said in 2024, I'm gonna be really good with my money and I'm gonna [00:10:00] do all these things.

[00:10:01] And then we just procrastinate or avoid it.

[00:10:04] Molly: Yeah. I was definitely in this camp for a very long time, to the point, Karen, where I wouldn't even open my super fun letters. 'cause I was just like, I have no idea what this is and I'm just gonna throw it straight in the bin. Like such avoidance. So if someone's listening and they're like, oh yeah, that's me.

[00:10:22] And I know if people are listening. You're currently avoiding maybe doing a budget or checking with your statement. First of all, you're not alone. It is so common. So common. What's a step they can take to stop avoiding and take action? 'cause I get it. It's like, it feels really overwhelming when you start.

[00:10:40] You're just like, where do I even begin? So I guess where do they begin?

[00:10:44] Karen: So I think with all of these blocks, I think an important thing to be aware of. It's not money. It's you so

[00:10:54] Molly: hard truths to caring guide. Yeah. It's you not it's not us, it's [00:11:00] you. Wow. It's, it's not money. It's you. I love that.

[00:11:03] Karen: Mm. So money is logical and rational, but us human beings our emotional.

[00:11:09] Molly: Mm. So

[00:11:10] Karen: we need to kind of peel back the layers and uncover what is the emotional. Avoidance that I have around money, and it's typically like a fear. Or a stress or an anxiety, and we need to address that elephant in the room first, because otherwise we're just not going to take action. So what is it that I'm really avoiding?

[00:11:33] What is it that I'm afraid of?

[00:11:35] Molly: Mm. Quite

[00:11:35] Karen: often it's about self-sabotage. So I'm just sitting with yourself for a few minutes and if you've got a financial goal that you wanna have, whether it be sorting out your superannuation, earning more, creating a savings account or emergency fund. Yeah. Like, just think about, just sit for a couple of minutes and think, if I actually achieved this and I got this result, what am I afraid that will happen?

[00:11:58] Or that I'll [00:12:00] become, yeah. Or the people will think of me. Just sit with that for a minute.

[00:12:05] Molly: Ooh. Yeah, that is great. And I also love this exercise I used to do. I would write out the times I had been good with money and what I had done. I'd be like, oh yeah, I saved for a trip once. Oh yeah, that was actually really easy to do.

[00:12:20] So maybe I'm not as bad with money as I think I am. Maybe I just, you know, need better goals or blah, blah, blah, whatever it was. But yeah, that's a really good one to sit with those emotions. And I imagine they'll probably get a bit uncomfortable. You reckon a bit uncomfortable.

[00:12:35] Karen: That's like a lot uncomfortable, but what I know, Molly, is whatever is in the way, is the way.

[00:12:43] Oh, we just sort of bus through that block.

[00:12:45] Molly: Yes. Uh, and I think as well, like it doesn't for this exercise, it doesn't matter how old you are. 'cause I see women at a such a different age range and some are starting, you know, a little bit later on in life and they're starting to go, [00:13:00] no, actually I need to get on top of this.

[00:13:02] And there's a lot of emotion that's come up for them, whether it's just anger at themselves or just like guilt that they're like, why have I taken so long to do it? But I say, you know. You're here, you're doing it, the work now, and it's better than a week's time next week, a year's time, six years time. So do that.

[00:13:22] Yeah, that's right.

[00:13:22] Karen: Work now. Yeah. I had something else as, uh, block number four, but I'm gonna take that one. I've left it too late. Okay, so I just started, I should have started a long time ago. I've left it too late. So what we need to do to remove that block or take away the sting from it, is to white ourselves a lit of forgiveness.

[00:13:45] Molly: Mm-hmm.

[00:13:46] Karen: So, because we carry so much guilt, shame, fear should have started a long time ago. Everybody else is so much further ahead than I am. Yeah. Comparing ourselves to everybody else. Yeah. And it's what you wanna do is you just [00:14:00] wanna sit and have some compassion.

[00:14:02] Molly: Mm.

[00:14:02] Karen: And love for yourself and say, well.

[00:14:05] If you look at what you experienced growing up, maybe money was challenging. Maybe there were reasons for avoidance. Maybe no one ever told you what to do, you didn't get a great start. So coming from that with some self-compassion and self love. Yeah. And say, look, yeah. Could have done things better.

[00:14:22] Molly: Yeah.

[00:14:22] But

[00:14:23] Karen: I'm gonna shower myself with love and these are the reasons why. And yeah, just to give yourself some forgiveness to let that go and release it. Mm. Because if you're carrying that into 2025, yeah, it's gonna be really hard. It is gonna mutually block you from taking that action.

[00:14:39] Molly: Yes. And there's a quote here that I love.

[00:14:42] It says, do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. And I think, you know, we're all starting at such different. Start lines. So some of us have been given these amazing opportunities from childhood. Some of us had really positive relationships with money [00:15:00] from an early age.

[00:15:01] Some of us didn't. Some of us got setback, some of us got pushed straight back to the start line when they were almost at the like, you know, so we're all in these different places. So it's just a matter of taking action now, and I love that. Writing yourself a letter of forgiveness around money. I actually did this once and I was like in tears by the end of it.

[00:15:20] Yeah.

[00:15:21] Karen: The tease is a great thing. Yeah, because it's an energetic release. You're like getting out of that, out of your body, out of your system. Yeah. It's a wonderful thing to do

[00:15:29] Molly: because for me it was just so much anger at myself for just having, being so wasteful and just being so avoidant and what I could have had, had.

[00:15:38] I started this earlier and I just had to let that go and go, okay, it's time for a clean state slate and let's begin again.

[00:15:47] Karen: Yeah, absolutely. So a letter of forgiveness to yourself. I. Or, uh, another one that I like to do is write a letter to Money. Dear Money. Yeah. And just, you know, just think of it like a friend, like if you had a [00:16:00] pen pal and you were just, and it was money, just write all of the things about it.

[00:16:05] Some of the things that you wanna forgive yourself for, that you wanna be grateful for. And just writing a letter to money. Yeah. But often there'll be an energetic release there as well.

[00:16:13] Molly: Nice. Simone Guinen, who is a money coach in the uk. And she wrote a book called Economics, but she always used to say, imagine if money came to tea.

[00:16:25] So imagine if money knocked on your door for you. What does MA look like? Is it a man in a suit? Is it woman in a power outfit? Does she rock up in a convertible? But for so many people, it was this really scary, evil person that they didn't even wanna invite in for tea. They were like, oh no, they're not coming into their house.

[00:16:46] And that was a real. Or it could

[00:16:48] Karen: be like, money's not gonna come to my house, it doesn't like me. It's not even gonna come over. Yes.

[00:16:55] Molly: And there was just so many different associations, but most of them were not good. [00:17:00] They were negative. So it was like, well that's a good starting point as well because that's showing you what are you actually.

[00:17:05] Thinking about money.

[00:17:07] Karen: Yeah, that's right. And it's what you are subconsciously thinking. Yes. Because we just walk around consciously thinking certain things, but when we actually do any of these exercises Yeah. That we've spoken about, it's starting to access what's in your subconsciousness where these blocks live.

[00:17:21] Molly: Yeah, and this is a bit of a, I digress, but I, in my book I did this little piece around this guy called Andy Griffith, and he had been traveling around Australia, so a range of different socioeconomic areas. He was going into schools in really wealthy areas, in really poor areas, and they would do this exercise where the kids had to shout out.

[00:17:43] They, they asked some questions about money and the kids had to shout out answers. And so they'd be like, you know, what are wealthy people like? Or, you know, what do you think of people with lots of money? And he said, no matter where they went, no matter where, if it was a wealthy or a poor area, it was all the same.

[00:17:58] It was [00:18:00] bad, evil, unhappy fighting. And he's like, where are they getting those messages? They're getting 'em from the home. So I, you know, it's very rare I meet people and they have these really positive associations, money, unless they've done the work. I'll meet someone, they'll be like, I love money. And I'll be like, have you done work on this?

[00:18:16] They're like, yes, I have. Yeah. But I think it goes to show that if you're listening and you are like, oh God, like that's, you know, I, I don't definitely do not light up when I think about money. You're not alone. But again, it's about taking action and taking that first step.

[00:18:32] Karen: Absolutely. You've just reminded me of a book.

[00:18:35] It's called The Ascent of Money.

[00:18:36] Molly: Mm-hmm. And

[00:18:37] Karen: it's essentially money through history. Oh wow. Like its formation, how it was used. And no wonder we have negative beliefs around it. When you look at the history of money, it came in, people got greedy, it caused wars. Yeah. Fighting an argument, and then we went into the dark ages and it was completely gone, and then it come back again.

[00:18:56] Like we carry all of that through stories. Through our [00:19:00] ancestors. Yeah, our relatives. Yeah. No wonder.

[00:19:04] Molly: Yeah, and I think specifically for women as well, and I've shared this, those characters, like when we think of women and wealthy women, like. The role models. There aren't many wealthy good women as role models, especially when we look at books and movies like Carolla Deville, crazy Rich Asians, just Pride and Prejudice, like absolutely all these ones.

[00:19:27] It's always like the evil mother or like the evil step, wealthy, rich stepmother. But if you look at the men, it's quite the opposite. They're always super cool, calm me, super handsome on a yacht or a boat or a plane. And I'm always like, what the hell? There's these psychopaths. Like, of course, you know, that's the association we've seen from such a young age.

[00:19:49] Of course, when we get money, we're gonna be like, oh, this doesn't feel good. I feel bad, I wanna get rid of it. Ah, spend, spend,

[00:19:56] Karen: spend. Unless you've done that subconscious work. Absolutely. We need to [00:20:00] change the narrative around money.

[00:20:02] Molly: Mm-hmm.

[00:20:02] Karen: And look, that's gonna take a long time to shift. So we start with our own narrative, our own money story.

[00:20:07] What do we wanna believe about money going forward? Love it.

[00:20:12] Molly: And the final fifth most common money block you see. So

[00:20:17] Karen: I think we've already addressed it. Like I'm not good with money. Yeah. So everyone else seems to get it, but I don't. And so we've created this identity. I. I'm not good with money,

[00:20:27] Molly: so, and that's so common as well.

[00:20:30] I'm not good with money. Oh, I'm so bad with math. Oh, I'm not good with money. Oh God, the amount of times, if I had a dollar every time I heard that. So again, with that, I mean we've talked about lots of different solutions, but again. If that's something we really believe that we're not good with money, I guess that's gonna then show up in a lot of different ways in our life, whether we just Absolutely.

[00:20:52] Karen: Yeah. Avoid,

[00:20:53] Molly: I mean, do

[00:20:54] Karen: that avoidance or use it as an excuse, valuing ourselves, well, I'm just really bad with money, so I spend it all. [00:21:00] Yeah, that's right. It's kind of like my, yeah. My excuse. Yeah. So, um, we can have excuses or results. Yeah. We can't have both. So the first thing is. Change the language. Mm-hmm.

[00:21:12] Like, I'm so ferocious when I hear someone say, I'm just crap with money, or I'm bad with money, or money doesn't like, it's like, but that's the last time you're ever gonna say that. Yeah. I'm learning to be better with money or whatever phrase that you need to start putting into your head. So, you know, we carry these stories, we, um, think them over and over again, and we know that with the study of the brain and neuroplasticity Yeah.

[00:21:35] We can change those thoughts that we have. We have 60,000 thoughts running through our brain every day, Molly. Oh my gosh. 95% of them are the same ones as yesterday. Yeah. So, hey, tomorrow some of my thoughts are gonna be a little bit different, especially me relative to money. I'm being good with it or learning to be good with it.

[00:21:55] Molly: Yes. So challenge for the listeners. Next time you go to say, I'm [00:22:00] bad with money, you are gonna replace it with. Something I can replace of I'm getting better with money. Yes. I'm learning to be better with money. Learning to be better with money. Yeah, getting better with money. You guys can make a virtual promise to us that now you're gonna say, I'm getting better with money.

[00:22:16] Not I'm bad with money. So that's your 2025 challenge from Karen and I,

[00:22:23] Karen: and it's about, you know, really connecting with whatever words are going to appeal for you. So, and that's why I said. You wouldn't wanna change it too. I'm good with money because that would just feel icky. So it's gotta be something that is a shift, but a realistic shift for you.

[00:22:38] Yeah. So it's working out what is, what are the things that you need to tell yourself every day consistently?

[00:22:45] Molly: Yeah. And I always use that example of, I went for a run. Last year, I don't know, the year before, whatever I've, I've been for runs since, but it was a little while ago and I was running up this massive hill and I was like, oh, I'm so unfit.

[00:22:58] And then I thought, do you know [00:23:00] what I'm gonna tell myself? I'm getting fitter. I'm getting fitter every step. I'm getting fitter. And by the time I got to the top of that hill, I was like, yeah, but had I been like, I am so unfit, why did I do this? I wish I'd. Been running more, like it would've been such a negative experience and I probably would've just stopped and started walking.

[00:23:19] So again, I think it's, it's those internal voice, that internal voice you're telling yourself, Hey, I'm getting better with money every single day. Or, Hey, I can do this. I'm just, you know, it's just a little bit every single day.

[00:23:32] Karen: Yeah, and if I can kind of extend on that concept, I too, last year, did a lot of running and it got really hard and got really tired, and so I went through an exercise where I would have gratitude.

[00:23:43] So I will be so thankful and grateful for my legs. I. For my muscles, for my body to be able to carry me, and that's what got me through to climb up that hill or to finish that last K. Just having gratitude for my body that I'm able to do this. And I think we can [00:24:00] do the same thing with money. I think if we try really hard, we can all find something to be grateful about our money.

[00:24:07] Molly: Because money allows you to live a great life. It has your back during the tough times, and it will take you on adventures on holidays. You share fun times when you know you might be spending money. Like obviously you don't have to spend money to have good times, but you know, it can bring so much joy into your life.

[00:24:25] So yeah, the, the gratitude piece, the money I love as well. So for those who are listening and you're like. Absolutely love learning about the behavior around money and how they think and feel and make yourself feel better with money. We actually put together a course last year together and it did. Yeah, and it goes through.

[00:24:47] Do you wanna give people a bit of a rundown of what they, what we cover in that?

[00:24:52] Karen: Yeah. So it's really around thinking and feeling differently or better about money. So it's really that. [00:25:00] Internal job. So the exercises, so we've got five modules in there, and each one of those is designed to help you shift some of those money blocks, change your beliefs.

[00:25:11] The program is designed on the way that I would work with a client one-on-one. Mm-hmm. I'm very aware that not everyone can, has the financial resources to work one-on-one with someone like myself or another behavioral money coach. So we created this program that is a lot more accessible financially, but it takes you through the same process that you would get working one-on-one with a money coach.

[00:25:34] So we start off by exploring your money story and the next module is all around having a look at, well, what are my money types, my different patterns and behaviors, and actually identifying where do they come from, what looking at our parents and family members. And then, so we kind of do a lot of reflective work.

[00:25:52] Around our past, and then we kind of move into the present and we have different strategies depending on your emotional wounds and money [00:26:00] wounds that you had. What are some of these practical things that I can now put in place to help me improve my relationship with money?

[00:26:08] Molly: Yeah, so. As Karen mentioned as well, she does do one-on-one.

[00:26:14] So you can book in calls with Karen for that one-on-one money coaching, or yeah, check out the course maybe if you are in not quite in that financial position to do the one-on-one money coaching. I.

[00:26:27] Karen: And I think if you are doing the course, like we love accountability and I think that's one of the most valuable things about working with a coach.

[00:26:33] So if you are doing a online yourself, like a self-paced course, maybe do it with a girlfriend and do it together and you can share your insights, you know, what you got out of that particular exercise, what did you uncover? I think just having that accountability and a bit of a, a cheer squad to help lead you on can be so valuable.

[00:26:52] Molly: Absolutely. And we love doing everything with a gal pal at Ladies Finance Club. Absolutely. Awesome. Well, thank you so much, [00:27:00] Karen, for sharing those different money blocks and how we can overcome them. Such valuable insight, and it's just amazing how it always comes back to the mindset and how our beliefs around money, how we think and feel about money, and that we need to do that work as well.

[00:27:16] Like we're not gonna magically get better at it overnight. You've gotta do sometimes that uncomfortable work.

[00:27:22] Karen: Absolutely. Just remember ladies, it's not money, it's you. 'cause at the end of the day, money's neither good nor bad. It's neutral. Yeah. But as humans, we attach our own meanings and emotions to money.

[00:27:37] And if they're not working for us, it's about us doing the inside work. To overcome that.

[00:27:43] Molly: I think that's a beautiful line to finish this podcast on. Thank you so much, Karen. My

[00:27:48] Karen: pleasure, [00:28:00] Molly.

KEYWORDS

money blocks, financial mindset, scarcity mindset, self-worth, financial coaching, emotional barriers, money management, financial empowerment, overcoming avoidance, positive money narrative