Why Your Brain Is Keeping You Broke
Our thought and emotions over time and repeated often enough lead to our beliefs. It becomes our identity of how we show up every day in our business and these beliefs affect the decisions we make, the actions we take and the results we get in our business and how much money we make.
Our belief pathways are mostly wired between the ages of 2 -7 years old and then with constant repetition these pathways in our brain become automated, and happens for a couple of reasons. It keeps us from having to constantly get outside our comfort zone, which keeps our brain feeling safe and also not have to reinvent the wheel every day, which also makes our brain energy efficient.
Beliefs, both positive and negative, are also patterns and until you are ready for a PATTERN INTERRUPT (where your brain gets off the hamster wheel of doing the same actions and thinking the same thoughts consistently) then your brain will continue to crave the same behaviours.
Each time you repeat a pattern of behaviour, it becomes more ingrained in your brain until it eventually becomes an automatic belief.
Every single one of our habits is driven by a 3-part loop:
The Trigger (the stimulus)
The Routine (the behaviour)
The Reward (the benefit of doing the behaviour).
The part of the human brain responsible for our habits is called the striatum; it makes us repeat actions we find enjoyable, but unfortunately, this mechanism also works for negative habits too. The modern world is designed to create experiences that are potentially addictive, our brain grabs onto them and a habit is formed.
Habits can occur in any area of our lives, but the main area for entrepreneurs and business women is negative habits around money.
THE MONEY HABIT
Let’s take the 3-part loop and just one of the many, many, many ‘Money Habits’ to explain what I mean using a client as an example. We’ll call her Tess, but her name has been changed.
Tess had been a solopreneur for 18 months years and was finding that she was making some money, not the amount she wanted. She had left a well paying, but miserable, job that she had done for over 10 years, but she was now earning no where near as much as she used to.
Her 3-part loop when working for someone else for 10 years had been:
Earn money regularly and consistently (the stimulus)
Spend every penny she could on expensive ‘stuff’ (the behaviour, that was addictive)
Live a comfortable lifestyle (the reward)
She was able to sustain this ‘money habit’ when she worked for someone else because her days were a rinse and repeat cycle. She got up, went to work, did as much (or as little work as she liked), came home, got paid every month right on time and went on shopping sprees that made herself happy because to be honest she was miserable in her job and wanted to work for herself.
When she began to work for herself her ‘early day’s of the business’ income did change from what she was used to as she was building up her list of clients but she found it impossible to break her ‘money habit’, Her goal was to bring in £20k per month consistently so she could grow the business and not spend it all. This is where she needed help with her money mindset, setting goals to elevate her current financial situation and to bring in a pattern interrupt.
To break a bad money habit, it's important to understand your 3-part loop, turn toward instead of away from your specific money story to understand what is happening and to be aware of your true feelings. Women in particular find the emotions around money difficult to discuss. But it’s time to change all of that.
Although Tess had a well paid job she bought expensive things because she was unfulfilled and was depressed. A depressed brain has a reduced dopamine reaction, which means it requires more repetitions of those negative habits (her shopping addiction) to get it’s chemical fix, and so Tess’ striatum kept prompting her to spend, spend, spend in order to feel good.
Some people are genetically wired to focus more on the negative aspects of financial situations, a tendency that only increases when they are depressed, which keeps them trapped in the downward spiral.
So how do we keep from getting trapped a negative money loop?
Andrew, my very outdoorsy hubby, introduced me to a mountain climbing book called Touching the Void by Joe Simpson. In it he explains that when you are on the face of a mountain you need to make decisions and goals and keep moving forward.
When it comes to business sometimes there are no right or wrong decision, it’s a choice you make at the time. You may need to course correct or implement a pattern interrupt but by setting goals, making decision, acting on them and moving forward you have a greater chance of success. They reduce uncertainty and lead you out of a downwards spiral
When you hold a long-term goal in your mind, your nerve cells release dopamine, which makes you feel good, not just when you achieve the final goal, but also when you move closer to it.
However, for this to work, your goals need to be very precise. If you decide to make £20k per month, like Tess did, then that’s a great goal but you need to get even more precise. How will you achieve this - get more visible on social media and attract 4 new clients perhaps? Only when your goals are dialled in will your brain know that you’re moving in the right direction.
TODAY'S INSPIRED ACTION
I invite you today to take a look at just one money negative habit you have. Following the 3-part loop exercise see what is your stimulus, behaviour and reward. Don't forget to feel the emotions around it even though it may be difficult. Finally ask yourself is this habit really serving my greater good and is it moving me towards or away from my money goals?
You've known for some time that a personal transformation is needed for you to grow your business, income and impact.
So, perhaps we should talk?
If you are finding you have a difficult relationship and beliefs around money that are holding you back in your business then I invite you to get in touch for a FREE call with me.
Let’s begin the conversation to get you on the right track by harnessing your superpower, your brain, to increase your potential, possibilities and profits in your business today.