The essential first step before you ‘figure out your money’ in 2024

Intentions, declarations, resolutions...the conversations are swirling around us, within us. Maybe *money* falls at the top of your own list, lingers on the edges, or doesn't show up on it at all? 

I wanted to provide a supportive way for you to approach your intention, wherever money may land on your 2024 list.

The topic of MONEY—personal finance, business finance—is incredibly broad. You can search google or Pinterest for 5 or 20 tips. You can go to the library for an idiot's or advanced guide. You can enroll in a course at your community college or online. 

But these, in my opinion, should be the second rather than first step in your process.

The first step is to discern which of these three aspects of your relationship to money—Healing, Organization, Empowerment—you feel most drawn to, which you feel ready to engage with before the others. This is a critical, and often skipped, step in embarking on a new path with money.

If you feel called to look more closely at your money in the coming year, take a few minutes with the questions below. Orient yourself within these three aspects so your next steps forward are surefooted—even if you don't yet know the path (psst...I have outlined several paths that I guide people on at the bottom of this post).

Orient, *then* take your next step forward...

Below are 3 different ways to begin (or continue) engaging with your money. All three are required for a healthy relationship with money yet knowing which doorway to enter through can help you focus your attention.

Start by honoring exactly where you are. As urgent as 'figure out my money!' may feel, trust that there is time to do it in the most supportive way for you. In the thousands and thousands of hours I have supported clients, I know that going slowly at the right time inevitably creates a clearer path and a quickened pace.

Healing—

To begin with healing means you gently tend to the many wounds, ruptures, and even traumas that you have experienced with money. 

It is tender to uncover our wounds with money: wounds of money shame, under-earning, socioeconomic disparity + our sense of belonging...

It is tender to acknowledge our money trauma: poverty, bankruptcy/foreclosure, financial abuse, financial betrayal.

It is tender to confront our own money choices: costly mistakes, deep regrets, your role in causing financial harm.

Tending to these wounds requires readiness, willingness, gentleness and often support—of a loved one, a therapist, a community, or someone like me.

The healing process is all about revealing buried pain, untangling looping narratives. By encouraging all that has been hidden into fresh air and sunlight, our next practical steps clarify and quicken. That said, healing can be too much for many people at first. The practical (organization) is a much easier starting point. There is no judgment, it is simply what is best for you, in this moment.

Pause here and ask internally, is this where my work should begin, with healing? Trust your yes. Trust your no. Trust not knowing (and continue reading).

Organization—

To begin with organization means you are ready for things to be tidy so you can SEE with clear eyes. So you can make sure the system of your money is working for you, not 'against' you. So you can be at peace, not waking up at 3am and frantically transferring money between your business account and your in-the-negative personal account.

It is a relief to begin sifting through the money piles (literal, digital), and put everything in it's tidy 'container' (a spending plan, software, online bill pay, etc.).

It is a relief to feel the fog lift and see exactly what is required to sustain yourself (and to sustain your business).

It is a relief to trust your systems that support the healthy circulation of money: the inflow, the holding, the growing, the outflow of spending and sharing.

To start in the organizational realm requires more than a 'should'. It requires a taste for the incredible relief you will feel when your money flow settles into a quiet hum in the background, not a frantic noise in the foreground.

Because along the way there will be confusion. There will be confrontation (you may dip in and out of the healing realm while you organize your money). You may get bored and want to give up when the shiny-ness of that new software wears off. 

Celebrate the wins along the way, persevere through the muck. You may want a cheerleader, someone external to hold you accountable to your stated goals and to walk beside you (this is the kind of support the LIVE calls in both my THRIVE + EXPAND courses offer).

Pause here and ask internally, is this where my work should begin, with organization? Trust your yes. Trust your no. Trust not knowing (and continue reading)

Empowerment—

To begin with empowerment means you are ready to create a different kind of change. Not a better change from healing or organization, but a different kind of change. 

Is it time to be fairly compensated for the value of your time, expertise, service? From raising your rates, re-assessing your services, to negotiating a raise, it may be time to take bold, empowered initiative to create financial change.

Is it time to make confident decisions about your financial assets? This can include seeking out professional advice from a financial advisor. It can also include rolling over your 401k from past employers. Or opening up and contributing to a retirement or wealth building fund.

Empowerment is internally cultivated and expressed as decisive confidence. Yet even though it originates within, it helps to be seen through someone else's eyes that affirm who we are. Community and individual support are the antidote to the vulnerability of taking bold new action.

Pause here and ask internally, is this where my work should begin, with empowered action? Trust your yes. Trust your no. Trust not knowing (and review the prior two).

Where will you begin? Healing, Organization, Empowerment? 

Once you feel clear, all you need to know is the next tiny step forward along your path. Take it, then repeat, REPEAT, repeat!!

If the steps are too overwhelming, make them smaller. No, even smaller.

Below is an overview of all the ways you can work with me in 2024 if you feel called to walk along the paths that I created to support you:

​THRIVE - Financial Wellbeing, Emotional Peace​

This is a self-paced, online course that covers your emotional + practical relationship to money. It is a foundational course for personal finance. Your enrollment includes access to LIVE monthly coaching calls with me and an incredibly sweet and supportive community of others traveling along the same path. You can start anytime. Learn more here (I award 2 reduced fee tuitions each month if that would help make this course more accessible to you, please apply here)

​E X P A N D - Expand the Income, Inner Capacity, and Impact of your Business - Next group begins February 15th, 2024!

This course meets LIVE with a small group of service-based business owners over 6 months. The course includes extensive self-paced lessons on 4 key aspects of earning: Financial Stability, Receiving, Value, and Impact (with bonus topics exploring your relationship to Power, Boundaries + Conflict, Action + Visibility). This is a powerful container where growth begins, deepens, and accelerates. Learn more here (I award 2 reduced fee tuitions each round you can apply here).

​Work One on One with ME - I now offer 2 ways that you can work with me:

'Transitional' - 3 sessions if you want quick and intensive support and guidance to ensure a smooth transition across a poignant financial threshold (going from employment to self-employment, thoughtfully increasing your rates, receiving a large inheritance...).

'Foundational' - 12 Sessions if you need comprehensive support to understand your relationship to money within the context of your business—your relationship to earning, your relationship to meeting your needs + desires, what you require to support and sustain yourself/business, rate + service audit, plus all the practical elements (saving for taxes, retirement, your next website refresh and continuing ed.)

​Learn more HERE, apply to work with me HERE - I am currently accepting 2 new clients for a February start. 

​A Year of Seasonal Retreats - for your Business Finances - March 22nd, June 21st, September 27th, December 20th

This was such a LOVELY offer and I am thrilled to host them throughout 2024. It is a very soothing and healing way to be with your business numbers, alone/together. I will be sharing more about this offer in the first quarter, but thought I would give you the preview here!

And lastly... My RESOURCES page has a lot of books and links and tips.