This is a bit embarrassing to admit to, but I used to be pretty tight with money. Some might say, ‘thrifty’!

Let me explain. I was lucky growing up and had two great parents who always made sure my brother and I had whatever we needed. We lived in a lovely home, went to France for our summer holidays, and I never felt any sense of lack or deprivation.

But somewhere along the way, I got this idea that I would never be rich. That was for other people. Luckier people. More confident people.

Rich people had money because they were born with it. Or they got great jobs because of their connections. Or they were just ballsy and talked their way into getting promotion after promotion.

I’m not sure where the idea came from, maybe because of my mum’s natural cautiousness with money, or my dad’s slightly more gung-ho ‘spend it or lose it’ attitude.

But whatever it was, I truly didn’t believe that money was going to ever stay around in my life for very long, and I took that mindset into adulthood without ever being conscious of it.

It affected the jobs I took, the salaries I accepted (I NEVER asked for a pay rise), and the promotions I never dared to apply for. Those were for luckier, more confident people.

So you can see how this ‘money story’ affected and restricted my whole life. Does it sound familiar to you?

I thought I was being sensible and responsible, but in reality, I was just being cheap with myself.

If I did spend money, I felt guilty or had to justify it to myself. “Well I bought that new top because the old one had a hole in it”, or “we went out for dinner but only had two courses not three”.

"I would love to, but I can't afford it" was my mantra. Again, sound familiar?

Money came with guilt attached, and I even felt guilty about wanting to earn more. I felt like I should be grateful for what I had and make the best of it.

It wasn't until I hit a financial plateau in my business that I realized I needed to change the way I thought about money.

I had to stop thinking that there would never be enough, and start creating a more abundant lifestyle from where I was already. It started with small steps:

I invested in beautiful stationery and pens for my home office (instead of cheap multipacks of biros!)
I began tipping a bit more generously in restaurants
I started to get a regular cut and blow-dry instead of leaving it for months and letting my hair grow out like Rapunzel!
And I invested in a success coach to help me take my business to the next level, instead of trying to do everything alone.

And things slowly began to shift…

By choosing to be more generous to both myself and others, I was able to stop "scraping by" and start to live more abundantly. It was a difficult shift to make but here's what it’s taught me:

I used to expect to struggle. Now I expect to make more money and work towards those goals.
I used to focus on saving. Now I focus on earning more.
I used to ask "can I afford this?”. Now instead I ask myself, "is this worth the investment?"

My new money story is: “There is always enough”. And there's enough for you too.

In my Career Coaching Programme, we can spend time working on your own money mindset. Together we can look at:

How to identify and overcome your fears and negative beliefs around money
Evaluate your finances and make a plan for transitioning out of your 9 to 5
How to understand the value of your services and start charging your worth
Get clear on what ‘success’ really means to you and how to create a lifestyle around it

It's time to stop doubting yourself, start expecting success and working towards it.

This can be your turning point. Some pretty amazing clients of mine have already made the leap, joined the coaching programme and have transformed their lives.

I can't WAIT to support you on your journey too.

Experiencing more abundance in your life starts with being more generous to yourself. Ask yourself, “how can I expect others to invest in me, if I’m not willing to invest in me?”