In the spirit of celebrating International Women’s Day, it’s the perfect time to highlight the importance of empowering women to fully own their worth.
One way to do so is through the lens of money.
Yes, money because for women money is “emotional currency”. It is tied to our sense of self-worth, self-confidence, and feelings of safety and security.
This is why I’m pleased to share my book, Money Manifestation & Miracles: A Guide to Transforming Women’s Relationships with Money as a resource. After coaching and mentoring hundreds of women throughout my career, I was inspired to write the book for two reasons.
First, I wanted to help change the narrative and state of affairs for women, especially in business and leadership. While great strides have been made, women still lag in earnings, leadership roles, and business income. Less than 3% of women-owned businesses in the United States, for example, generate over $1 million in revenue.
Second, I wanted to highlight the ripple effect of good that happens because when women are empowered with money, they become “difference makers.” They transform not only their own lives but also those of their children, their families, and their communities at large. On average women reinvest 90 cents of every dollar they earn to family, education and health.
Since the launch of the book five years ago, it has reached thousands of women in five continents around the world. And men have even recommended and shared it as well. I’m truly grateful.
It has especially been beneficial for female coaches who have applied the teachings, exercises and case studies not only for their clients, but also for themselves.
Today as I reflect on the book from the lens of the founder of the IPPC, I am reminded that the teachings and lessons are timeless. A key lesson related to positive psychology is the importance of adopting a “growth mindset” (Dweck, 2007), which helps create positive change and transformation versus having a fixed or closed mindset.
If you are coming across the book for the first time, there are no coincidences. May it serve you!
I hope you’ll enjoy this short excerpt on “clarity leads to alignment” from the book…
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You are the CEO and the leader of your life and your life’s work. Yet maybe you are not quite feeling like the hero of your life story, and that’s all right. You are not alone. The beautiful reality is that you have chosen to accelerate your personal and spiritual journey by empowering your relationship with money. I believe that the path leads first to gaining an inner understanding of yourself. I also believe that the keys to abundance are already within you. In fact, the keys to prosperity have always been within you because abundance is your natural state.
Once you have tapped into your values and strengths, the next step is to align them with the meaning of money and to set meaningful monetary goals.
Aligning with Your True Desires
I cannot overstate the importance of being in alignment with who you are and everything you do. When you are in alignment, everything flows; life feels easy; and opportunities, including people, money, and resources, will show up on your doorstep to help you achieve your goals. When you are in alignment, you are also at your best and most joyful. When you are in a state of joy, your personal energy is stronger, enabling you to more quickly manifest what you desire. This includes manifesting financial prosperity and abundance in all its forms.
Likewise, it is harder to achieve what you desire when you are out of alignment, when things just do not seem to go your way, with many blocks and obstacles to overcome. We have all experienced this at some point. Earlier on, I noted that I have found the main reasons that women are not doing as well as they could be. Some factors that hold women back from greater success relate to a disconnection between:
- What they have accomplished and their level of self-confidence
- What they really want and what they settle for
- Valuing what they do and valuing their self-worth
- The determination they show on the outside and the fear and doubt they have about themselves on the inside
The disconnection stems from being out of alignment with themselves and their truth. This is why self-knowledge is so vital; it provides you with awareness and clarity. And having clarity crystallizes what actions you need to take to get aligned with what you desire. The reverse is also true. When you get into alignment, you gain greater clarity. Either way, it’s all good.
So what are the blocks to gaining self-knowledge? There are three main ones:
- Self-Knowledge Block 1
Being unaware of your personal values: You may not have revisited your values in a while, or maybe you’ve never taken the opportunity to discover them in the first place. Many goal-oriented women often do not have the time to stop and “smell the roses.” You may always be on the go, without ever stopping to think about the following: what truly fulfills you, what brings you the greatest meaning and joy, what you most cherish, and what you would take a stand on. - Self-Knowledge Block 2
Not fully embracing your natural strengths: First of all, do you know what your natural strengths even are? If you do not, a simple exercise in this chapter on the three steps to embrace your natural strengths can help you get started. Your natural strengths come very easily to you — just like breathing. You may even take your strengths for granted. This is a common habit because we have been taught from an early age to work on our weaknesses rather than nurturing our strengths. However, when we take the time to nurture our strengths, we accelerate our growth and success. - Self-Knowledge Block 3
Being unclear about your life’s purpose and how to express it in your work and personal life: Your life’s purpose, or your calling, is unique to you. When you are unclear about your purpose, it contributes to being out of alignment with your full potential. However, when you are connected to your purpose, it can bring you a sense of deep fulfillment and direction in your life. (See the discussion in chapter 11, where we will dive even deeper into aligning your purpose with the impact you want to make on the world.)
Now is the perfect time to revisit these blockages and release them. Seeking advice from your trusted friends is a natural thing to do when you feel like you are straying from your path. However, your friends may not be sure themselves as to how to reconnect you with your values or help you discover, or rediscover, your life’s purpose. They themselves may not be aware of their own life’s purpose or sure how to find it. Other reasons your friends might not be the best people to advise you could be that they are simply too busy leading their own hectic lives or that they are not on the same path as you. As such, it is often beneficial to obtain the support of a professional coach or mentor who has the training and insight to know what questions to ask you, and who will possess the tools to help you express your purpose with grace and ease.
References
Brizendine, Louann. The Female Brain. New York: Harmony, 2006.
Brown, Brené. The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are. City Center, MN: Hazelden, 2010.
Dweck, C. (2007). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Ballantine Books.
Haidt, Jonathan. The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. New York: Basic, 2006.
