Recently, I was on a call with my business coach, giving her a rundown of what’s been going on for me. Out of nowhere, I found myself telling her about my frustration with my income.
“I’ve hit a plateau,” I said. “I’ve had the same revenue numbers for the past 3 months now and I’m really frustrated!”
(Feel free to silently nod your head with me if you’ve ever felt frustrated with the amount of income your business is bringing in).
I was frustrated because I knew I could do better. Because I knew I was missing opportunities to impact so many more business women (that impact is directly related to the amount of revenue I bring in).
“How much money do you need to make every month?” she asked.
I told her that number.
You know that number.
That’s the “as long as I can make $XXXXX every month, I’ll be okay” number. It’s the “this is the number I need to pay my bills” number.
It’s the BARE MINIMUM number.
And we know it because it’s our “monthly nut” to keep our lives running.
So that’s the number we subconsciously carry around with us all the time.
My coach challenged me, “Katie, that’s not the number you need. Don’t you need to be putting away more money into savings? Don’t you need more money so you can donate more money to causes you’re passionate about? Don’t you need more money so you can do more fun things with your family? Don’t you need more money to invest back into your business so you can help MORE women?”
“Yes I do!” I responded enthusiastically, knowing where she was going with this.
So, once we hung up, I took 20 minutes to update my budget.
I opened up a spreadsheet with all my monthly life expenses on it, one that I hadn’t opened up in a year, and got ready to readjust my numbers.
As I was familiarizing myself with the spreadsheet again, I looked down at the number that was in the TOTAL EXPENSES column.
It was EXACTLY how much I had been bringing in every single month for 3 months! It was my plateau number. Ah!!!
That number had subconsciously stuck around with me and created an invisible ceiling for me!
I got to work adjusting my numbers. Increasing the amount of money I needed for savings, for donations, for investments in my business, for traveling, for family time, for more help around the house, and on and on and on. Every time I felt guilty for being too luxurious or had the feeling of “I don’t really need that,” I moved those feelings aside and told myself it was just an exercise.
Pretty soon, I had a new number. And it was almost FOUR TIMES BIGGER than the one before!
I burned the new number in my head and told myself, “okay, this is the new number to hit!”
THE RESULT OF CLARITY
A week later, I glanced down at my money tracking app and noticed that the total amount of money I brought in for the month was $100 more than the NEW NUMBER!!! Whaaaat?!?! (Worth noting that I keep track of all money that comes into my life – business, personal monies, cash I find, rent I collect from my tenant, gift cards I receive, etc.).
One week. It had taken me ONE WEEK to see the results of what I had become SUPER CLEAR about!
TO SEE FINANCIAL RESULTS, USE THIS TECHNIQUE TO GET CLARITY
- Get into your monthly budget financial spreadsheet (if you don’t have one, make one asap!). No need to be too perfectionistic about this…just come up with a master list of what it takes for you to live your life on a monthly basis.
- Adjust those numbers! Add in lines or increase the numbers for how much you want to put into savings, marketing for your biz, hiring out the help you need, hiring someone to clean your house, going out on more dates with your spouse, traveling to see your family more often, self-care, donations you want to make to your favorite causes…everything!
- Come up with your NEW NUMBER. Burn it into your head. And every single day when you’re journaling about how easily money comes to you and how grateful you are for what you have and making offers to the programs and services you create, think about this number.
- Keep track of your money! I personally love Denise Duffield-Thomas’ Lucky Bitch Money Tracker App (free in your app store). I also keep track of business-only revenues on a Google spreadsheet.
- Go to work. Just because you’re clear about your money doesn’t mean it will automatically show up without you doing any work. You have to go to work. Show up, make offers, call potential clients, market your heart out and keep showing up every day!
When you’re clear about what you want – REALLY CLEAR – you will see the RESULTS!
Check out the Facebook Live I did this week as I told this story on my walk with my daughter!
(it includes a BONUS example and BONUS technique too!).
Love,
Katie
PS: If you’re wondering why you’re not getting the results you WANT and DESERVE in your biz, it could be because you are vague and unclear about what you want! If you’re ready to get CLEAR and create a doable action plan for the year ahead of us, then join me at the 2017 BIZ WOMEN ROCK RETREAT!! Find out more here >> http://bizwomenrock.com/Retreat.
PPS: Here’s what last year’s attendees had to say about their Retreat experience!
Dianne Allen – Founder & President, Visions Applied– This Biz Women Rock Retreat set me up for the next year perfectly. I learned so many things about systems, marketing, and strategies that I may either knew little about or didn’t know anything about. The collection of really intelligent women led by Katie made it so that I could take all of my vision and all of my passion for serving and helping people and turn it into something that was manageable, on time with a strategy that is easy for me to wrap my mind around.
Judi Snyder – CeFT Founder of Downsized and Dumbfounded – Being around amazing, powerful women that are from all different industries really gives you a different perspective and different ideas that you’re not thinking of because you’re mired in your own industry.
Maree Walden Mac Guinness – Smart Women’s Network– I came from Australia…spending the money to come here was worth every single cent. What I found for my business was I could really get it off the ground with all the information Katie provided me, and the exercises were awesome.
The 2017 Biz Women Rock Retreat is a life-changing experience for every woman entrepreneur who has a desire to be MORE and experience true growth in her business! Check out all the details HERE and join us at the Retreat!
