Once upon a time I spent the night with the Charming Prince
at his waterfront rental on Bainbridge Island. We walked
down to the beach before I headed off to work as a cocktail
waitress in Seattle.
I was wearing a short skirt and heels, not exactly ideal for
the circumstances. As a result, I couldn’t really engage
with the moment. Because I hadn’t paid enough attention to
where I was going to be and when, I wasn’t fully present.
Which goes to show that paying close attention to money will
connect your business with your heart.
Say what?
If I’d paid more attention to where I was going to spend the
night, I would have packed casual clothes. Instead of being
defensive and uncomfortable, I would have engaged with Miles
and the beach.
The same is true when you pay close attention to money. It
frees you to be 100% present with your just-right clients.
It frees you to be more authentic in your marketing.
It even helps you sell from the heart.
Paying attention frees you to be more present
Worrying about money, not being clear about how much you
have, how much you need, and when you’re going to get paid,
is distracting.
I didn’t realize how distracting it was until my first
coaching client paid for each month in full and in advance.
From our first session it was clear that I was more present
than I’d ever been with a client. If you’d asked me before
this, I would have denied that thoughts about money kept me
from being fully present. I discovered that I was wrong.
Paying attention to money doesn’t necessarily mean getting
paid in advance. What it does mean is that you’ll be very
clear about the role money plays in your client
relationships.
Because, like it or not, money does play a role in those
relationships. The good news is that you can decide how that
role will play out.
Paying attention to money leads to more authentic marketing
When you know where money fits in your life and business,
you can market yourself more authentically.
You don’t have pretend that genteel poverty suits you when,
in your heart, you’re worried about paying the bills. Or
wishing you could go somewhere on your next vacation.
Paying attention to money means tracking what comes in and
what goes out. A little linear, left-brained tracking
anchors more flowing ways of operating. The two together are
beautiful to behold.
And when you can flow in the moment, you bring your best
self to each encounter. Your marketing feels spacious and
authentic.
Paying attention to money helps you sell from the heart
Money is inevitably one of your motives for selling your
work. That’s the difference between having a business and
having a hobby.
And when you aren’t crystal clear about your motives, they
tend to creep up and bite you.
Unexamined money motives and unclear standards for what
enough money looks like turn into wobbly prices and stilted
conversations. You may get defensive about your fees. You
may feel resentful when someone asks why you charge what you
do.
You can’t really connect.
But when you pay attention, when you know how much you have
and how much you want and need, money motives don’t get in
the way. They just are what they are.
No need for resentment. No cause for being defensive.
Because you paid attention, you know where money fits in the
conversation. You can connect from the heart and concentrate
on whether or not you and your potential client are a good
fit.
It’s not either-or
You can pay close attention to money and come from the
heart. In fact, the two go together.
Paying attention to money is part and parcel of being
present, authentic, and connected when you do business. The
clearer you are, the more fully you will show up.
Your heart and your business will be better for it.
The rest of the beach story
To finish my tale of the shoes and the beach: The Charming
Prince pointed out that my footwear was all wrong. I got
huffy and pointed out that my tennis shoes were across Puget
Sound and eight miles up the hill.
He mumbled that they didn’t have to be.
A week later, while he was out of town, I borrowed his truck
and moved in. I wrote a check for half the rent and put it
on the kitchen counter.
Cheeky.
And 35 years later we’re still blissed out.
Why paying close attention to money connects your biz with your heart
