I’ve long known that women’s difficulties with money have little to do with money per se and everything to do with their fear of power.

In a 2012 study, “Women and the Paradox of Power,” 38% of respondents said they’d rather be well-liked than powerful. As if the two were mutually exclusive.

Our confusion around power should come as no surprise. Historically, girls haven’t been groomed, expected, or encouraged to be successful, powerful adults.

If anything, we were raised as the power behind the throne, often punished for even aspiring higher.

I’m convinced, beneath our dislike of or discomfort with power, lurks a deeper, more ominous concern—the dire consequences we might suffer if we become truly powerful.

Historical narratives of strong, assertive, outspoken women being harshly punished, even burned at the stake, have permeated our collective unconscious.

Do you realize it’s been 20 years since The Secret was released. I’m still a big fan of the movie and occasionally watch the video.

Thanks to this wildly popular movie and subsequent book by Rhonda Bryne, the Law of Attraction is part of our vocabulary. And that’s a very good thing…to a point.

The Law of Attraction states that you attract whatever you want into your life through your ability to feel good, think positively, and focus only on the desired outcome. Simply put, if you want to be rich, don’t focus on lack.

But here’s the problem.  How many times have you said you really want wealth, believe riches are on the way, refuse to focus on anything but abundance….and still, nothing happens?   Your bills go unpaid while your bank balance dwindles.

What the Secret failed to mention is that the Law of Attraction is only part of the equation. There is also The Law of Congruency.

For over 20 years, I’ve been baffled.

Sure, we women have become excellent dollar watchers and bargain hunters. But investors? Forget about it. We want to learn, but lack the confidence to act.

And here’s what’s really baffling. Once women enter in the market, we’re actually better investors than men.  Key findings in a recent article on The Motley Fool, (https://www.fool.com/research/women-in-investing-research/) show that female investors earn better returns than men—up to 1.8% in some studies.

But only 9% of women think they make better investors than men according to a Fidelity report.

I’ll never forget reading an Allianz Study on women that came out after the financial crisis of 2008.

It made an exciting discovery. A new demographic was emerging—Women of Influence. These women aren’t necessarily high earners, or even gainfully employed, though many are.

What sets them apart is how financially savvy they are. In other words, as Allianz reports,  this new breed is “more confident in their ability to spend, save, and invest wisely than the average woman.”

And what’s really exciting—These Women of Influence are becoming global change makers, claiming their power, owning their greatness, making an impact.