How Does One Become Wealthy? Part 4

Written by Barbara Huson

I’d like to share a story that Sharon Salzberg, an author and meditation teacher, tells about a yoga retreat she attended.

“Every other student in our class,” she wrote, “was far more limber, easily flowing into pretzel-like poses. Almost worse, they all seemed to know the traditional Sanskrit name for each move.

One day as my teacher, John, was demonstrating a pose, he made an awkward-looking movement, then rebalanced. Coming out of it he asked, “What just happened?”

One by one, my classmates offered a Sanskrit name for that extra little twist.

Finally, John turned to me and repeated his question, “What just happened?”

I replied: “To be honest, I think you fell.”

“You’re right,” he said. “I fell. Then I started over. That’s good yoga.”

Those words, in a nutshell, sum up the “good yoga” of wealth creation.

“It’s about honoring your intention,” Sharon explained. ”If we fall, we don’t need self-recrimination or blame or anger—we need a reawakening of our intention and a willingness to recommit… once again.”

And that’s precisely how you will turn your intention into a reality. When you fall, go back to your intention, recommit, and take one tiny action step…again and again and again.

As Sharon points out, “Often we can achieve an even better result when we’re not afraid to appear less than perfectly polished. We learn and grow and are transformed not so much by what we do but by why and how we do it.”

I’d love to hear from you how the fear of not being perfect, or making a mistake, was getting in your way, but you overcame it. Share in the comments below.

Get the support you need to create the Wealth you desire in my virtual community of women supporting women, The Wealth Connection. Join the conversation today!

Rewiring—Why Willpower is Never Enough

Written by Barbara Huson

There’s a lot of talk about your money mindset. But, far more important, is understanding how your mind and brain work together.

In a recent experiment, at the University of South Wales, students were told: “Whatever you do, don’t think about a red apple.”

As you’d expect, most couldn’t get that image out of their mind. Which is quite normal.

But what about those who swore they’d successfully obliterated the image from their mind?

Well, according to brain scans, “even those people who are good at suppressing certain thoughts still harbor traces of the thought in [ their brain’s] cortex.”

And any deeply embedded thought—say of scarcity or inadequacy—exerts an irrepressible force to behave accordingly, regardless of your efforts to change.

Will power—trying not to think about buying those to-die-for designer shoes, which are way out of your budget—is a fruitless task. A far better (and easier) solution—thought substitution rather than thought control.

So instead of NOT thinking of the red apple or NOT buying the designer shoes, you’d be far more successful substituting a dramatically different thought, like imagining a white cloud or a surplus of cash in your savings account.

“Using brute force to not think about something simply won’t work,” noted the study, “Because the thought is actually there in our brains.”

From now on, stop struggling to exert willpower and focus on rewiring your brain by calmly and continually repeating positive affirmations, such as: I love watching my bank balance grow; It’s so fun to save; I am smart with money and my Future Self thanks me.

What deeply embedded thoughts do you live with and what could you substitute to improve your relationship with money? Leave me a comment below.

There’s still time to join the Spring 2019 Session of my ReWIRE Mentorship Program!

If you are eager to create Wealth & Well-Being in your life, apply for this 5-month Mentorship program today!

Click here for more information or to apply!

Unexpected Miracles & Exciting Changes

Written by Barbara Huson

Sometimes change comes quietly, unexpectedly, when everything lines up perfectly. Tiny miracles, cosmic winks, unmistakable signs that a Higher Power is orchestrating the whole thing. That’s exactly what happened for me last weekend.

It all began at a Seattle Lady Bosses event, an amazing gathering of women entrepreneurs. Seated in small groups, we were asked to briefly introduce ourselves. When my turn came, I said, “I’m Barbara Huson, a Wealth Coach.”

Then something surprising happened. That title didn’t feel right, like a dress that no longer fit.

“Wait!” I said, without a clue what was coming next. “What I really am is a Financial Therapist.”

I’d never used those words before! Yet it felt like a moment of self-revelation, a declaration of a deep-seated truth.

I’ve always called myself a coach. Yet I was trained as a psychotherapist. My true passion is diving in deep with a financially challenged client, tunneling through the darkness to find the light, revealing and removing what’s blocking her from creating the wealth she desires, the life she deserves and the power she’s denied.

I also love talking about investing, creating wealth. But number crunching…not so much. I guess I assumed I had to do it as part of the package.

Meanwhile, sitting next to me is Linda Lingo, a ReWire client, Wealth Connection member, a CPA and financial coach for women. I’d had my eye on Linda for years, impressed with her knowledgeable (and compassionate) responses to financial questions from others on our calls.

And there she was, having just flown in from California. Divine intervention at its finest. The next day, we met. We talked. We got excited. And a few days later, we signed an agreement.

I’m thrilled to announce that the incredible Linda Lingo, CPA, is joining my team as a Financial Planning Coach. She’s ready to help you with budgeting, retirement planning, investment strategy, debt repayment. Click here for the details.

Now I can focus on what I do best: Financial Therapy. Truly a miracle!

Have you experienced any unexpected miracles lately? I’d love to hear about it. Leave me a comment below.

And if you live near Seattle, I urge you to check out Lady Bosses: http://seattleladybosses.com/lady-bosses/

The world needs financially empowered now more than ever. That’s why I’d like you to join me for a FREE call on April 16th. Register now for The ReWIRE Response: Mind Training for Wealth & Well-Being.

Taking Your Power Back

Written by Barbara Huson

Check if any of these apply to you:

You’re angry, but don’t say anything.
You’d like to say ‘no,’ but you can’t.
You want something, but don’t ask for it.
You get an idea but don’t act on it.

If you’ve checked even one, it’s a sign you’re giving your power away. And I promise, you’re not alone.

The question is: Why are so many women reluctant to say what we think, feel, or need?

Mostly, to avoid conflict. We’re afraid if we take a stand, we’ll be rejected, disliked, or disapproved of. Instead, we water ourselves down so as not to make waves.

Over time, such acts of self-betrayal destroys our self-esteem, our level of success and quality of life.

Good news! If you can give your power away, you can also take it back. How? 3 Steps.

Ask yourself the Power Question—What do I want? Not what does my husband, or kids or boss or society wants. What do I want? This isn’t a question we’ve often asked, so it may take time to answer.
Look for opportunities to say no to what you don’t want, ask for what you do want, and express what you feel and think. If this is new, it will be very uncomfortable. Do your best.
Get support. Seek out people to be cheerleaders, sounding boards and role models. We women need support when things are scary. And risking backlash can be very scary. But when you think about it…self-betrayal is even scarier.

I’d love to hear where you’ve given your power away…and how you took it back! Leave me a comment below.

If you desire power and control over your money, have a reliable and are no longer debting, I’d like to invite you to schedule a FREE Wealth Clarity Call with one of my team members. Schedule your call now!

Are You Wealthy?

Written by Barbara Huson

Raise your hand if you feel wealthy. (I’m specifically talking about money here.) If not, how much do you need to feel wealthy? Think about it.

One thing I know for sure, wealth is not an amount. It’s a mindset. I’ve met women worth over $10 million who don’t feel rich. I know many who have far less, like me, and consider themselves wealthy.

What we need is a universal definition of wealth. And here’s what I propose: wealth means you have more than enough.

In other words, you know you’re wealthy when money ceases to be a source of stress and becomes a useful tool for creating the life of your dreams.

What would it take to make you feel wealthy? Leave a comment below.

The Caterpillar Story

Written by Barbara Huson

Two caterpillars spy a butterfly overhead. One turns to the other and says “You’ll never get me up in one of those things.”

Do you ever feel like that caterpillar? Part of you wants to fly. Another part clearly doesn’t.

That’s precisely what’s going on when you feel stuck–an internal conflict. Part wants to. Part doesn’t.

The trick to getting unstuck isn’t by denying or disputing your resistance. What you ignore, you empower. What you resist, persists.

I speak from experience. After my divorce, I tried hard to learn about money. But nothing worked. I’d pick up a book, attend a class only to fog up, glaze over, give up. Until one day, a therapist challenged me.

“You know Barbara,” he said bluntly, “you really don’t want to get smart about money.”

I couldn’t argue. In that moment, I met the part of me that desperately wanted to stay ignorant. The part that was terrified of angering her parents, losing everything, and most of all, afraid no man would love a financially savvy woman.

I spent months getting to know this part. But I also did something quite smart. I kept repeating affirmations in an effort to fortify the other part. I AM smart about money. I AM excited to learn. I AM a great role model for my kids. I AM attracting a man who loves a powerful woman.

I now realize I was literally rewiring my brain. Instead of dwelling on what scared me, I focused on what I wanted to create, how I wanted to feel…even if it seemed impossible. As neuroscientists tell us, what flows through the mind creates pathways that wires the brain

Slowly the fog lifted. I actually began enjoying the learning process, seeing results, relishing how powerful I felt. Those feelings haven’t changed in over 30 years.

How do you focus on the change you want to create? Leave a comment below.

Do you struggle to understand investing? Men and women view wealth & power through very different lenses. Join me for this FREE call: Women & Wealth: We’re Different than Men & Why that Matters and I’ll help you become a Savvy Investor and begin to build Wealth, as a woman. Register Now!

How an Ancient Mystic Transformed My Work

Written by Barbara Huson

Yoga class begins. “Hold out your hands,” the teacher says, “to receive something you truly desire.”

Then he quotes Rumi: ‘What you seek is seeking you.”

And I, arms outstretched, stand transfixed. What if that were true? What if that which I desire is heading to me like a heat seeking missile? And even more, what if I believed, without doubt, it will swiftly hit its target (me), no struggle required.

During Downward Dog, I make a decision. I’m taking Rumi’s words as gospel truth.

As I sink into Child’s Pose, I flash back to a poster that once hung in my office, a quote from Richard Bach: “You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true.” At the very bottom, in tiny letters: “You may have to work for it, however.” At this point, I am in Warrior Pose, which feels quite fitting.

By Savasana, the final resting pose, I’m fired up. I race home to start working on my deepest desire, a proposal for my next book–The Rewire Response: Mind Training for Wealth Building—which I’d long been procrastinating…for good reason..

Writing proposals has always been an excruciating experience. My ego would scream, “You write like s**t!” I literally had to force myself to keep going.

This time, my desire was not just to write, but do it with ease and joy.

Now, a few months later, my proposal almost complete, I can honestly say it was a much different process. Not because the writing was easier. Hell no! Writing’s never easy for me. But instead of panicking when I wrote crap (my early drafts are always crap!), I actually delighted in the process of polishing each word until the sentences sparkled.

Amazing how a tiny shift in perception can make such a major difference.

What about you? Do you have a desire you want to bring to fruition this year? How are you feeling about it? Share below.

An Exercise for Rewiring Your Brain

Written by Barbara Huson

Last week, I heard from a client who was close to tears. Her husband’s business unexpectedly went belly up. Suddenly, they had no income. She was forced to get a higher paying job.

“Do you think this crisis has anything to do with my decision to make more money and my lack of action?” she asked.

Obviously, it was a rhetorical question.

I see this pattern all the time. Women who avoid money—making it or managing it—until a crisis hits. Either their world falls apart or feels like it’s about to. That’s when they finally take action.

I did it myself. I waited until a million dollar tax bill almost wiped me out. Not smart!!

How about you? Are you avoiding financial stuff until the pain gets worse than the fear? Are you looking for a way to get moving without having your world violently (or even mildly) shaken?

If so, try this exercise. It’s called Selective Attention,a powerful tool for rewiring your brain. Focus on what inspires you and stop dwelling on what scares you. It’s a fact: What flows through your mind wires your brain…which governs your behavior.

To change what you do, first change what you think.

Instead of obsessing on all the things that can go wrong, try turning your thoughts to what more money will give you. Think about the freedom, the peace of mind, the myriad of choices financial success makes possible. Think about giving your money to causes you feel passionate about,helping your kids, your parents, people you love.

That’s what I finally did. I started thinking about what kind of a role model I wanted to be for my daughters instead of fixating on my terror of screwing up. When I made that deliberate shift, when I forced myself to think about how I would be helping my girls, I had no choice…financial avoidance was no longer an option! I’d love to hear other ideas for getting unstuck. What worked for you? Leave me a comment below.

My gift to you…get my free pdf 12 Tips for Building Wealth During the Holidays. Download Now!

I Know What To Do! So Why Don’t I??

Written by Barbara Huson

Could this be you? You’ve read volumes on investing, even attended some classes. You understand stocks, bonds, and the value of diversification. You own a few funds in your retirement account.

Still, you continue to ignore or neglect your money, even though you know better. Why?

Blame it on traditional financial education…where the emphasis is on filling your head with facts rather than fostering your courage to change.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been given the tools to boost Self-Efficacy, the most powerful predictor of financial well-being. (I didn’t think so)

Self-Efficacy—a concept developed by the Stanford psychologist Albert Bandura—is a person’s belief in their ability to succeed in a given task or goal.

If you don’t believe you can invest wisely without screwing up irreparably, you likely won’t even try. Or you’ll stop at the first stumbling block. Or worse, unconsciously make bad choices that reaffirms your limiting belief.

Enhancing financial Self-Efficacy is the secret sauce for financial success. It’s the difference between knowing what to do and actually doing it, between being competent and feeling confident.

Yet, I doubt you’ll be shown how to shore up Self-Efficacy by most professional advisors. But thanks to Dr. Bandura’s research, here are 4 powerful techniques to do just that:

Experience Success—Select a task that’s sufficiently challenging but definitely doable. Have that money talk with your spouse. Organize your financial documents. Balance your checkbook. As the saying goes, “confidence is a memory of success.”
Find Role Models—Observe friends, family, even perfect strangers who are financially savvy. Watching others successfully complete financial tasks provides not only inspiration, but a template to follow.
Get Encouragement—Hang around with people who will cheer you on because they truly believe in you. Those who say, “I know you can do it!” Stay away from naysayers.
Manage Emotions—if you’re depressed, traumatized or anxious, the inner work is crucial. Read self-help books. Find a counselor. Join a support group. Talk to a friend. Whatever it takes to relieve your pain, stress, worry and fear.

What can you do today to increase your Financial Self-Efficacy?

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Lifting The Financial Fog

Written by Barbara Huson

I spent most of my adult life in a financial fog as opaque as pea soup…and frustrating as hell. If you feel the same, you’re certainly not alone.

Millions of women today are stuck in a financial fog so thick and threatening, they can’t find their way to wealth and well-being. And the consequences can be devastating…on our self-esteem as well as our future security.

The way out of this miasma is not by learning more financial facts, but by first lifting the fog.

This fog is made up of a matrix of issues–suppressed emotions, limiting beliefs, childhood wounds stemming from cultural conditioning, parental messages, unhealed trauma and hidden shame.

When any of these issues are triggered, we feel threatened. Our logical rational brain shuts down, activating our primitive, lizard brain. We instinctively go into fight, flight or freeze mode.

The result: we are unable to absorb practical information, reluctant to enter the market or deferring decisions to another, terrified of making mistakes.

Until we address our internal issues, allowing us to rewire our neuropathways, managing money will remain a struggle for even the best and brightest. I know this from my own experience and my work with thousands of women.

I’d love to hear your experience with lifting the fog by doing the inner work.

If you enjoyed this Words of Wealth, click here to receive a copy in your inbox every week.

Mind Training

How Does One Become Wealthy? Part 4

Rewiring—Why Willpower is Never Enough

Unexpected Miracles & Exciting Changes

Taking Your Power Back

Are You Wealthy?

The Caterpillar Story

How an Ancient Mystic Transformed My Work

An Exercise for Rewiring Your Brain

I Know What To Do! So Why Don’t I??

Lifting The Financial Fog

Meet Barbara Huson

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