Uncover the 5 most common limiting beliefs about money so that you can increase your income as an entrepreneur and improve your money mindset.

I think it’s safe to say we all want to make more money. Our dreams of freedom and fulfillment are made possible by money: the overseas trips, the dream homes, the early retirements depend on us making enough money to achieve them. Even the goals that aren’t driven by money, like working less and spending more time with your kids, still need your bank account to balance.

As a business coach, I work with a lot of entrepreneurs to help them grow & scale thriving businesses that support fulfilling lives. And actually, most of my clients didn’t start a business to make boatloads of money. Yes, they want to replace their corporate income and live comfortably, they want to feel financially secure and be able to retire early, but what they want more than becoming a billionaire is to do work they are passionate about, and to have a big impact.

I’ve noticed over the years of coaching clients that it’s often this group of heart-centered and purpose-driven entrepreneurs that runs straight into common limiting beliefs about money which keep them from making the money they want to live their dreams.

Because they’re not thinking about the money as much as they are about their customers and the impact they’re having, they’re often not noticing the limiting beliefs they have that are sabotaging their success.

In this article, I’m going to share the top 5 common limiting beliefs about money that I see in ambitious entrepreneurs so that you can identify whether these beliefs are holding you back. I’ll also share some tips for how you can start thinking differently in order to step into your full income-earning potential.

What are limiting beliefs?

Limiting beliefs are like old, worn-out scripts that play in the back of your mind. They are assumptions you make about yourself, others, or the world, that aren’t necessarily ‘prove-it-in-the-court-of-law-true’. They are picked up over time and often go unnoticed, like background noise, until someone points them out. They’re ‘limiting’ because they affect your decisions and actions in a negative way.

Limiting beliefs are a big deal because they often go unnoticed – like background noise – until someone points them out. When you can’t see your own blind spots, you don’t solve for the right problem in your business.

An entrepreneur with a limiting belief about money might subconsciously sabotage the success of their business by procrastinating pitching to potential clients, not showing up fully for a launch, avoiding looking at their bank accounts, delaying decisions about investments, working way too many hours and burning out, all because deep down they have an assumption or belief about money that is causing this behavior.

They spend hours trying to find a better business growth strategy, or firing & rehiring team members, or starting/stopping a bunch of new projects, to try to fix the issue with why their business isn’t growing. When, what’s really stopping them, is their fears and limiting beliefs about money.

Noticing your limiting beliefs, questioning them, and choosing beliefs that better serve you is the key to achieving your full potential as an entrepreneur.

In this article I’m going to share the 5 most common limiting beliefs about money so that you can identify the money blocks that are holding you back and hit your next level in business.

What are common limiting beliefs about money for entrepreneurs?

Some of the following common limiting beliefs about money may resonate deeply with you, and some may not. The key is to recognize that they exist so that you can start to work through them yourself.

5 Most Common Limiting Beliefs About Money

Making Money Is Really Hard

When I started my business, I had no idea how easy it could be to make money. I had worked grueling 60 hour weeks in consulting my entire career and made only a modest income, which taught me that money is just really freakin’ hard to earn. (That wasn’t a fact though, it was just a limiting belief I had about money.)

This belief stayed with me as I became an entrepreneur. I assumed that money was really hard to make and so I made it really hard.

I threw myself into all sorts of marketing projects because I didn’t think just one strategy would work.
I gave thousand dollar discounts because I didn’t believe people would easily say yes.

I made all sorts of decisions and took all sorts of actions that made business growth more difficult than it needed to be because I believed that making money is really hard.

This common limiting belief about money sounds like this:

“It’s not easy to make lots of money”
“You have to work really hard to make a lot of money”
“You have to sacrifice everything to be rich”
“Money doesn’t grow on trees”

These thoughts make it seem like making a lot of money is insanely difficult and just not worth it, or that you have to be willing to sacrifice joy and balance in order to build wealth, or that the thing you’re going to try is obviously not going to work so you should overcomplicate everything.

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If these thoughts resonate with you, take note of this limiting belief. Start to see how and when it pops up in your business. Start to poke holes in this belief by looking for examples of people who have made a lot of money without sacrificing the things that were important to them. Look for evidence that money is all around you. Remember a time when money came easily to you.

Finances Are Too Complicated

I once had a client who didn’t look at his business’ financial statements because they felt too complicated to understand. He didn’t know how much money he earned until tax season came around and his accountants made him pull out the numbers. We worked together to simplify the metrics he was looking at and the information he was seeing so that he could make sense of it. We incorporated regular monthly financial reviews that were simple and enjoyable so that he always knew where his business stood. And we found SO many opportunities to grow his business when we dug into the numbers.

The belief that finances are too complicated makes you feel inadequate. It prevents you from trusting that you have what it takes to be responsible with money. And because you believe it’s too complicated for you, you don’t even try to give yourself the tools, guidance, and support you need to learn successfully.

This common limiting belief about money sounds like this:

“Having a lot of money is complicated. I won’t be able to understand all the taxes and investment stuff”
“I’m just not good with money”

The truth is, money management is a skill, not an innate talent. Like any skill, it can be learned with time.

Think of something complicated that you’d learned in the past. High school math seemed pretty darn complicated until you figured it out. Your current business was a bit of a hot mess until you learned everything you need to learn to run it, too.

As Marie Forleo likes to say “everything is figure-out-able!” Trust yourself to learn what you need to learn in order to be a good steward of your money. Ask yourself what support or tools you want to have to make the process of managing your finances easier? Do you need an app? An advisor? A book? A podcast? What can you do to simplify your finances and equip yourself with the tools to make good financial decisions?

Money Leaves Me

Another coaching client of mine was so not used to making money in her business that she felt the need to spend it all as soon as it came in. Because she didn’t often have an abundance of money, as soon as she did she wanted to use it “before it all disappeared.”

This common limiting belief about money sounds like this:

“If I make money I’ll probably lose it”
“There’s never enough money”
“It’s all going to disappear so what’s the point in making more?”
“The more I make the more the government takes”

If this common limiting belief about money rings true for you, you might feel anxious about losing any money that you make. This scarcity can turn making money into a perpetual chase, or demotivate you from even trying to make more money because you believe it will just disappear if you do.

You can counteract this by deciding a minimum amount of money you will keep in your bank account and keeping it there for a few months. Whether it’s $50 or $5,000, watch that money sit there until you can trust that your money will stay where you put it.

Money Is Evil

I hear some version of this all the time from new entrepreneurs. They are often the first entrepreneurs in their families. They’ve created businesses and wealth that their friends and families never have in the past. They don’t have examples of wealthy people doing great things because all they see is what’s portrayed in the media. They resist making a lot of money and leveling up because it feels like they’re selling their souls.

This common limiting belief about money sounds like this:

“More money, more problems”
“Making too much money is selfish and greedy”
“More for me means less for them”
“I’m not in it for the money”
“Rich people are snobs”
“Money is the root of all evil”

The truth is, money is simply a tool. Like a hammer. You can use it to build something incredible. Or you can use it to tear something down.

The money is neutral. It amplifies the intentions of its holder.

If you are not evil, money won’t make you evil. It will allow you to more fully express who you are. Your 50 cent tip at the coffee shop can turn into a $5 tip. Your $100 donation at the end of the year can turn into a $1,000 donation.

Whatever you currently value, money will allow you to lean into more of that.

If you believe money is evil or rich people are snobs, look for evidence that counteracts that belief. Who are some wealthy people you look up to for the positive impact they’ve had?

life and business coach ana mcrae looking at mountain

Money Will Ruin My Relationships

I had a coaching client whose business was growing rapidly and she wasn’t used to the level of financial abundance she was now experiencing. None of her peers or friends were able to afford their dream homes, and yet she was a few weeks away from buying something that she never imagined she could have.

With that up level in lifestyle came a real fear that money would create rifts in friendships and significantly alter her relationships.

Let’s normalize this! It’s normal to fear that all of your relationships will be different if you make a significant change in your financial situation. Our brains are extra sensitive to this fear because for so long, we have survived by being part of a pack. That pack mentality makes it extra scary when it comes time to do anything differently than the pack.

But the truth is that money doesn’t change you – it only amplifies who you are. And yes, some people might have an issue with how much money you make, especially if they harbor high hopes for their own finances but don’t feel like they’re meeting their own potential. Seeing you crush it is going to give them all sorts of feelings about themselves. But that’s not an excuse to limit yourself.

This common limiting belief about money sounds like this:

“People will only like me for my money. It will change my relationships.”
“If I make too much I’ll be disconnected from reality and alienated by my friends.”

Remember that you can’t control how other people feel. Falling short of your potential as an entrepreneur just to keep other people happy is a silly way to live, don’t you think?

You can combat this limiting belief by focusing on the positive changes you’ll be able to bring to your relationships as a result of the money. Perhaps the bigger home will allow you to host more dinners with friends and connect more regularly. Perhaps the bigger paycheck will allow you to get people really nice gifts that you couldn’t afford in the past. Focus on the positive aspects of your increase in wealth instead of spiraling out about how others may or may not perceive you.

How To Overcome Common Limiting Beliefs About Money

Working through your limiting beliefs about money is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. These are beliefs you’ve picked up over a lifetime, and they will take time to shift.

You can overcome common limiting beliefs about money the way you overcome any limiting belief: self reflection, questioning, evidence building, and reprogramming new beliefs.

I have an entire article on how to overcome your mindset blocks here, which walks you through my step by step framework for shifting negative beliefs to positive beliefs.

Money Mindset Affirmations To Counteract Common Limiting Beliefs About Money

Here are some simple money mindset affirmations you can start practicing in order to change your relationship with money.

I can create money with ease
I trust myself to be a good steward of my money. I trust myself to learn what I need to know.
It’s safe for my money to stay with me now
Money is a tool to help me do incredible things in the world
Money makes me more of who I am

Entrepreneurship offers limitless potential. If you’re ready to break through the financial barriers holding you back, consider how changing your narrative around money could not only boost your income but also your impact.

It’s time to own the fact that you want to make a LOT of money. It’s time to see the GOOD that it will do in the world when you have that much money. It’s time to trust that you will still be who you truly are regardless of how much money you make. In fact, that more money will allow you to fully express who you truly are in a way that you aren’t capable of doing right now. It’s time to shift your narrative around money so that you see it as a beautiful thing, a tool that will allow you to make more impact and have a better life experience.

Ready for a transformation? Let’s talk about whether 1:1 coaching can help you.

For the past 6 years and counting I’ve helped small business owners set goals, build strategies, streamline operations, and master their mindset so that they can scale to multi-6 figures and beyond.

Book a discovery call today and start your journey towards financial freedom and fulfillment.

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