Month: July 2024

Older women often have to manage difficult financial issues and the demographic most at risk of homelessness, currently, is older women. Therefore, it’s incumbent on us to look for strategies to mitigate senior financial problems. And money blocks is a great place to start.

So, What Is a Money Block?

In short, a money block is a way of thinking, a mindset or a feeling that gets in the way of you reaching the financial success you want. Money blocks are real. They are based on false beliefs and quite often you’re not even aware of what they are. In fact, most times, they’ll sabotage you in sneaky ways.

The first step to breaking free from your money blocks is to become aware of them. Once you’re aware of your patterns, you can start to change them.

Manifesting Money Blocks

There are many ways that money blocks can manifest in your life. Some common ways include:

• Procrastination
• Perfectionism
• Self-sabotage
• Self-defeating patterns
• Limiting beliefs about what’s possible
• Negative emotions
• Underearning

Do I Have Money Blocks?

If you find yourself struggling to plan and achieve your money goals, it’s likely that you have some money blocks. Other signs that you have money blocks include:

• Feeling stuck in a job you don’t like.
• Not making as much money as you want.
• Constantly worrying about money.
• Having difficulty saving money.
• Feeling like you’re never going to get ahead financially.
• Losing confidence when you don’t make your financial goals.
• Feeling like you have to sacrifice yourself or work harder to make the money you want.

Working Through Your Money Blocks

Never fear, there are things that you can do to start working on your money blocks. These include:

• Becoming aware of them.
• Identifying the root cause.
• Challenging your negative beliefs about money.
• Identifying your beliefs about money.
• Creating new money beliefs.
• Creating a new money story.
• Working on building your self-worth.
• Forgive yourself, others and money.
• Get help.

Why Do People Have Money Blocks?

The main reason we have money blocks is that we believe deep down that it’s not safe to have or make more money. We believe on some level that something bad will happen if we create more money in our lives. We are blocked in a deep-seated fear that it’s not safe to have more money. Until we shift these money blocks, our brain will convince us that we’re in danger if we make more money.

Can Money Blocks Be Overcome?

The good news is, yes! Regardless of which money block you’re facing, hold tight to this truth: any money block can be overcome. It might take time, patience, and working with a smart money coach. But it is possible. While you ponder this, let me walk you through the 13 money blocks that I like to call the ‘baker’s (Woolf) dozen’.

BLOCK #1: Playing the Ostrich

To take the ostrich approach means we bury our heads in the sand. We are in denial about money and avoid our finances. Why we do this? We take the ostrich approach because we’re anxious. We must take our heads out of the sand and become intimately connected to our finances.

Common behaviours of money avoidance are not reading your bank statements, paying bills late, etc. Basically, avoiding anything to do with your money.

BLOCK #2: Ignorance

The first and foremost thing women need to do is become financially literate. We need to educate ourselves about money and take responsibility. We need to take specific action to educate ourselves.

BLOCK #3: Control

Many women feel a lack of control around money, and this often translates as overspending or underearning. If we follow through on the first two blocks, we will feel much more in control.

BLOCK #4: Inexperience

We think we’re not good with money and experience alack of confidencearound money. This causes us to feel unsafe and insecure about money. Consequently, we don’t set money goals. Many of us have spent years telling ourselves that we’re bad with money. Because of this, we haven’t tried to manage our finances. We need to challenge ourselves to take radical responsibility for our money.

BLOCK #5: The Great Money Taboo

There is a huge amount of shame and taboo around money which disconnects us from ourselves, our money and each other. Money is deeply personal, and it’s not to be shared. Most women are unable to discuss money with anyone, which means they can feel very lonely about money. We are so used to the cultural taboo about NOT talking about money that we are hardly aware of it. This shame and taboo undermine our relationship with money and our relationships with each other.

BLOCK #6: Fear

Most women experience fear when it comes to money:

• Fear that we won’t have enough money to survive.
• Fear that we won’t know how to manage the money we do have.
• Fear that something terrible will happen and we won’t be able to take care of ourselves.
• Fear because we have lost our money.
• Fear that we will lose whatever money we have. 
• Fear of failure.
• Fear of success.
• Fear of change.

Fear will prevent you from achieving abundance. We need to consciously choose self-compassion. The more educated and capable we become with money the less we’ll experience these fears.

BLOCK #7: Feeling Worthless

Many women are stuck in deprivation and a state of emptiness and longing. We are stuck in feelings of not-enoughness. “I’m not worthy of money” is the message we give ourselves. When we allow ourselves to believe that we’re not worthy of money, we create a negative mindset that affects every area of our lives.

We begin to believe we’ll never earn enough because we can’t measure up. If you don’t believe that you deserve abundance or that it’s possible for you to have it, then you won’t receive it. Change your mindset to one of belief and watch your abundance flow.

BLOCK #8: Lack of Support

Many women have no support around money and are unable to make ends meet. 63% of Australian women have a money problem at the end of the month.

We need to make a choice about finding support for ourselves. This could come in the form of girlfriends, a coach, a financial planner, or a money club with other women.

BLOCK #9: Baggage

Most of us are carrying negatives from our money history and story. We carry limiting and negative beliefs, paradigms, and patterns. We need to consciously rewrite our beliefs and our money story.

BLOCK #10: No Financial Goals or Action Plans

Set money goals – whether it’s increasing your income, saving for a vacation, paying off debt, creating a university fund, a retirement fund, or creating a spending plan. Having goals gives you a clear direction. Prioritise what you’ll do first once you have all your goals and action steps.

BLOCK #11: Guilt

Many women are constantly beating themselves up and feeling guilty about the past. To move forward with achieving financial success, you have to forgive yourself for your money mistakes, take the lessons you’ve learned, and keep moving. Mistakes happen!

BLOCK #12: Low Expectations or Settling

If you have low expectations or settle for less than you deserve, you won’t achieve abundance. Settling for less than you deserve shows that you don’t expect great things in your life. And that you’re filled with doubt. Raise your standards and start expecting good things to come your way.

BLOCK #13: Negative Self-Talk

When we’re constantly putting ourselves down, we won’t attract good things into our lives. We are what we tell ourselves we are. If we tell ourselves we’re no good at business, that making money is hard or that we will never succeed – those things become our truths. Change your self-talk to something positive and affirming.

How Do We Move Forward Constructively with Our Money Blocks?

My top tips include:

• Become aware of your money blocks.
• Identify the root cause of your money blocks.
• Challenge your negative beliefs about money.
• Create new money beliefs.
• Work on building your self-worth.
• Identify your beliefs about money.
• Forgive yourself, others and money.
• Create a new money story.
• Get help and support.

And most of all, love yourself, believe that you deserve everything good in this world including, a healthy bank balance and the freedom to live your best life without financial worries.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

What money blocks do you identify in your life? Do you consider yourself financially literate? What do you base your money decisions on?

My prior Sixty and Me blog covered the reasons why we travel. Now, where to go? Many of us have a long list of potential destinations. How do you prioritize?

What follows are some comparisons that may help narrow down your choices.

Domestic vs. International Travel

Choosing a domestic versus international destination hinges on cost and travel simplicity. Traveling within one’s home country eliminates complications related to culture, language, and currency. Also, transportation options will most likely cost less.

If domestic travel is so much easier, why travel internationally? World travelers want to expand their range of vistas to encompass more of the globe. They want to experience sights, activities, and cultural attributes outside their familiar home turf. For example, if you want to see Mount Fuji, you need to go to Japan. You must also be willing to pay the cost of getting to Japan.

If you’re planning to travel internationally, here are some additional considerations.

Travel Agency

Familiarity with one’s own country may make a travel agent unnecessary. International travel, however, can be more complicated, especially for rookie travelers. In this case, international travelers can avoid many unforeseen pitfalls and discover new opportunities by using a travel agency.

Mobile Phones

Phone systems differ among countries. International travelers should research options for maintaining mobile phone service outside their home country.

Electricity

If you plan to bring your hair dryer or other electrical device outside your home country, make sure to bring the appropriate adapters to use local utilities.

Healthcare

Research the healthcare situation in each of your destinations. For instance, do you need additional vaccinations? It may also help to have additional healthcare insurance that covers the places you plan to visit.

Security

Check your country’s government website for travel advisories. For example, the U.S. Department of State rates countries based on their security status. Also, be aware of local conditions to avoid theft or other issues.

Stress

While international travel can be exciting and fulfilling, it can also be stressful due to language and cultural differences. Proper planning and a flexible attitude can lower the potential stress level.

Urban vs. Rural

Finding a destination that differs from your familiar surroundings is a common criterion when choosing a travel destination. An urban dweller may want to escape the hectic pace of city life by going to the tranquility of the countryside. Conversely, rural residents may seek out the fast-paced excitement of big-city life.

Some travelers may want to experience a little of both. For example, a European river cruise might traverse quiet country areas and dock at major cities so passengers can enjoy those urban spaces.

Land vs.Water

Do you want your feet on the ground, or would you rather head for the open seas? The variety of possibilities on land is enormous, so let’s look at experiences on the water.

Cruises are very popular. Larger, ocean-going cruise ships are floating resorts with an immense array of diversions. A growing industry segment is smaller-scale cruise opportunities with ships carrying less than 1,000 passengers. These cruises appeal to people who prefer a less-crowded experience. These ships are also able to dock at more ports of call. For example, some smaller vessels are equipped for adventurous voyages, such as to Antarctica.

Some travelers charter sailboats for an even closer-to-the-water experience. Alternatives for such trips range from a fully crewed vessel to a “bare-boat” option for those with maritime credentials to captain a boat.

DIY vs. Resort/Tour

Do you prefer a “do-it-yourself” vacation or a more scripted experience like a resort or a tour? The former will require more work, but you could save some money. On the other hand, if you’re willing to pay, enjoying resorts or tours means you simply need to show up.

A resort stay typically entails a lot of relaxation time with plenty of food and drink. A popular resort option is all-inclusive, where everything is included for one price. However, all-inclusive resorts vary in quality. To avoid unpleasant surprises, find out precisely what is included and what is extra. Also, check online reviews so you have some idea of what to expect.

Like resorts, tours require less planning from the traveler. However, unlike most resorts, the activity level of a tour will likely be higher since you’ll be moving from place to place. The amount of exertion will depend on the physical demands, the number of daily events and the modes of transportation. For example, you could choose a luxury coach tour where you merely need to get on and off the bus or opt for something more vigorous like a bike tour.

Choosing where to go can be a fun task, but make sure you consider all the angles to increase the probability that your travel experience will live up to your expectations.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

What type of travel do you like the most? Is a river cruise on your bucket list? Do you like luxury and resort travel, or do you plan your own vacations?

If you’ve started to hear whispers in your head it’s time to get out of your business, time to exit, what’s holding you back from starting the exit journey? The following is a list of reasons I’ve heard from business owners over the years. How many of these are stopping you from moving forward?

1. Don’t know what’s next personally.
2. Fearing loss of identity.
3. Concern for employees.
4. Loyalty to customers or clients.
5. Loss of control.
6. Embarrassment, shame.
7. Perceived failure.
8. Fear of regret.
9. Fear of missing out (FOMO).
10. Not time yet.
11. Fear of losing income.
12. Don’t know how to exit.
13. Seems daunting to make such a big change.

All of these are legitimate, and it’s okay if you admit one or more of these reasons are stopping you. If you identify with any of these challenges, you’re in good company. Unofficially, 99.9% of business owners with whom I speak admit to at least one and usually several of these fears. If this is you, it’s okay.

However, I have two suggestions if you want to exit your business but one (or more) of these is stopping you.

Suggestion #1: Create a Clear Vision of Your Abundant Future

The study of positive psychology suggests having a sharp vision of a positive future pulls us forward. A clear image of an abundant future will help you overcome inertia, fear and other negative emotions holding you back.

Based on this idea, I suggest you create a clear, concrete vision of what your life will be like after you exit your business. Where will you live? What will you be doing? Who will you be doing fun things with?

Write down your vision with as much detail as you can. When you have a clear vision of what you want your life to be like without your business, you’ll be able to move ahead. Let me give you an example.

One of my current clients is clear she and her husband want to live in Europe to be near to their daughter and grandkids. She knows it’s not possible if she’s tied to her business. I’ve stressed to this business owner the need to make the vision of the future as clear as she can make it. I’ve suggested she pick out a house they will rent, read up on the region in which they want to settle, and visit the region as much as she can right now.

This business owner has to improve her business in the next few years so she can sell it for what she wants, but the vivid image of the future she wants will draw her forward.

Suggestion #2: Take Action

Psychologists suggest task aversion is to blame when we put off doing something we know we should do. If we view a task as unpleasant, we will often put it off. I’m not a psychologist, but I am a seasoned business owner, and I know to overcome inertia I need to act. The simple task of doing something creates momentum and once started, a task is easier.

You can use any of the tried-and-true behaviors to overcome procrastination to help you. For example:

• Focus on the “why” (see suggestion #1).
• Get a partner to help you plan out the exit journey.
• Break the task of exiting your business into chunks.
• Drop perfectionism (exiting a business is messy and imperfect).

The point is to take action. Here is my challenge to you. If you’re serious about exiting your business in the next two years, take action of any kind in the next 48 hours. Pick something and get started.

For example, you could start to create your vision of your life after you no longer own this business. Or you could contact your accountant and ask her if she has any experience selling a business and, if not, if she knows someone who does have experience. You could reach out to a business owner you know who has recently sold her business and start a conversation.

Summary

Exiting your business is not easy, but it’s doable. If you hear the whispers that it’s time to turn your business over to someone else, then examine what’s holding you back and take action to overcome your objections. You might be surprised how good you’ll feel when you commit to starting the journey to exit your business.

Rather than asking you to reveal if you’re thinking about exiting your business, suggest reasons to delay other business owners might be feeling. If you have any questions about how to get started in exiting a business, please make a comment below and I’ll respond. Thank you.

Further read, 5 Ways to Exit Your Business: Which One Is Right for You?

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Are you looking into exiting your business? Do you have a clear reason why you want to do it? What fears are stopping you to actually take action in that direction?

Originally posted at: Jennifer Pedranti’s Clear and Gold Lens Sunglasses

It began when I was driving home from teaching 3^rd graders after a long day. I was about 38 years old. As a child, I must have had deep thoughts, with my nose always in a book, because I had resting “frownie” face. This cultivated deep furrows between my eyebrows, but they usually sprang back to a smooth forehead by bedtime.

Not that day, though.

No, on that day – after a grueling, sweaty shift at the whiteboard – I glanced at myself in my rearview mirror as I drove home. There they were: the dreaded frown lines, stubbornly etched like the gully erosion I had taught about that day. And those ridges weren’t going anywhere.

Bangs Beauty and Melted Face

On that day, I impulsively cut my bangs. What a cheap form of cosmetic surgery that was! (I know, I write about my bangs a lot.) They covered those pesky lines, but it was a temporary fix. My forehead’s smooth days were over, and I knew it was time to explore the bewildering world of beauty products beyond my trusty SPF 50 sunscreen.

Teaching in a school with no air conditioning meant any makeup I wore typically melted off by lunch. In my 30s though, my skin had this lovely, dewy glow that shone through even after my face had surrendered to the heat.

But after the Day of the Never-Ending Frown Lines, I realized maybe it was time for a more serious skincare regimen. Eventually, my school got air conditioning, but by then I was losing the battle of melted face because of hot flashes and more dreaded wrinkles that allowed the makeup to gather in the creases like a batik artwork.

Pink Eye Is No Joke

Armed with my first powerful eye cream, I returned to school feeling rejuvenated, only to have a third grader ask, “Do you have pink eye?” Ah, the honest brutality of children. My new miracle cream had given me a rash and red, watery eyes.

Eyeshadow Bruises

Once that disaster cleared up, I tried eyeshadow to perk up my face. A new and rather cheap palette of eyeshadows from Walgreens in shades of pink and purple seemed promising. Feeling fabulous, I strutted into class, when a concerned little face peered up at me and asked, “Did somebody punch you? Your eyes look bruised!”

Mascara Boogers

Determined not to be defeated, I moved on to a more fantastic mascara. Aiming for fresh and awake, I opted for some brand that cost more than my day’s salary that offered false eyelash length, but alas it was not waterproof or even water resistant.

By the end of the day, it clumped into the corners of my eyes, leading to comments like, “Why do you have black eye boogers?” from the same brutally honest little ones. I found a mascara with a name like CoverWoman LashBlast SuperDuper Outrageous Waterproof Mascara to take care of those end of work dark circles and black eye boogers. It takes a jackhammer to get it off, but I’m worth it.

Mascara for Eyebrows?

Undeterred, I decided my eyebrows needed attention. After turning 50, they’d started to thin from over-plucking – or were they just fading? Who knows? To this day I wonder if my eyebrow hair has just been relocating to my upper lip and chin.

I tried something called eyebrow mascara, but by noon, my brows looked like tiny caterpillar frass stuck to my face. “Your eyebrows look really strange,” my observant students noted.

Let’s Get Spendy

My mother, ever the supportive soul, bought me something called Frown Eze – stickers for my frown lines that smelled like 1960s elementary school paste. I couldn’t sleep with those things stuck to my face, and each morning I awoke with a sticky, red residue instead of a smooth forehead.

Next, I tried instant firming lotion – the kind that tightens wrinkles right before your eyes in those YouTube videos. But apparently, I used too much, and it became white, flaky crumbles under my eyes. “You have dried toothpaste under your eyes,” came the uninvited critique from a Little in my classroom.

Of course, I made a sarcastic make-up tutorial to help us all spend less money. I mentioned it in a previous article. I want to thank those of you who journeyed to my podcast channel to view it. The video went from 7 views to nearly 400 – older women hold the power! Of course, my hints to use Crayola Markers on the face will lead to many “unsubscribes.”

Finding What Works… for Me

Finally, I discovered an expensive self-tanner. Not the orange-hued QT of my grandma’s era, but a product that promised a natural glow. It worked, mostly. My third graders couldn’t find anything wrong with it, unless I put it on in a hurry and had a weird, dark streak that wouldn’t fade for 2 days.

And so, I’ve settled on this routine: a layer of expensive self-tanner, dry, sunscreen, dry, Bare Minerals to “paint by number” on my uneven skin, jackhammer mascara, and the occasional Crest White Strip for a dazzling smile.

I no longer teach, so if people think I look weird now, at least they’re polite enough not to say it out loud.

In the end, I realized that some days are just a total waste of makeup. I yo-yo between “growing old naturally,” and “fighting age with anything in my arsenal.” But hey, at least I’ve learned a thing or two about beauty products and the unfiltered honesty of children.

I avoid going into stores like Ulta or Sephora without a support animal (or my sister) because I always leave with something bizarre and expensive. And if you’re ever in need of a good laugh, just remember: there’s no problem a pair of scissors and a sense of humor can’t solve.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Did you ever have a day that was a total waste of makeup? Let’s not turn this conversation into a “crab fest,” so let’s keep it lighthearted. For example, did your hair color ever turn out a shocking shade you were not expecting? Did someone in your life ever comment on your makeup or fashion choices only to make you question all that money you spent on something new? Do you think we spend too much time and money trying to hang on to our youth?