My Make It Work Online clients and I had a great conversation a few weeks ago about… money!
What a charged topic it is, isn’t it? So many fears, entitlements, doubts, worries, insecurities, desires, envy… Money sure brings up our “stuff!”
One of the things we specifically talked about was the idea of a money setpoint, or a financial place we’re comfortable with, and how to shift it higher.
Today I’m doing something I don’t think I’ve ever done before: I’m asking you for the answers!
You see, although I’m quite clear on what a money setpoint is and how it shows up for my clients (and myself!), I’m far from a master in shifting it.
I know this community has amazing insights, and I’d love to learn from all of you how to make this shift.
Read on to learn how I define a setpoint, and then let’s start a life-changing conversation on how to shift it.
Oooo, I’m so excited for this one.
Your Financial Setpoint
So what exactly is a setpoint? It’s a place where you’re comfortable. So comfortable, in fact, that you find it a huge challenge to shift out of this place.
You can have a setpoint around money, your health, relationships, your weight… pretty much anything. Your setpoint is an internal place that you subconsciously set for yourself, and typically it can feel impossible to overcome it and leap to the next level.
The fascinating (and frustrating!) thing about setpoints is that even if you’re given the opportunity to change something, like make more money, you might choose to stay at the level you’re at, simply because it’s what you’re used to.
This sounds illogical, right? But we do it all the time without even realizing it.
To surpass this self-imposed limit requires a massive internal shift. And by “massive” I don’t mean it has to be hard; rather, something significant has to change within you, in how you operate, and in how you see and experience the world.
Noticing Your Setpoint
Before you can shift a setpoint, you have to first notice it. Sometimes the gentlest way in is to ask yourself some questions, like…
Am I used to being in debt or living from paycheck to paycheck?
Am I hesitant to spend money… or, on the flipside, spend it the moment I get it?
Do I believe that having money makes me a selfish or greedy person?
Do I believe that the more money I have, the less there is for others?
It’s important to realize that a setpoint isn’t good or bad; it just IS. Wherever you are is just where you are.
We can have a setpoint at making $1000/year or a setpoint at $1,000,000/year.
To shift it, we first need to notice it. Once we spot our setpoint, we can ask the next level of questions, like…
What might I have to do differently to shift things up to the next level?
If my setpoint changes, how will my life change, and how will those changes make me feel? Or, what am I afraid will happen if this shift happens?
What beliefs am I holding onto that I need to let go of?
Of course, noticing and asking questions is just the beginning. Then, we have to integrate those shifts and make them our truth.
How Do You Shift a Setpoint?
Now there are a lot of ideas out there on integrating the shifts and permanently shifting set-points, from affirmations to visualizations to EFT and more. But I’m curious what’s really worked for you. Or what you’ve tried that hasn’t worked.
You know me, I love to teach what I know. But this one I don’t know, and I’m excited to hear what you’ve tried and works for you.
Fill us all in!!
How have you shifted a setpoint, specifically around money?
Are there specific behaviors, books, or methods that helped you?
Did you notice an immediate shift or did it take time?
I can’t wait to hear what you’ve got in the comments below. We could be changing lives with this post and the conversation here, and I can’t wait!
I’m still working on my ‘set point’ but I found the book “The Seven Stages of Money Maturity” by George Kinder to be hugely helpful and insightful for understand how we create our set points to begin with.
Thanks for the recommendation, Tari!
A few years ago I was job hunting as an administrative assistant. I knew I was well qualified, but I was still surprised with the response I received. Nearly every resume I sent out got an interview and an offer. I decided that I needed to ask for more money, and the nice round figure of $25/ hour popped into my head. Frankly, I needed to make that level in order to cover commuting, child care, and the all essential morning cup of coffee. I boldly asked for it and got it! I’m on to new things now as a coach, so my set point will likely rise again as I gain more experience. It was seeing my expenses versus my experience in black and white that made the set point real.
Thanks for sharing, Santina. I love how everyone has their own way of working this problem out.
Hey Santina,
Quantum Healer over here and I was reading your paragraph my cells were bubbling with you are worth WAY more than $25/hr. So congrats on that shift and keep going! You are worth WAY more than you know!
Tara
Hi and thanks for this topic. So much potential for growth here for everyone…I am an user of EFT. I have been trained as a tapping into wealth coach and have learned that we have a money set point passed down to us by our families but also set by our experiences. EFT (tapping) is much like acupressure in that it connects you physically through key points in your body. You put words to your feelings of anxiety that arise when you speak about money while tapping to actually raise awareness of your feelings and then speak affirmations letting yourself know that you have choices with regard to money and you are not bound by what you have learned. For example I have been able to raise my comfort level with having money through EFT. Not too long ago I felt comfortable knowing I had a $50 cushion in my checking account. Now it is more like a $1200 cushion and rising….I have also learned that patterns of behavior and thoughts run deep and again are learned from our families and that changing them does not mean we are not loving and grateful but complete individuals able to make our own behavior and thought choices. Progress not perfection and at my age many years that need to be unraveled but it is happening and I am grateful!
I’ve heard great things about EFT (even watched videos) but haven’t ever followed through enough to see results. Thank you for sharing how it’s helped you!
I’ve found that EFT/Tapping makes the shift I need inside, for both myself and my clients. Very effective, since what your talking about here, is a mindset/inside job.
EFT is a mind/body technique that releases the negative emotions stuck inside of us that are connected to the issue and the belief – money, weight, relationships… emotions and beliefs that were set far back in our lives, often as children.
Depending on the complexity surrounding the issue, people can see some sort of shift immediately, others take a number of sessions. Good stuff, and you can do it yourself, in addition to seeing an EFT practitioner.
Best of all, you don’t have to believe in it for it to work.
Sometimes when I introduce it to my clients, they’re skeptical of this “Tapping” because it looks a bit strange, and in later sessions they often ask to tap, because they see results.
Great subject, Jenny!
Another EFT lover. 🙂 Thanks for sharing, and so glad to hear that it’s helped you!
I am the type of person that thinks both highly rationally and emotionally. What I find for myself is that I have to reason through things first in order to be emotionally invested in them. Otherwise, I won’t trust myself to follow through.
First thing’s first: I did my homework. I found out exactly how much our company spends on every category. I went through the details and even found the correlations for when spending increased and decreased, depending upon client load. Once I had a true handle on “reality,” I was ready to go on to the next step.
I then thought about growth in the company. Where did we want to be? How many clients did we want to have and how would our expenses grow based upon that? I changed our numbers to match where we wanted to go, not where we were.
Once I looked at those numbers, I researched comparable competitors’ pricing. If they can charge that much, so could we! I looked up typical industry percentage markups so that there is more room for growth.
After all of that, I could clearly see how our pricing needed to increase to a reasonable level. I was confident in fighting for it internally and externally because I based my setpoint on facts. It enabled me to stand up for that pricing because I knew it was fair to both our company and our customers. I was able to convince my superiors with the data and feel confident in what we are charging. No longer were we simply taking what was given to us or what “felt right;” we were charging what we knew we deserved and what was appropriate for the value we provide. To me, it was not only a change in heart, but also a change in tactics that allowed us to move forward.
Wow — thank you for sharing your approach in such great detail, Molly. I love seeing how each person approaches a problem like this and sees how to work their way through it. Thank you!
Great post Jenny!
I just did a blog post on something similar this week actually! I call it the Subconscious Freakout, where basically our subconscious fears take precedence over our truest intents and desires.
One tip: To forgive yourself for all your past “mistakes” with money, make a list of all the people involved and do what I call the Hawaiian Prayer of Forgiveness. You literally run down the list, close your eyes, and say, “Please forgive me, I’m sorry. Thank you. I love you.” It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe it, but in my experience, it works! When we aren’t holding onto stuck energy, money, which is just energy too can flow <3
For anyone that wants to check out the post and get more here it is: "When the Other Shoe Drops"
Love you!!
Diana
Love the simplicity of this, Diana! It pretty much gives someone no excuses not to try it!! Thanks for sharing that and your blog post, too!
My money setpoint really shifted when I went from an hourly employee to building my own photography business. I watched the shift firsthand and in the last couple of years have realized more clearly that my beliefs were holding me back, not my opportunities. I went from where a $100 purchase was a splurge, to having a checking account with $10-30k. What’s also shifted is now it’s a game for me. I like to see how much I can save. I still splurge occasionally but am very mindful.
I love the idea of a “game” — it instantly makes it so much more fun to play!
My weight setpoint has been very interesting and I’m currently working through it. I’m fit and trim but feel much happier when that last 5 pounds is off. What I’ve just started noticing about myself, is I’ll be very close to my goal “i like how i look in the mirror and in my clothes” and then I start eating more dessert, seconds, etc and the progress I made is loss. It’s been a real struggle to change my setpoint. My fear is that I won’t be able to eat anything that I like – so it’s this current struggle.
Yes — fear and mindset are huge for all set point shifts, that’s for sure. Have fun playing this game like you did the money game. What have you got to lose? (hahaha)
Life will always pursue urgency! Without a sense of urgency it is not possible to go beyond any set point. If making more than the usual sum becomes urgent taking the action and following through to fruition is easy. As long as there is no urgency for more money, better health, a happier relationship, or any type of success than complacency sets in. Man is built to gravitate to the path a least resistance in order to satisfy immediate impulses. Anything requiring the expansion of self requires work on many levels. Only your why can create the sense of urgency to push you out of complacency and towards new levels of success. Have a why for your success. Money follows success (eg. a job well done) it does not cause success! Money is a means not a cause. Health doesn’t cause itself it is practiced daily over time. Great relationships don’t just happen they a nurtured and cultivated everyday. To know a man look at his habits and you will see into his philosophy about life!
Excellent post! The fastest and most effective to raise your money set point is to re-set your subconscious programming around money, success, wealth, wealthy people, and other areas that block our income with a low money set point. I am a clinical hypnotherapist who specializes in working with women entrepreneurs around these kinds of issues. The reset button is in your subconscious mind. We operate 90%- 95% of the time from our subconscious mind so unless you create change there it isn’t usually successful. What works most often for my clients is hypnotherapy which is reinforced by listening to self-hypnosis/guided meditation audios. This is not instant but does work fast!