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What if you could get more of what you want in life? But not through pushing, forcing, or pressure.
You can.
When it comes to money, time, and energy, no one’s gonna turn away more.
And Kate Northrup, Bestselling Author of Money: A Love Story and Do Less and host of Plenty, is here to help you expand your capacity to receive all of the best.
As a Money Empowerment OG who’s been at it for nearly 2 decades, Kate’s the abundance-oriented best friend you may not even know you’ve always needed.
Pull up a chair every week with top thought leaders, luminaries, and adventurers to learn how to have more abundance with ease.
How can I add more value? Right? Like I work for myself. Of course, I can I have my hand on the dial of being able to make more money anytime through our marketing efforts, through increasing our conversion rates, through increasing our earnings per lead, through adding value to our customers, through new offers? All of these things are possibilities, but one of the things that I focus on is always sharpening my skill set in terms of the research and processes and methodology that I teach.
Kate Northrup:Welcome to Plenty. I'm your host, Kate Northrup, and together, we are going on a journey to help you have an incredible relationship with money, time, and energy, and to have abundance on every possible level. Every week, we're gonna dive in with experts and insights to help you unlock a life of hunting. Let's go fill our cups. Today, we are going to talk about 6 practical ways that you can prioritize and become financially healthier.
Kate Northrup:Some of these are, like, strategic things you can do with your money, and some of these are energetic things. It is a healthy balance. Both matter. Okay. So if you are beginning on your path to a healthier relationship with money or if you're further along.
Kate Northrup:It doesn't matter. These six things are going to meet you where you are because the cool thing about financial well-being is the better it gets, the better it gets. And there's no moment when we're like, oh, perfect. I've now reached the top of the mountain. That's it.
Kate Northrup:Because your financial well-being is interwoven in this beautiful way with the well-being in every single area of your life. So there's always room for growth and expansion, which, by the way, does not mean that you don't get to celebrate all the beauty that is right now, and that actually leads to item number 1 on the list. I think the most important way to become financially healthier is to practice being grateful and noticing and savoring all the bounty that is already here. Our sweet brains are wired for survival. They are wired to constantly be tracking and sifting and sorting for problems.
Kate Northrup:And so we lose track. We forget how good things already are, and, unfortunately, we are conditioned also by culture to be looking at what's missing instead of what's already here. What we know is that the surest way to happiness is to love what you have and want what you have instead of having what you want. All the data in the world shows us that once we get what we want, the joy, the satisfaction, the dopamine hit we get from it is short lived. In fact, there's an incredible book called The Molecules of More.
Kate Northrup:And in that book, I learned that we have 2 different circuitry systems in our brains. One of the circuitry systems is the wanting. A completely different circuitry system is the having. So the wanting circuitry is our dopamine circuits, meaning it is the desiring. And we actually get a hit of a feel good chemical, a feel good, ingredient in our bodies called dopamine by going after something.
Kate Northrup:It's why people get addicted to sitting in a casino filled with smoke, stale air, and no natural light, just cranking that slot machine handle. It is because they're addicted to the wanting. They're addicted to the longing. Interestingly enough though, once we get what we want, there's a completely different circuitry that comes on board, and that has to do more with oxytocin and our ability to savor. Because the dopamine circuitry, the wanting is different than the having, and because our media and our entire advertising and marketing culture is centered on the dopamine circuitry, we don't have as much practice in the having part of our brain.
Kate Northrup:So one of the practices that all the happiness data in the world agrees upon is that focusing on gratitude for what we already have helps us to live more abundant lives. The other thing from a practical standpoint is that when we are practicing gratitude for the ways that our financial lives are already working, for the resources we already have, for everything that's already abundant right now, when we focus on that, it actually fills us up energetically. And then when we're in a conversation where maybe we're negotiating for a higher salary or we're in a client, acquisition conversation or we're writing marketing copy or we're doing our social media content or we're in any way engaging in an activity that would potentially draw more money to us, that would be a revenue producing activity or an income generating activity, when we have already grounded in what's already good by using the practice of gratitude, we have more robust pathways in our having circuitry. And what that allows us to do without even having to try is to behave in magnetic ways with people who will potentially give us more money. And when we do that, they feel safer in our presence because there is not any energy of desperation.
Kate Northrup:When we're dating someone and they're, like, love bombing us and, like, you're the only person for me. I would die without you. Like, how repulsive is that? It's actually scary. I remember in my dating life when someone would come on too strong with an an energy of desperation, I was like, I have to run as fast the opposite direction as I possibly can.
Kate Northrup:It is the same with money. People can smell desperation and lack a mile away, and it will repel money for from you. I promise you that. So number one thing to get financially healthier is practice gratitude every single day for the ways your life is already rich and abundant. Every morning when I wake up, I feel the feeling of the sheets on my body.
Kate Northrup:I have amazing sheets. They're made out of bamboo. I love them so much, and I say thank you, goddess, for this life, for my health, for the fact that my children are waiting for me in the kitchen, for the fact that the sun is gonna rise in a few minutes, for all of it. When we ground in abundance, we attract more, and we just, even without attracting more, we just experience a feeling of plenty. Right?
Kate Northrup:And we we can create from that place, from wholeness. So that's gratitude. Number 2 is get really clear on your numbers. Money loves clarity. Clarity is magnetic.
Kate Northrup:Vagueness is repulsive. So if you don't know what it costs to live, if you don't know what your monthly average expenses are personally, business wise, if you don't know what your monthly average income is personally, business wise, if you're not clear on what your financial goals are, you don't know your financial freedom number, you don't know, you know, all these different numbers that tell a story of our lives. They tell a story of our dreams and desires, and they help us to make strategic smart decisions with our money. Wouldn't you like to be more strategic with your money? I know I certainly would, and that's what we can do when we have financial clarity.
Kate Northrup:Now I get that it can feel scary. I get that it feels like being avoidant and sticking your head in the sand may be a better strategy because you can avoid the discomfort of knowing the truth, but I promise you this. The discomfort of avoiding the truth for a long period of time is going to be far worse than the discomfort of just getting to know your numbers right now. Now one of the things, of course, we practice in relax money and in my programs is signaling safety to our bodies to increase our capacity to do things that feel hard or edgy, like looking at our numbers. So if you've been a chronic avoider, I would highly recommend going over to kate northrup.com forward slash breakthroughs, and you can get my money breakthrough guide that comes with a companion lesson that includes me leading you through my favorite nervous system healing practice where you can start to learn how to signal safety to your body and increase your neurological and energetic capacity to take a step in the direction of financial clarity if that has been something that has eluded you up until this point.
Kate Northrup:So know your numbers. Financial clarity was number 2. What are the numbers? You gotta know how much you spend on a monthly basis. You gotta know how much you make on a monthly basis, and you gotta know what's your tax liability, what are your invoices for blessings already received, which the rest of the world calls your your debt, how much do you need to retire if you wanted to or become work optional as my financial planner, Caitlin Carlson, says?
Kate Northrup:What do you need to become work optional in the bank to be putting off, you know, an average rate of return? Like, these numbers, they may feel scary at first, but when you know them, you will feel such a great sense of power and safety, actually. Okay. That was number 2. Number 3, automate your savings.
Kate Northrup:Once you know how much you want to have put aside for your work optional number, for your long term savings goals, your short term savings goals, automate it. Right? Automate it. So I recommend having a high yield savings account. People who are students in relax money get access to a special one that's only available through financial professionals, but you can do your research and find a high yield savings account that will allow you to get free money from interest, from keeping your money in an account.
Kate Northrup:I mean, you may not realize, but how this works is that when you put your money in a high yield savings account, that bank then lends it to other people. They get a higher rate of return, and then they share some of that interest with you. So just so you know, behind the scenes, your money is always in flow if it is in a bank. So get yourself automated with your savings. So every month, it comes out.
Kate Northrup:You don't even have to think about it. It is the same philosophy of eating off of a smaller plate. If you want to reduce the amount you eat, eat off of a smaller plate. The data is clear that that works. Now I'm I'm not this is not a weight loss show.
Kate Northrup:I'm not telling you you need to lose weight. This is like a whole other conversation, but I'm just telling you the same principle applies. If you want to reduce your spending and make sure you're hitting your savings goals, automate the savings so it comes off off the top and you didn't that money never even really came into your monthly budget, and that way, it it's just gonna happen, and you won't even have to think about it. So automate your savings. That was number 3.
Kate Northrup:Number 4, which is related, is build yourself a cushion fund. A cushion fund is 3 to 6 months of your living expenses. 3 to 6 months of living expenses saved up in a high yield savings account so that you have choices. What the data shows us is that the average person, certainly in the United States, will get will get taken out by a $400 unexpected expense. Like, that would that would absolutely endanger them financially.
Kate Northrup:If you have 3 to 6 months of expenses saved up in the bank, you give yourself the freedom of choices, of not staying in a job that you hate, of being able to move if you need to move to be with a loved one, of being able to weather any kind of financial storm or possibly move towards your dreams. It's just a beautiful cushion. So build up your cushion fund of 3 to 6 months of living expenses in a high yield savings account. That was number 4. Number 5 is eliminate high interest invoices for blessings already received.
Kate Northrup:So if you have any kind of debt, which I call invoices for blessings already received, that is above, like, maybe a 7 to 8% interest rate, I would consider that a high interest rate debt. So you wanna move as quickly towards eliminating that once you have gotten a couple of months of living expenses saved up. What I find people do is they've been conditioned to believe that debt is bad and needs to be eliminated as fast as possible at all costs. I've done other episodes on this, but if you wanna dive deeper, but what I wanna say right now quickly is that not all debt is bad. A, debt does not make you a bad person.
Kate Northrup:B, you didn't screw up. C, all it means is that you have an invoice for a blessing you already received that you need to pay. Debt actually can be neutral. So if you have a lower interest rate on an invoice for blessings already received, like, let's say you have a line of credit, and it's a 4% interest rate. It does not make sense to incredibly aggressively pay that off and put yourself in a space of deprivation because, actually, you may be able to make 8% on your money elsewhere, which because of the spread would make you more money in the end if you invested that money as opposed to aggressively paid off that invoice for a blessing already received.
Kate Northrup:However, once you get a couple months of living expenses, saved up to then cover any kind of unexpected financial need that may come up so that you don't have to go back into debt when your boiler needs to be fixed or when your kid needs braces or when whatever happens. Right? If you get that saved up, then you can begin to more devotedly put any extra income you have towards your higher interest rate invoices for blessings already received. So that was number 5. And then number 6 is to focus on adding value.
Kate Northrup:So a little while ago, we had Ajit Nawalkha on the podcast. We'll link that in the show notes, and he talked about that you can have your hand on the dial of increasing your income at any time even if you work for someone else. And he talked about his own rise from starting out as, I think, maybe an intern at Mindvalley or a or an entry level position all the way to becoming the CEO and that he was able to do that because he focused on being of service. He focused on sharpening his skills. He focused on learning new things that would help the company grow, so he became incredibly valuable, and it was easy and obvious to continue to promote him and give him more leadership, more responsibility, and, of course, more money.
Kate Northrup:So even if you don't work in a job, you can always be thinking about how can I add more value? Right? Like, I work for myself. Of course, I can I have my hand on the dial of being able to make more money anytime through our marketing efforts, through increasing our conversion rates, through increasing our earnings per lead, through adding value to our customers, through new offers? All of these things are possibilities, but one of the things that I focus on is always sharpening my skill set in terms of the research and processes and methodology that I teach.
Kate Northrup:I am always in one certification or another. I am always reading at least 4 different books that are bringing me new insights, new data, new ways of thinking about things so that I can distill them, curate them, and bring them to you so that I can add value. I am not in 5 years from now, if you're listening to this podcast, you are not gonna hear the exact same thing that I'm saying now because things change. Data becomes clear. We learn more as we go, and so I'm always, always investing in myself, investing in our company, investing in team members so that we can find specific ways to add more value, to get our customers better results.
Kate Northrup:What happens then? Our customers then are out there in the world saying wonderful things about our company, spreading the word via word-of-mouth. Our customers then become affiliates. They literally become part of our sales team, and they, of course, become repeat customers. So all of that really helps us as a company from sharpening skill sets and really looking at how can I add more value?
Kate Northrup:In summary, we have 6 things that can help you to become financially healthier. One of them is to focus on gratitude for what's already abundant in your life. The second one is to get clear on your numbers. The third is to automate your savings. The 4th is to build a cushion fund of 3 to 6 months of living expenses.
Kate Northrup:The 5th is to work on eliminating high yield invoices for blessings already received, and the 5th is to find ways to add more value. I hope this was helpful for you. Start with just one of these. Start with just one and build over time. But this, these six things are the foundation for financial health, and I know you have what it takes.
Kate Northrup:Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time. If you're seriously committed to healing your relationship with money, the place to start is my book, Money, A Love Story. It's available in print. It's available digitally, but it is also available on audio in a completely updated and revised edition. So no matter what your book consumption preference is, this is the place with exercises, healing strategies, and repatterning strategies to get started of Plenty.
Kate Northrup:If you of Plenty. If you enjoyed it, make sure you subscribe, leave a rating, leave a review. That's one of the best ways that you can ensure to spread the abundance of plenty with others. You can even text it to a friend and tell them to listen in. And if you want even more support to expand your abundance, head over to kate northrup.comforward/breakthroughs, where you can grab my free money breakthrough guide that details the biggest money breakthroughs from some of the top earning women I know, plus a mini lesson accompanying it with my own biggest money breakthroughs and a nervous system healing tool for you to expand your abundance.
Kate Northrup:Again, that's over at katenorthrup.comforward/breakthroughs. See you next time.