If it's one thing I've learned since starting my journey to personal development, it's that success in all areas of life truly starts in the mind.What you think about health determines how healthy are.What you think about your career will determine how far you go.And likewise...what you think about money determines who much you'll have. And whether or not you can keep what you have. Let that sink in...Over the past two months or so, I've been focusing on money a lot. As I enter a new financial season in my life - I just bought a house and I'm growing my business - I've had a deep desire to make sure I understand money better and make sure I'm doing the right things.Since I'm on this new kick, I've been reading and re-reading several books on money (The Richest Man in Babylon, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, and Secrets of Six Figure Women, to be exact...) as well as studying others who are successful with money. All of this time spent "pondering" my relationship with money and what it takes to be a financially successful person has caused me to have several money mindset shifts that I believe will help me "step my financial game up" going forward.In today's podcast, I share what these 5 money mindset shifts are - hopefully they'll help you step your financial game up to! Listen below:

Podcast Notes:

The 5 money mindset shifts I've learned (and re-learned!) over the past few months are:1. Prioritize what you want most over what you want in the moment. (Also known as: you don't have to spend money on every little wish and want you have.) This lesson really hit me hard after re-reading my favorite personal finance books of all time (it's official!), The Richest Man in Babylon.In the book, the Richest Man in Babylon shares his financial wisdom with all the men who come to him daily seeking advice. One day in particular, he shares the importance of a budget and why every man who desires wealth should have one. This upsets one of the men listening, who balks at the idea because he feels he works hard and deserves to have what he wants without restriction. The Richest Man in Babylon then tells this man that a budget is not there to restrict you as much as it is there to protect you and what you want most from all your little fleeting wants and desires. A budget ensures that you have enough money for you greatest desires, even though you'll always be tempted by several lesser desires.I don't know why this has been so profound to me recently, but I think part of the frustration with money is that most people assume that the goal is to have enough money to pay for everything they want. The truth is, as a human being, you will ALWAYS want more than what you currently have! That's literally a product of being human. More money will not turn that off. However, if you can recognize that it's natural to have a 1001 desires but remind yourself that your biggest desires are the only one's worth spending money on, it kills the feeling that you need to spend money all the time. It then shifts your mindset from a spender ("I must have every little thing I want, when I want it") to saver, because you are actively protecting your money SO THAT you can have enough to spend on what it truly important to you.2. Demand what you're worth. This mindset shift comes from the bookclub book we are currently reading in the Think & Grow Chick Accountability Group (click here to sign up), Secrets of Six Figure Women, by Barbara Stanny. In the book, Barbara Stanny, a journalist, interviews women who make over 6-figures alongside those she deems "chronic under-earners" to see if there was any difference in their mindset and behavior. The book was fascinating to me as there were several things the 6-figure women did differently, but one habit they all had that stood out to me was that they were vigilant about getting paid what they were worth.Whether the women were entrepreneurs or worked for a corporation, they spent a lot of energy from the outset to ensure they were paid what either their job position or products and services were worth. What made this mindset interesting, however, was the mindset that the under-earning women had about getting paid what they were worth. Many of them wore it as a badge of honor that they were underpaid, essentially believing that because they did not take the effort to get paid top dollar upfront, it showed that they "aren't in it for the money" and weren't the kind of women who "chased" money or were "obsessed with it."Yet, when Barbara Stanny asked the 6-figure women why they were so adamant about getting paid top dollar for their labor, the 6-figure women said they did it so that they wouldn't always be chasing money! In their minds, if they ensured that they were paid what they were worth from the beginning, then they wouldn't have to worry about money or constantly chase it because they knew they would have enough! The under-earning women, who felt like they didn't chase money because they didn't demand better pay, in fact, often had to do just that becausethey were underpaid. If they demanded more money for their labor to start with, then they wouldn't always be trying to scrape up money just to get by.This was FASCINATING to me! It made me realize that demanding top dollar for labor has nothing to do with greed and "chasing money" but everything to do with making sure you don't have to chase money in the first place! The 6-figure women profiled never worried about money, nor did they think about it as often as the under-earning women did precisely because they ensured their financial security from the get go.3. Save...and then make it work for you. Everyone knows that building up your savings is important but too often, that's where we stop. While building a savings is a must, it's important that we then invest a portion of that savings so that it can generate even more money. The Richest Man in Babylon calls this "Making Thy Gold Multiply". T Harv Eker, author of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind calls this "seeing your money as a seed." He says,

"Poor people see a dollar as a dollar to trade for something they want right now. Rich people see every dollar as a seed that can be planted to earn a hundred more dollars, which can be replanted to earn a hundred more."

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to teach financial literacy to high school students who were a part of the National Black MBA's Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) Program. One of the statistics I shared with them was the growing wealth gap between Blacks and Whites in this country. According to the Pew Research Center, one of the reasons African-Americans fared worse in the last recession was because we are several times less likely than Whites to own stocks and other investments. Our wealth, if we have any, tends to be tied up in our homes. As we saw in this last recession, the values of houses took a massive hit and were much slower to recover than were the values of stocks and other investments.This is a huge, but necessary, mindset shift to make, as the only way to really "win" in the money game is to have your money making money on your behalf. We have to get into the mindset of seeing our savings as "seeds" for investments.4. Recognize and release your limiting beliefs around money. Out of all these mindset shifts, this is the one I've personally done the most work around. Since money is such an emotional topic, many of us may not realize that our financial problems are actually just manifestations of deeper negative beliefs we have around money. Both Secrets of Six Figure Women and Secrets of the Millionaire Mind talk about this extensively.I was first challenged to look at my own limiting beliefs around money when I started listening to Tiphani Montgomery's podcasts. I love hearing Tiphani's story because it's so outrageous yet inspiring. As a teen mom who was told she would never amount to anything, she funded the printing of her first book using her tax refund and eventually went on to become a best-selling author. On several of her podcasts, she talks about how she had to change what she considered " a lot of money" because those around her only set their sights on making $50 here, or an extra $100 there and as a result, they were continuously broke. Once she started studying other successful entrepreneurs, she began to think bigger about what was possible for her and how much she could earn in her business. If you only believe it's possible to make $1000/month or $2000/month or even $3000/month, that's all you'll ever make because you haven't given your mind the possibility to explore more lucrative options.As I thought about that, I realized that my goal shouldn't only to be to replace my current salary but to make as much money as the value I put out in the world dictates. In other words, I shouldn't limit my earning ability based on what is "a lot of money" for me today. If I continued to tell myself that $60,000 or $80,000 or even $100,000 per year is "a lot" of money, then I would prevent myself from seeing opportunities to make even more.Myleik Teele, CEO of Curlbox alluded to this in our Masterclass together (click here to watch it, it's so good!) when she talked how at first she was happy when Curlbox was making her $4,000/month. But as she continued to grow the company and she started making $5,000/month then $7,000/month, then $10,000/month, she admits she got really uncomfortable because those kind of earnings, at the time, were outside her realm of possibility.From all the financially successful people I've either talked to or read about, all of them say something about how they had to free themselves from limiting beliefs around money. (Even Dave Ramsey had to school folks on this topic recently...)P.S. - If you quickly want to change your thinking about what's possible and what you consider "a lot" of money to make every month, check out the income reports of Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income and John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on Fire. I doubt either of those guys would be at the level they are now if they hadn't released their limiting beliefs about money.5. Wealth and financial freedom is a behavior more than it is a bank account balance. Out of all the mindset shifts, this is the most important to remember. People who are financially successful got that way because everyday, they choose to behave differently. When it comes to becoming wealthy, I think we get too caught up on getting our bank account balances to reach a certain level. Money is simply a result and you can't get the result without first going through the process.The great news is, since wealth is first and foremost a way of behaving, you can "be" wealthy right now. I'm reminded of when I nearly flunked out of school and had to get my grades together. I didn't become a good student the day I finally repaired my GPA or when I graduated Magna Cum Laude. I became a good student (1) the day I decided that's what I was going to be and (2) everyday I followed through on that decision by going to class and studying. Every time I chose to stay in and study instead of going out with my friends, I was a good student. Even though it took a while to see As and Bs on my transcript, I became a good student long before then. The grades then, were just the manifestation of the behavior I was engaged in and the person I had become.Likewise, you can become a wealth person today by deciding that you will, form this point forward, behave differently. Two affirmations I say to myself whenever I'm out and about are "I am already wealth" and "I am financially free." Though I do not yet have the outward result of wealth, I know it will eventually come if I continue with my inward change.For the full audio, please check out the podcast on iTunes and Soundcloud.[podcast]

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What mindset shifts have you made (or need to make...) about money? Which one of these mindset shift stood out most to you? Leave me a comment and let me know!