Breaking The Paycheck to Paycheck Cycle | A Guide for Business Owners
Are you tired of doing finances from a place of lack and survival? Today, we are going to dive deep to get a better understanding of why people live paycheck to paycheck, how they get stuck in the cycle and what they can do to break free.
My name is Lucas and welcome. I struggled with money and lived paycheck to paycheck for decades. I was always able to pay my bills but I never had anything to put towards my goals and I was always worried that there was not enough.
Now I have plenty and rarely stress about money. It’s a transformation that’s available to you and I’d like to show you how. (If you prefer to watch the video, please check it out here…)
Problems With Money Exist Internally and Externally
When it comes to breaking the paycheck cycle, it’s helpful to recognize that our financial problems exist Externally, meaning what we do with our money and Internally, meaning what we think about money.
Most people try to fix the External and completely overlook the Internal but if you’d like to experience financial freedom, it’s important to address both.
How I Broke The paycheck to Paycheck Cycle - Phase 1:
The first thing I did to break the paycheck cycle was to get clear on all of the Internal and External behaviors that were keeping me in survival mode and remove them.
INTERNAL:
Growing up, we hear our parents and grandparents say all kinds of things about money and because we absorb everything they say and do, their experience with money becomes our financial foundation.
Then we enter the working world and accumulate more opinions from co-workers, society, friends and lovers. So many of our ideas about money are borrowed from other people who do not have a great relationship with it. Think about that…
I used to hear “we don’t have money and never will” . Since that was my introduction, I spent most of my life thinking there was not enough and I constantly chased after more.
How about you? From, “Money doesn’t grow on trees” and “money brings the worst out in people” to “money makes you evil or greedy” or “You can make money or do what you love”, What did you hear growing up?
→ I invite you to get out a piece of paper and draw a line down the center.
At the top left write the word Internal, Then list every limiting belief, opinion and perspective that you remember hearing about money.
(My Personal List of Internal and External Financial behaviors)
EXTERNAL:
Now, let’s get clear on the External habits that are keeping you trapped. Let me give you a few examples:
Poor spending habits
No plan for your money
Paying more taxes than you need to
Being a slave to credit cards
Carrying bad debt
Not invoicing clients in a timely manner
Disorganized and confusing finances
Not paying yourself first
Not building emergency funds
Being stingy with your money
Not knowing how to balance irregular income
Avoiding your finances
and the list goes on and on. I often refer to these as financial leaks and because most people struggle with quite a few, they are hemorrhaging money. How many are you currently experiencing?
→ On your piece of paper right the word External at the top right and then list the habits that are holding you back.
Now, look at the two lists.
Do you know why you live paycheck to paycheck? Because of all the beliefs and habits that are on that piece of paper.
It may not be the most pleasant news you’ll hear today but now that you know what’s holding you back, you can begin to remove your limitations.
The cool thing about plugging our financial leaks and removing our limiting beliefs is that it can produces quick results. Address one and you’ll have a little extra money. Address three, and your accounts begin to grow. Address all of them and your bank balances will skyrocket.
If you’d like to learn how to identify and remove your limiting behaviors, check out my special 4 part series here. I also recommend Peter Crone’s Financial Freedom workshop and Ken Honda’s Money EQ course.
And if you’d appreciate some personalized help, book a free coaching session with me. Together we’ll identify your financial leaks and I’ll show you how much money you’re currently hemorrhaging. For most clients it’s between 20-60% of their annual income.
How I Broke The Paycheck to Paycheck Cycle - Phase 2:
The second thing I did to break the paycheck cycle was to practice more productive and profitable financial behaviors.
Think of it like this: growing up, our parents, peers and society installed us with their financial software. Once we get clear on the Internal and External behaviors keeping us trapped, we can remove the old “software” and instal new, more beneficial financial beliefs and habits.
If you were lucky enough to have someone in your life teaching you helpful financial behaviors, be sure to hang on to those. Then, get busy getting educated. Robert Kiyosaki’s book Rich Dad Poor Dad has empowered millions of people around the globe to transform their finances. Start with it. Then, read a few books, take a few courses, listen to some podcasts and Collaborate with a great CPA and bookkeeper.
And if you’d like to improve quickly, consider hiring a financial coach that you resonate with. There are so many resources to learn more productive and profitable financial behaviors so, get educated.
Why Do So Many of Us Struggle With Money and Live Paycheck to Paycheck?
Ever hear the saying, “water off a duck’s back”? When two ducks fight, there’s a few moments of intensity and then they separate. They shake out their feathers, release the anxious energy and move on with their day.
When we hear a parent say something like “we don’t have money and we never will” or we aren’t able to pay our rent, instead of shaking off the anxious energy, we hold on to it, burying it deep inside.
Each experience is like a piece of shrapnel that gets lodged deep within and we go through life collecting one after another. Because we don’t know how to remove the shrapnel, all of those wounds fester. After a decade or three the internal damage begins to reveal itself.
In my late 20s I began to feel empty and lost. Instead of looking at the Internal, I spent the next decade focused on the External. I assumed that once I achieved success and lots of money I’d feel better but I wasn’t happy.
My relationships were falling apart, my debt and anxiety were at an all time high, my hair was falling out, I looked and felt like a zombie and because I didn’t know how to process any of it, I kept pushing it down. The light inside of me was quite dim.
I didn’t believe in pills and was tired of running in circles with talk therapy so I began to seek answers.
Thanks to many mentors who ALL pointed me towards the Internal, I shifted my energy away from the External began to look inward.
I started off by letting go of grudges and with each person I forgave, I removed a piece of shrapnel and the began to heal.
I shifted my thoughts away from what I didn’t have, became grateful for all that I did and removed more shrapnel.
I felt better so I removed more shrapnel - Jealousy, attachments, selfishness, fear, feelings of lack, anger, apathy, loneliness, blame, resentment, cynicism, cowardice, indifference, I removed all of the distractions and stopped self medicating.
Eventually I came face to face with my guilt and shame - all of the people I used and hurt along the way. I made so many poor choices and carried so much heaviness but as I learned to sit with the uncomfortable feelings, I removed more and more shrapnel.
My anxiety dissolved, the stress disappeared and the light that burned so brightly when I was a little boy returned as a brilliant bright flame.
I made more progress in a year addressing the Internal than I had in 2 decades by trying to perfect my External situation.
And that’s when I realized I could apply the same process to my finances. I removed all of the limiting financial beliefs I picked up as a child and shifted my perspective and relationship with money. I broke the paycheck cycle, one step at a time. Then, I put all of this knowledge and experience into The Big Split Method.
If you’re tired of living paycheck to paycheck. Tired of just getting by. If you have the money and the stuff but feel empty. If you feel lost or without purpose or you just want to be happy again,
I invite you to consider that money is a mirror - it reflects and mimics our thoughts, beliefs and habits. Think there’s not enough and there won’t be. Trust that there’s plenty and there will be.
If all of your thoughts and habits are focused on lack and survival, that’s what you’ll experience. When you practice and create happiness and abundance, money will reflect that back to you.
If You Would Like To Break The Paycheck to Paycheck Cycle…
Heal yourself from the inside out and your finances will follow.
Remove the beliefs and habits that are keeping you stuck.
Install new financial software by getting Curios, Creative and Educated.
Then, create a new path forward by practicing more productive behaviors.
And if you’d like some help transforming, I’m here.
I can’t do it for you but I’d love to walk alongside you. That’s why I created The Big Split boot camp - for one week it’s just you and me.
We’ll role up our sleeves, simplify, get organized, I’ll help you identify all the behaviors keeping you stuck, I’ll show you how to remove them. We’ll create financial software that works for you, your life and your specific financial needs.
And once the week is over, our relationship is just beginning. Over the first six months i’ll be available to you so that when life throws you financial curves balls and you take two steps back, I’ll be there to walk alongside you and take several steps forward with you.
But there’s a catch…
What I’m offering requires you to take radical responsibility for your life. I don’t improve your finances, you do. And for that happen, you must be WILLING and Motivated to change. Are you ready?
I hope you enjoyed today’s video as much as I enjoyed making it. Thank you for your time and energy. If you know anyone that could benefit from this video, please pass it along and I’ll see you in the next one.
- Lucas Z.