Ep 71: Upgrading Your Money Identity (Part 2)

In this episode, we're talking about your Money Identity, how you relate to money and the amount of money you consistently make year after year. Listen to this episode if you want to raise your Money Identity so that you can start aligning to the wealth and income that you truly desire. You ready? Let's do it. 

Hello. You are listening to the Love Your Life as a Performer podcast. I'm Kelli Youngman and I am the Life Coach for Performers. I help actors, singers, and dancers love themselves and their lives way more. So keep listening to learn how you can love your life both on and off the stage.

Hello and welcome back to episode 71 of the Love Your Life as a Performer podcast. I want to just jump right in because I'm realizing that this four part series might turn into even more,  but the truth is, we're doing this work already in all of my coaching containers. So really, truly, this is a shameless plug because I know that this shit works. If you're getting excited and lit up, and you want to be consciously working on your beliefs, come join us. Come play in Momentum, get on the wait list for the July class of THE PARADIGM, and let's change your whole freaking world.

Okay, so last week we were talking about the fact that money is energy. It's not this like crazy thing that we need to get that's the root of all evil and all the other beliefs that we create about it, right? It's just a neutral tool that is lovingly, readily available to us, wanting to go create,  impact the things that matter to us. Like it's an active, loving participant in our lives, right? And so we get to create the relationship to money that we want to have.

What I want to talk about today is that we also have to look at our Money Identity. Okay. And so a lot of times when I work with my clients, I tend to ask them who they think they are when it comes to money, right? And I want you to be asking yourself these questions too. Every now and then I will check in and redo this.  And, especially when I'm up leveling and, you know, expanding my self concept around money, I always reevaluate this because we're going to have to go through the same growth at every stage. Okay, so it's a practice, it's a process, and this is a tool you can implement for all different seasons of your life, right? 

And so you want to ask yourself, who do I think I am right now  with money?  And that's it. the answer will be quite telling. Now I want you to get granular and a little specific because I think this emphasizes where you might be keeping your money thermostat at the same exact temperature. We're going to talk about this. Okay, so who do you think you are when it comes to money? Now I want you to think about this on an annual salary. And again, I know all of us, and a lot of us, maybe don't have,  you know, a job where we're, we're getting a very specific salary, or maybe you do. Either way, totally fine. But especially as creatives, we tend to have more gig work, different projects, and maybe it feels a little more sporadic in the sources and the ways that it comes in. That's totally not a problem.

And right now there is a number that you currently associate with yourself. So if you had to guess on like an annual level and on like a monthly basis, which is of course going to be the same.  It's really interesting to think about  what are the numbers that you currently associate with yourself.  Like, really, truly, think about it right now. You can pause this podcast and just answer that question. Who do I think I am right now when it comes to money?  How much money do I  think, decide, know that I earn every year?  And how much money do I make on a monthly basis?

If you're pausing  to stop and answer these questions, and then you're like, Oh shit, I really don't know. This is a loving invitation to know your numbers. And we're going to talk about that too, because I think it's an important part of Money Identity. And, I'll just tell you, whatever your answers are, it's just really interesting, right? When did you start making that number of money?  And how long have you been thinking of yourself  as that amount of money? 

Okay. And so for example, I tend to find that when I ask most artists, how much money they make in a year, again, it depends if you've done a Broadway contract or you've been on tour, you're probably making around a hundred thousand a year. And like, that's pretty normal for you to have that number. If you're not at that income level yet, that's totally fine. And.  Like, I find that most performers are hovering around 30 to 40, $50,000, somewhere around there. And it's not good, bad, right or wrong. But it's just really interesting that when I started asking this question, the answer was consistently the same. And I just thought it was so fascinating that we just haven't pushed the envelope for more, right?

Because we think, and we're going to talk about this in a later podcast about how you actually start making more money, like in the 3D, like creating containers for that and having ways to make  money  and   usually this is just like a subconscious thing that we've decided  and so then we're keeping ourselves stuck at that same level. Okay. And I think it's important to know that it's not always a conscious thing. Like I don't think anyone is sitting around being like, I mean maybe and that's great too, but I don't think most people are thinking like, Oh, I'm making 30k and this is it. This is the life I live. And yep, like perfectly content. Again, there's no shame. These numbers are neutral. There's no judgment on them. But I find that most people in this income bracket, especially when you're a performer, it's always like, I wish I had more money. I want more money. I,  I don't want to be in these circumstances. Like usually it's coming from that energy.

Okay. And so, the thing is this, when we have a Money Identity, we have a money story, we have  this concept, this perspective of who we are with money, we will consistently make that amount of money.  And it's almost like chicken or the egg, right? It's like, do I make that much money because that's what I think I make? Or do I think I make that much because that's how I make? And what I want to offer is. Is that it could be a combo platter, but really it's like when we go to the Money Identity that's where we have the power to change. That's when you can make a quantum leap in your financial circumstances, when you're not thinking about what you have to do to make more money, but you're thinking about who you simply are.

Okay? And so I'm going to give you a couple of different examples from, You know, clients that I've been coaching through the same thing  and again, if the numbers don't feel accessible to you  or if they do, like, just know that this is just for demonstration purposes and you can use numbers that feel like a Fuck Yes. For you. I tend to find that most performers get excited by 100K because. You know, they're creatives and they've been in this 30 to 40K and like the idea of six figures is really juicy and it is right and I will tell you that it's the same process for my clients who are going from 250 to 500  K, right? It's the same exact thing.

 So when you are thinking about yourself and the Money Identity that you have, we can use the numbers. To inform, create,  and sort of flesh out what it looks and feels like to be this version of ourselves. Because, you know, on one hand, there's always a gap between where we are now and where we want to be and there's literal things, energetically, in our thought habits, in our being, in our rituals, in our routines, in the way we move through the world that are different and  It's also still like you right now  Right? So when we bridge the gap of borrowing the Emotional Map of this new Money Identity that you're creating and allow that to inform who you're being right now. That's how we close the gap.



Okay.  And so I was talking about this with one of my clients who is looking, she's a creative and she's looking to double her income from 250 to 500.  And we were talking about this. And we were just imagining. Like, yes, we can create more ways to, to welcome money. And what does it look like to start with the identity first? Again, don't be freaked out by the numbers. If you're going from 50k to 100k, remember, it's the same thing. I want you to be asking yourself, how does it feel or how do I perceive that I will feel when I'm making that money? When I have that money, when I am the person that simply, that's who I am, right?  So just ask yourself that right now. How does it feel? Right? And lately, I've been really connecting to my 500k self and my million dollar self concept. And it's like,  Oh, at that level,  I just feel really open, spacious,  loving, generous,  Right? Whatever comes up for you is the right answer. There's no good, bad, right or wrong,  but we want to borrow that emotional world and bring it into our experience today. 

And  You might be thinking, okay, well, Kelli, that's nice. But of course I'd be feeling that way if I had a million dollars sitting in my bank account, but I don't have that right now. So how do I access that? You start thinking, believing, and moving through the world as such.

And so  I'm really excited.  And to be completely honest, I'm recording this in a time where I have a commitment right after this, so I'm going to slow my brain down right now to be present and be as clear and concise as possible. Okay.

Because I do want to go back to the point I was making before is that it's not always consciously that we're keeping ourselves at a certain income level, but it is subconscious in the way that we're relating, thinking and feeling and moving throughout the world, right? 

So we all have a certain perception, attachment to the identity of who we think we are right now.  And when we are attached, And believing and committed to that identity. It is simply what we will experience in the world, because we are always experiencing what we believe. Okay. Let me say that again. We're always experiencing what we believe. So if you believe you are a 50, 000 a year earner, that is what will be reflected back to you. Okay.  Our internal system will keep it around that level.

For example, we've all heard the stories about like, lottery winners who end up with millions and then the next thing you know they have none of it left. Because their self concept hasn't caught up to the idea that they're a millionaire. So, whether it's intentional or not, it's like they give away the money or something happens or like, their consciousness rejects the idea that they're a millionaire because they're so practiced in being, for example, a 50, 000 a year earner. I'm making this shit up, the numbers, the examples, et cetera, right? So when we're thinking we're a 50, 000 a year earner, and let's say you get an unexpected 5, 000, right?  Imagine  the joy,  but also the discomfort of having this extra money sitting in your bank account. And now you might be saying like, Oh my gosh, Kelli, why would I be uncomfortable with extra money?

Again, it's not on the conscious level. It's on the subconscious level, right? And I can say this with love, because when I started working on Broadway, I like didn't have the practiced frequency of having my money with love. So I was constantly spending my money with a lot of love and excitement, right? But so that's an identity shift. That's an identity piece to how we're relating and experiencing our money.

If we think that we are a 50, 000 a year earner, we will consciously or subconsciously keep ourselves at that income level to affirm what we believe about ourselves, okay? And so I want to give you another example.

I was talking to a client who's working in a restaurant right now. And  they were talking about how they consistently make $850 a week, approximately. And it was just so interesting because our brains attach to these things as a fact of the universe, a truth of the universe of like, okay, this is what I can make at this job. This is what I'm used to. This is the regular #norm. So yeah, this is what  I expect. This is what comes to me.  What we were working on in our last call is like, what would be different if you released that belief and you started raising the belief to like, I make $1,000 a week.  I just, Make a thousand dollars a week with ease and your brain is going to want to start doing the work of like, well, how do I do that? What do I do? It's not in my control. If I'm working at a serving job, I can't control how much tips people give me. I can't control it. Right? Like we start already going to like ways to disprove this idea.

And so if your brain's doing that with so much love, I hear you and I want you to just stick with me. What would be different if you just changed your belief first?  And yes, changing a belief doesn't happen overnight. It takes time and practice because it's a thought that we've continued to think, which is what allows it to become our belief. We think a thought, we start seeing that thought show up in our reality, which affirms that the belief is true.

That's just the process of creating new belief. And you can do that with any thought that you want to be part of your belief system. Okay.

This is why I freaking love this work so much. So again, notice what you just are deciding is true for you.  Like the most I've ever made is $30 an hour. People won't pay me $150 an hour or X, Y, and Z. We have to start looking at the Money Identity first to start imagining who you would need to become,  what you would need to be thinking, to have your external world change,  because to have something reflected on the outside starts with your willingness to think it, feel it, believe it in your internal world, first.

Okay. And so when we're thinking about Money Identity, it really will change and you'll be onto yourself and you'll just start gaining more awareness of when you're doing shit that is out of integrity. Okay.  And when I'm saying integrity, I don't mean that it's like good, bad, right or wrong on a moral sense. You're not a good person, a bad person, but it doesn't align. It doesn't match, right?

Imagine if you're,  again, this is not a judgment, but imagine if you're  a Broadway producer. I have clients that are producing Broadway shows, creating 13, 15, 23 million for productions, right?  Imagine if you were stepping into the role of being a Broadway producer, raising and accessing this level of money, but your relationship to money still feels tight. Like it's not congruent  because  you're not  aligning and allowing money to be readily available, if you're still thinking like, oh my God, this money is inaccessible. That's a lot. I mean, you probably could still raise the money, but  it would just be like 10 times harder when you think that money is scarce, right? 

And I will even say this for myself, as I'm expanding my Money Identity, I noticed something that was really out of integrity for myself. Recently, and I've shared this on my Instagram. I'm very open about this. I am doing some dental work and it's going to be like $11,000. And I was supposed to do it like in June, and because I was moving, because a lot of my external world in my personal life was shifting, I just didn't have the literal circumstance to do the work then. And that's not a problem, right? We can know with so much love, okay, that's a fuck yes, it's coming, I'm going to step into it, and we can trust that it's that's happening in perfect timing  and  when I revisited it and went to the dentist recently, I noticed how tight I got around $11,000. I had this immediate fear of like, Oh my God, I'm going to spend this money and I'm going to end up with a $0 bank account. I'm going to be in debt. I'm going to have no money again. Like I saw my brain  Going through the thought processes and the habits of someone with a much lower income  and a much lower Money Identity. Now, it's not good, bad, right or wrong, but do you see how it's not a match? 

My million dollar self as a coach is not feeling tight about $11,000. Even my $500 K self, as you know, a coach performer, creative is not.  Like losing sleep over $11, 000.  And now I'll just say this as a preface, because I've been having a lot of conversations with my partner, Terry, about this. And I think there's a balance of knowing your numbers, being in love with your money, like treating it with respect and kindness and being thoughtful and intentional, right? Like I'm not going to go spend money that I don't have. And it's a different relationship to budgeting when you're allowing for and expecting and expanding abundance, rather than like hoarding your money and trying to spend the least and trying to protect what you have, right? Like those are two very different feelings.

And I don't think they're mutually exclusive. I think you can. Be very conscious and budget and know your numbers and love your numbers.  And you can also expand for expect and be in the frequency of wealth, right? Like you can have both of those things at the same time. And honestly, a huge part of my work has been uncoupling, the feeling of fear with spending or like, you know, my old thoughts, relationships to money, while also increasing and raising my Money Identity. Right? So like we need to be both aware of the energy, but then also really up close and personal with the numbers, right? There's room for both.

And so, again, like when I'm thinking of myself as a $500,000 coach, when I'm thinking of myself as a million dollar coach, someone who lives bicoastally and has the life that I desire,  of course I pay my dental bills, even with love. I pay everything with love, because I know that money's coming back  and I know that I can trust myself, because I am what I say I am.  I create what I'm willing to believe is real.

And so, that's what I got for you today. I want you to check in and look at  what do I currently  associate, think of myself, when I look at my money, right? And this will also inform your beliefs about yourself. Myself, even at a $100k, I was like, oh my God, I'm a mess. I don't know how to manage my money. I'm making more, but I'm scared of it, right? Like it was like me being a $50,000 a year earner trying to make a $100k  versus me being a million dollar coach.

The frequency is totally different  and I'm right now planting the seeds of being a million dollar coach and what that feels like in my body. I'm planting the Emotional Map so that I can follow that to the result.  I don't have to hustle. I don't have to try to like  work as much as I can to exhaust myself because the truth is that's not a match.  I don't have an aversion to doing the work I need to do, right?  But I'm not hustling. I'm not afraid and thinking I have to go get a job and work 60 hours a week to create the income because that's not anywhere near how I approach that as a millionaire. Right? As a millionaire, I know that money's coming. I know that it's safe to trust money. I know that I'm creating the value, which is creating the money, which is coming from me and my inner world and my inner beliefs about myself and money. 

And so  again, I think I said this, I'll say it one more time to close out.  Look at your current Money Identity.  How much money do you associate with yourself? What are the habits, thoughts, feelings, actions that sort of live in that Money Identity?  And when you start creating your next level Money Identity, whether it's 50k, 100k, 200k, 500k, whatever the number is for you,  just look at what would be different. And we start inviting those ways of being, those ways of feeling about, now,  especially if you have money in the bank and you're telling yourself you don't have enough, right, that's the perfect example  of a small way you can create a new money story now, a new Money Identity now.

Because the version of you who's making the money you want to have, most likely, I mean, our thoughts go with us everywhere we go, but the image of that, who you think you'll be when you have that  is not still strapped for cash, right? It's not still thinking, Oh my God, my contract's ending now, what the fuck do I do?  Right? Like if you are a moneymaker, you know, you're a moneymaker. You know that money loves coming around you, that money loves being your life companion  because it's you and you. Really money is you and you. 

Okay, that's what I got for you this week. Get  accurate with your current Money Identity and get curious about crafting your new Money Identity.  And then next week we're going to talk a little bit about really getting honest with so much love about the neutral circumstances of what's happening with your money  so that you can get accurate  and  do that whole process, budgeting, abundance planning with love rather than shame. All right, I'll meet you back here for another episode.

Hey, I want to invite you to get started because if this is blowing your mind, imagine the impact of when we actually work together. You get to love your life as an actor, singer or dancer, even including auditions. And if that sounds amazing, come join us inside of Momentum. You get lifetime access to The Performers Plan, coaching, community and more, and I will be supporting you the entire way. Go to kelliyoungmanwellness.com/momentum to join us now.