The Financial Freedom Mindset
Angel Marie is a marketing consultant and mentor dedicated to helping online entrepreneurs drop the burnout by reaching God-empowered mental and financial freedom in their lives and businesses. Her goal is to equip you to internally and externally succeed in your business’s mission through implementing healthy money, marketing, and mindset habits that bring joy and peace BACK into your everyday life.No one is immune to that pesky human condition of wanting more, more, more! Today on Revive Her, Haley and Noel chat with Angel Marie about how to steward what God has already given you. Angel Marie is living proof that if you steward God’s blessings well, then He promises to give you more.
What we dive into in this episode:
- Stewarding the finances and clients you already have
- Walking by faith in your finances
- Overcoming strongholds in your financial mindset
- Budgeting and investing with Godly wisdom
- How to have a healthy money mindset for entrepreneurs
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Money Myths
“I’ll have so much free time!”
When people want to step into entrepreneurship you have this misconception of time freedom. You expect to immediately start flying, but the reality is – most of us land flat on our faces at first. When you’re launching your business, there is no time freedom. This is your hustle season – where you work hard and just figure it out. You have to step into this new version of yourself. You’re healing parts of yourself, overcoming insecurities, and facing financial circumstances because it all relies on you now. You don’t have that safety net of those biweekly paychecks coming in.
“I’m going to Cabo!”
Social media loves to showcase being an entrepreneur and traveling the world, making six figures, and buying luxury items. No one sees behind the scenes where you’re really struggling both financially and mentally. You’re made to think that building your business is so easy and attainable right off the bat, and that’s just not true. There’s so much administrative work, mindset work, and hurdles that you have to put into your business before it thrives. It doesn’t just happen overnight, even though it is marketed that way.
“More money will make me happier!”
As an entrepreneur, you’ll know what it’s like to be completely broke and anxious. On the flip side, if you keep going, you can also know how to be financially well-off and happy. At the end of the day, though, our happiness doesn’t come from how much money we make. Our joy should come from the Lord. Whether we’re making 6k a month or barely scraping by, our worth shouldn’t be determined by our bank account.
How to Achieve Financial Freedom
We all have different viewpoints and mindsets on money. It can start in childhood with how our parents think about money. There’s such a large spectrum of how we view and interact with money. Some people have a poverty mindset, while others think money grows on trees. Angel points out some key points to focus on when trying to understand a healthy view of money.
Stewardship
Financial freedom does come with a sense of not having to worry about the grocery bill or the upcharge for avocado at Chipotle, but being financially set does come with its own set of worries. In Luke 12:48, Jesus says “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” So basically, with great power comes great responsibility.
As Christians, we have to learn and value the beauty and importance of stewardship. Stewardship is a financial skill that helps open up more doors to future opportunities, clients, and students. It’s your secret weapon to bring in more money unexpectedly (most often when you need it the most). You can learn how to make all the money in the world, but if you can’t manage it – you won’t keep it.
Generosity
All the money that comes into your business may feel as though it’s from your efforts, but in truth, that money is from God. He chose to bring you that financial blessing. Now, He’s seeing if He can trust you with the money that He gave you. You can be taught how to manage your money and make more money, but what are you going to do with all that money? If you’re keeping it all for yourself, then you might want to really look at your heart, goals, and intentions. Ultimately, when you are generous, and when God can trust you with that money, He will and can open up the door for more to come in.
Tips and Tricks
There are some core practices for entrepreneurs to identify and overcome limiting beliefs and cultivate a mindset that is conducive to financial success.
Slow Your Roll
We all want to know how to make money fast. We live in this unhinged society where we are all constantly living on fumes, prayers, and coffee. Society lives by the belief that you have to be in hustle mode all the time. We have to remember that the human body cannot be in hustle mode all the time. It was always a part of God’s plan for you to have a Sabbath, and for you to get good rest. You have to flip the script on what society tells you and remind yourself that God wants you to rest and recover from all your hard work.
Why is Using a Budget Beneficial?
The first step to making a budget is just tracking. You want a visual view of all the money that’s coming in and going out.
First, make a Google spreadsheet of all of the bills. Make sure you list all your mandatory bills like rent, utilities, and groceries in one column. Then, list all your other bills in a separate column: cleaning services, apps, and entertainment. After making your two columns, you’ll have that set number of what you need to make each month. If your income is not over that, then you’ll need to cut expenses or make more income. You have to learn how to live below your means.
You’ll want to make a whole other spreadsheet of just business expenses. Make sure to include any apps for your business, or equipment, and incorporate that into my monthly expenses as well.
You’ll want to create three separate accounts: business, personal, and entertainment. Set a budget for every month for each account. Once you run out, you cannot pull from your other accounts.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
It is overwhelming to try to do this by yourself, especially when tax season comes in. Don’t be afraid to reach out to the experts and hire a bookkeeper, accountant, and financial advisor to help you.
Especially as Christians, we want to make sure that all of our finances are above board. We need to give money where it’s owed. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s.”
We also want to make sure that we are giving to God what is God’s. Making sure you’re being generous and tithing is what’s really going to make space for God to bless you and also for you to feel fulfilled.
Steward What You Have
My final tip is to take care of the customers, clients, and students you have already – even if it’s just one. Steward the work you’re doing now before you start seeking more. If you can’t take care of what you’re already doing, then you can’t expect to be able to handle any more work.
Leap of Faith
When you take risks as an entrepreneur you are taking a step of faith. The definition of faith is believing and hoping in the things you cannot see. As women, we want to know the end result, but that isn’t what faith is.
To be an entrepreneur, you have to have a calling from God. This means you have to have a vision or a plan that’s from God, and that means praying about the next steps in your business. Sometimes those next steps may not make sense, but you have to have faith that God wants what’s best for you and your business.
We aren’t saying you won’t have anxiety about the decisions you make. A lot of times, the risks God asks you to take come with a natural anxiety. But – if the step is from God – you’ll have peace on the other side of that decision.
Now – we aren’t saying to make a crazy leap without any counsel. It’s important to be wise and aware when you’re taking risks financially. Sometimes we get so impatient that we confuse our urgency and God’s timing because we are just so ready to do the dang thing. You really have to use spiritual maturity when making risky financial decisions. Pray to God, seek wise counsel, and at the end of the day, have faith that God can and will protect you.
Setbacks
Setbacks are going to happen. A lot of times, when we are facing financial struggles, we try to run from God and control everything ourselves. Unintentionally, we end up being our own God, hustling to figure out our financial struggle by ourselves. Our God wants you to talk to Him about every single detail of your life.
When you are at your weakest, our God is the strongest.
Seek God First, Not Money
Don’t look so much at the future of financial freedom. Look at the present, and connect with God in the midst of your struggle. As you do, you are going to be equipped and molded into the leader He’s calling you to be. Then, in God’s timing, doors will open and you will be more than ok. You’re going to thrive.
FAQS For My Girlies Who Skim
How do I make money fast?
A lot of people will try to tell you that you can make 6k by tomorrow, and although we believe anything is possible with God, we’re here to tell you that’s not usually how it happens. Businesses that thrive are built with time and a good foundation. Slow your roll, it’ll come in due time.
How to make extra money?
Ok, first off, we recommend looking at the business and money that you already have. Are you stewarding your clientele and finances well already? Before we start looking to make extra money, take on new clients, and bring in extra cash, let’s analyze how we are already utilizing these resources. If we aren’t using them well, we won’t be able to handle more well either.
How to save money?
In order to save money, you first need to set up a budget to see and track how much money is coming in and going out. Once you do that, cancel anything you don’t need. We recommend setting up a separate account for savings, and not touching that unless absolutely necessary.
