Ep #76: How To Handle a Cash Windfall (Part 2)

Hey coach, if you had a money win today, a cash windfall, would your first thought be that maybe you didn't earn it or don't deserve it? Women at all income levels can easily feel uncomfortable having a cash windfall, no matter how hard they've worked or how many years of training and experience they have. And it's time to change that.

I'm Kendall. In this episode, you're gonna learn how to nip those nasty little thoughts about deserving a cash windfall, you're gonna nip them in the bud. And plus I'm gonna give you three simple money handling strategies that both calm your nervous system or what I call your money nervous system and give you a plan for that cash windfall no matter how large or how small it may be. It’s all here for you in this episode of The Money Coach School Podcast. Let’s dive in.

Welcome to The Money Coach School Podcast. To really excel at coaching women, you have to be skilled, confident, and even fearless at money coaching. If you're passionate about women holding genuine money power and love supporting women entrepreneurs, then this is the show for you. Now, here's your host, money feminist Kendall SummerHawk.

Hello, beautiful coaches. We're diving right in today. In last week's episode, I introduced you to the number one money success block that I see coming up for women entrepreneurs, not so much before they have a money win, but after. When women have any type of success, we're often so quick to discount it in some way, or to think we can't repeat it, or to think it's a fluke, or that we just got lucky.

So in last week's episode, it was part one, and if you missed it, definitely check it out at TheMoneyCoachSchoolPodcast.com/75 and I will also link to it in the show notes. Now in that episode, I addressed that number one money success block that comes up so, so frequently for most women when they have any type of a cash windfall.

I talked about how every comfort level has a dollar amount attached to it and how, when you make more money, what happens is that you're exceeding your old comfort levels dollar amount, so naturally you may feel uncomfortable. And I talked about the simple cycle that you wanna follow is you make money, you normalize it, you make more money, you normalize that.

You appreciate that every comfort level has that dollar amount attached to it and you keep adjusting to that as you stay on your path of making money and you boss up and do the emotional work that is required because that's what it takes to be a high earner. So definitely check out episode 75 to get part one. So today we're here in part two, and I want to give you money success blocks two and three, plus share three simple money handling strategies with you to help you equip yourself with the emotional stability you need on your journey of making more money.

Now understanding all three of these money success blocks together is such a huge empowerment tool for you. You can use it on a daily basis to overcome that part of your brain that wants to discount a money success that you've achieved, even if that achievement is small or new or simply a milestone towards your bigger money and financial goals.

And if you're listening to this in real time or close to real time, then be sure to check out Secret Energy of Money. Secret Energy of Money is my signature mentoring program for coaches and consultants where we unlock your income, profit, and prosperity while calming your money nervous system. The result is you stepping into the dramatically more profitable version of your business.

Secret Energy of Money is how you can get me as your money coach for either six months or one year, that's your choice. And you can go to SecretEnergyOfMoney.com to check that out now because we are enrolling, and I will also link to it in the show notes.

So a cash windfall, let's talk about that. A cash windfall is any time you have a sudden influx of cash, enough that creates emotion for you, emotions that I've seen range from excitement and amazement and astonishment and appreciation and gratitude all the way to the opposite end of the spectrum of feeling overwhelmed or anxious or guilty and shame. Yes, it happens.

A cash windfall can spark a wide and wild range of emotions. And there's no set dollar amount that can cause those emotions. For one person, $500 can be a cash windfall. For someone else, it could be $5,000 or for someone else, $10,000 or $100,000. Whatever it is, the point is, it isn't the dollar amount. It's what you feel about it.

Cash windfalls happen all the time. And a quick example, let's say you signed on two new paying full clients. Boom! That's great money that just landed in your bank account.

Or let's say you launched a small group program with five people in it and several of them were paying full. Again, boom! Money in your bank account. Or you just delivered a VIP day and your VIP day client wants to now upgrade into your six-month coaching container. Boom! Money coming in. Whatever it is, you're experiencing a cash windfall.

Alright, so money success block number one that we covered in last week's episode is thinking it's a fluke or you got lucky and oh my gosh can it ever happen again. Today let's look at the second most common money success block which is thinking you don't deserve it or in some way are not worthy of having this money. Maybe you think you didn't struggle enough or sweat enough to earn that money. And sure, a part of you is blown away and happy and proud of your achievement. And yet another part of you can feel guilt or shame for having more.

So if your money block is not good enough, then you're going to be tempted to feel unworthy of the money. Those feelings come up, they're normal, but it is not what you have to live with. So a couple of things that you can do to help normalize feeling good and deserving and worthy of having this cash windfall is, number one, remember that money did not just fall into your lap. We call it a cash windfall, but in reality, you provided value for that. You delivered your service. You put your heart and soul into that service, or you planned ahead.

So for example, I often for years gave very big workshops. We would give six to seven workshops a year. That took an enormous amount of planning. Basically my whole year was planning and filling workshops and then delivering them. And I did that for years and years and years. That was my business model. And then we'd have a very big payday. I would sell a million dollars’ worth of coaching from the stage. But it was on top of that planning. Or maybe you got training and you practiced and you worked hard to develop the skills that you have now, that you're now putting into service and being paid for. A lot of women equate their activity right now before a cash windfall with the money, and they don't feel the equation is balanced in some way, but that's not the way to look at it.

You most likely did not do something yesterday and have a cash windfall today. It's much more likely that today's cash windfall is a result of the weeks, months, years of training or practicing, creating, thinking, investing in yourself, risk-taking, planning, all the things, right? So don't shortchange all that you've invested in you that now is actually coming to fruition and creating that cash windfall.

And that's what I had to learn to do because I was spending three months planning an event and filling that event. And then within three days, like I said, would make anywhere from $700,000 to $1 million of coaching being sold from the stage. So it would happen in what, 72 hours, very short period of time, but it was on the heels of months of planning and risk-taking.

So you're worthy of having a cash windfall because you are a worthy person, period. You deserve to have a cash windfall because you put in the work. You've earned it. So be proud of the work you've done, and don't let anyone, including that voice in your head, tell you that you don't deserve it because you do.

Our third most common money success block is spending it. I see this all the time. The cash windfall happens. It's natural to feel uncomfortable. And because we humans want to discharge uncomfortable emotions, what we do with money to discharge the discomfort is we spend it and often spend it fast.

Add to that that most women are not familiar with what it feels like to have more money in their bank account than they "need", or they're not familiar with being someone who makes that kind of money, so their sense of identity feels shaken up or even unconsciously feels threatened. Again, to discharge those emotions as quickly as possible, they spend all that money, bringing their self-concept back to where it's familiar and their bank account balance back down to what is familiar.

But you don't want to do that. You want to normalize having more money. You want to normalize being a woman with more money. You want to normalize having more and more flowing in. Cash windfall after cash windfall. Doesn't that sound exciting and delicious?

So the number one most powerful money handling strategy that you can use when you have a cash windfall is to let the money sit in your bank account for one week while you process your achievement. Do not spend it. I want you to look at it every single day. Thoughts and feelings are going to come up. That's okay. You'll work with them. You'll do some self-coaching. You can ask yourself, what does it feel like to have that money there? If you look at your money every day and you ask yourself that one question every single day, what does it feel like to have that money there? I guarantee you by the end of a week, you're going to have processed through so many emotions. You're going to be in a very different place and you're going to make different decisions with that money.

All right, so as promised here are three simple money handling strategies to help you equip yourself with the emotional stability you need on your journey of making more money.

Strategy number one, only share your success with people who have earned the right to witness your success. You know, friends and family are not always able to be happy for you. They love you, but your success can be triggering for them. Don't let your net worth be impacted by their self-worth. Family and friends may be the people that you really want to feel proud of you, but making more money, having a cash windfall can definitely be out of their comfort zone.

Strategy number two, put 10 to 15% away for taxes. I highly recommend opening up a savings account just for taxes. Now I'm not the kind of money coach who says you should have 10 different savings accounts for 10 different money buckets. I think that's a ridiculous amount of time and energy spent managing accounts. However, I do highly recommend having a separate savings account just for taxes. It's a really bad idea to just leave the tax money sitting in your regular checking account because it's not your money. It belongs to the IRS or it belongs to the VAT. It belongs to whatever the governing body is in your country that you need to pay taxes to. So by putting it in a savings account, you can be collecting interest on it, which is awesome. And you're fully prepared when it comes time to pay taxes.

Strategy number three, do not pay off debt. Everyone's initial impulse is to pay down debt with a cash windfall, but that is not the best cash management strategy. You're far better off using your cash windfall to create your cash buffer, what I call your warrior line, which is something I'll talk about more in an upcoming episode. 

For now, know that it's okay to have money and have debt. It's okay to have cash and have debt. It's an awesome thing. Your first priority for cash, after setting aside the amount for taxes, is to create your cash buffer before anything else. And this is both practical and energetic. 

On the practical side, cash gives you choice and it gives you freedom and it helps you not continue to create more debt because you have cash to pay for things. On the energetic side, it's critical for you to get used to having more than enough, not just enough. And I'll talk more about that as well in an upcoming episode or two or three. 

All right, I always say that making more money is a profound experience in personal development and your ability to handle money like a boss will directly impact your success. If you want to do the money work that frees you to earn more, save more, and have more money because you got to do the work, both the inner and the outer work, then my Secret Energy of Money Mastermind may be what you've been seeking. 

This mastermind is an exceptional integration of practical money tools plus the inner money work. I don't do ordinary, I do extraordinary. And your money thoughts and habits and beliefs just don't stand a chance with me Because I am your money coach Secret energy of money includes very specific coaching and exercises with me that result in you making more money Creating a new dynamic with money and knowing how to handle your money like the badass businesswoman that you are. 

So if you're clear that you want to start making, keeping, saving more money, then check it out at SecretEnergyOfMoney.com. We are enrolling right now. 

All right, remember, money coaching changes lives, starting with yours. Thank you for listening, thank you for your loyalty, and I will see you here next week in our next episode.

Thank you so much for tuning into this week's episode of The Money Coach School Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you follow so you never miss an episode. Also, I would so love and appreciate if you would leave a 5-star review. Your review supports women just like you in discovering all of the juicy tips and insights I’m sharing here on how to coach women on money.

And if you want to learn how to excel at coaching women on money, definitely go to KendallSummerHawk.com and check out the wealth of money coach trainings that we have for you. Thanks so much for being part of this money coaching movement and for tuning into the show every week.