Money has always been a struggle for me.
It’s something I’ll be mastering for the rest of my life.
While I’ve increased my capacity to earn over the years {from my own hands, tears, and heart}, hanging onto it has been a different beast entirely.
It’s easy for me to live into feast and famine—to create large sums, reinvest them, and deplete to the point of pain before replenishing again.
In November, I had a powerful insight followed by an even more powerful question: How can I relate to money as a circle instead of a pendulum?
A circle has no edges. It is infinite. It travels around and around and around itself. How can I create an experience of a circle, regardless of circumstance?
I laughed aloud the other day when I realized the answer came and now I’m living it. Isn’t it funny how you can set an intention, forget about it, and wake up one day to remember that it came true? If that isn’t magic, I don’t know what is.
In March, I got really sick and so craving something to occupy my mind, I picked up a book I bought the previous year called Profit First.
It took me two days to devour the entire thing.
My soul was hungry for its wisdom.
What I love about the Profit First model is that it thrives on the “envelope method.” Every dollar that comes through your business or your personal income is divided based on percentages and placed into separate accounts. Each account is specifically FOR something and for that thing only. For example, the accounts I have for my business include Profit, Taxes, Income, and Expenses. The accounts I have for my personal finances include Savings, Bills, Debt Destroyer, and Life.
Each month, I pull a set amount of money from my income account to pay myself. If I happen to have a higher-than-average month in my business, I still pay myself the set amount, while the overflow remains in the account. That way, if I happen to have a lower-than-average month, I can still pay myself what I normally would.
{The experience of a circle, regardless of circumstance}.
On the flip side, if I blow through my life account early on in the month, I’m forced to get creative, rather than pull from other accounts.
The Profit First model is an exercise in discipline. It’s structure. And while it might feel constricting, the structure is setting me free.
For the first time in my life, I’m having a powerful experience of being with money. I’m watching my accounts grow every month and it’s EMPOWERING! On a small scale, I’m experiencing what it’s like to “have it all.” I’m saving and paying off debt. I have trips planned for the summer/fall. And I have a huge chunk of the deposit I’ll be putting down to work with my next Coach.
Before, I was living on the either/or model. I was putting all of my money into traveling OR investing in myself. I was putting all of my money into saving OR paying off debt. And while the either/or model allowed me to live a pretty cool life, it constantly triggered feelings of survival.
The Profit First model creates feelings of stability. It’s a foundation on which I can expand into the next level of my life because as my business grows, so too will my experience of “having it all.” I’ll pay myself more, I’ll save more, I’ll pay off larger chunks of debt, I’ll go on cooler trips, I’ll invest in myself more quickly and readily. Like blowing a bubble, the more air {money} that passes through the wand, the bigger the bubble becomes and the more I get to hold in the circle, all at once.
I wanted to share this with you {even though it feels uncomfortable} because my intuition is screaming that someone needs to hear it. I want to show you that you can find a system that will work for you too. I remember feeling so hopeless—like I’d never nail this money thing. Other systems I tried to implement failed, and left me feeling like a failure.
There is a system out there that will work for you if you don’t have one already. If you’re feeling pulled towards Profit First, check it out! It will not disappoint.
With love,
-Kayla
Words & Wisdom
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