Crrackkk I turned around knowing what I was going to see. But still, praying â with the naive optimism that 13-year-olds excel at â that I was somehow wrong. No such luck. The toy car my baby sister had thrown at me HAD hit the windowpane behind meâ¦and left a big, branched crack in the glass. I was going to be in soooo much trouble. Well, at least I was prepared for it. Itâd been a week since my last âaccidentâ anyways â so I guess I was due for another grounding. Unfortunately, my parents decided (correctly) that groundings werenât cutting it anymore. So they doled out a punishment I was not prepared for: This time, I was going to have to pay for replacing the windowpane. And the cost was going to be $100. Which was exactly how much Iâd saved in my baby bank account by teaching piano for the last year. One $5 lesson at a time â my parents wouldnât let me charge more. I tried reasoning with my parents first: After all, was it really my fault? Ellen was the one whoâd thrown it! Unfortunately, my parents didnât see it that way. (Probably because they didnât believe me. I mean, Ellen was the good daughter.) Then I tried bargaining: Couldnât I just get grounded for a whole month instead? Or even...What if I paid for the window from my future earnings? No go. Finally, I tried throwing a tantrum. It isnât fair!! You canât!!! Iâve worked so hard to save that!! That went about as well as youâd expect â my parents just ignored me and waited for me to tire myself out. At the end of all that, I lost my hard-earned savings. And it wasnât until many, many years later that I realized Iâd also lost something way more important in the process. When I first started developing my money consciousness â so I could transform my relationship with money and thus make and have more of it, with a lot more ease and grace to boot â this was one of the first memories that came up. Why? Because I was trying to figure out why I couldnât keep more of the money I was making in my business. It felt like no matter what I made, I would spend it all. And even though Iâd tried everything, I just couldnât keep or save more of it. Turns out, that punishment had solidified into what I call a Money Story : Experiences that you consciously, or often subconsciously, translate to mean something specific (and usually negative) for how money has to be for you. In my case, that Money Story had become: Thereâs no point in saving money. In fact...You canât. As soon as you make it, it gets taken away. And itâs out of your control! So why bother? Whooooooa . Identifying that Money Story, as well as what I did afterwards to reframe its meaning â and thus my relationship with saving money â was one of the most pivotal moments on my journey to becoming a millionaire. Because every instance of when money feels hard â hard to make, keep, use, and have â can be attributed to a unique Money Story from your life. But if you can identify that story and reframe the meaning youâve given it for that aspect of your relationship with money⦠You can change your entire experience with money. AKA: How much of it you make, keep, invest, and grow. But, if youâre like where I was â and most people new to money consciousness work â where do you even start? How do you even know what your Money Stories are? Especially if youâve forgotten them, the way I had? In my best-selling course, Self-Made , which Iâll be opening for enrollment tomorrow, Iâve broken out the 21 common Money Stories most of us have been taught. This way, you wonât have to worry about not knowing what you donât know. Iâll walk you through each story and how to reframe it in a way that works specifically for you. So that youâre able to make more, keep more, have more, and use it to compound your wealth even further. If youâre excited to completely transform your relationship with money, so that you can become Self-Made , look out for more information tomorrow! ⨠Luisa Zhou PS - Looking back now, Iâm wondering if the cost for replacing the windowpane was really $100 or if my parents just chose that number because thatâs all Iâd saved. Oh, parenting. Shoutout to you if youâre a parent â it truly is the toughest job in the world. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, click here to
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