Lynda Moore says you are building on sand if your emotions interfere with the way you work towards your business goals

I thought I would carry on with a business theme again this week. But even if you aren’t in business, you will probably be able to relate to what I’m going to talk about to your personal finances as well.

Here’s my bold statement: What you believe about money might be holding your business back.

Let’s be honest: if growing a business were only about strategy, most of us would have it nailed by now.

You’ve read the books. You’ve listened to the podcasts. You’ve set the goals — more income, better clients, less stress. You’ve even made a beautiful plan. I did all of this and still very nearly crashed and burned!

But somewhere between “knowing what to do” and actually doing it… things stall.

And if you’ve ever found yourself undercharging, avoiding your accounts, saying yes to work you don’t want, or quietly sabotaging your own progress - yes, I’ve done all this as well - you’re not lazy, unmotivated, or bad at business. You’re probably just running up against something deeper: your money story.  Understanding this was a game changer for me in both my business and my life.

What is a money story?

It’s the invisible script you’ve been carrying for years about what money means, and what it means about you.

It might sound like:

• “I have to work hard for every dollar.”
• “It’s not safe to be seen as successful.”
• “Good people don’t care about money.”
• “I’m not smart enough to be wealthy.”
• “I don’t know what I’m doing — I’ll mess this up.”

I’ll share my money story that wasn’t working for me - “I can have whatever I want, whenever I want it, and credit will allow me to do it”. Somewhere along the way I ignored the bit about having to make enough profit to pay it all back!

You probably didn’t choose these beliefs. They came from your childhood, culture, family dynamics, or even a throwaway comment someone made when you were 12. But if they’re still sitting in the driver’s seat, they’ll quietly influence how you run your business — and how much money you allow yourself to earn.

It took me over 20 years in business to figure out my story as I limped from one crisis to another, and feeling the shame of not being able to get it right.

The clash: goals vs. beliefs

This is where things get tricky. Your conscious brain is setting smart business goals, but your subconscious is pulling in a completely different direction.

You say you want more clients, but you don’t send the emails.
You say you want to raise your prices, but you feel sick doing it.
You want a better work-life balance, but you keep over-delivering for less than you’re worth.

This internal tug-of-war drains your energy. You start second-guessing everything. And the worst part? It looks like a business problem, but really, it’s a belief problem.

Don’t even get me started on this one. I had so many goals, I switched strategies so many times, I didn’t know which way was up. But I never quite got there. Something always happened that put the brakes on, I thought it was the economy, my team, my clients, my business plan. I looked at everything else, until I finally looked at me.

You can’t build a business that contradicts your self-worth

If, deep down, you believe you don’t deserve to earn well, or that people will judge you for charging more, or that money is somehow “bad” — your brain will find ways to protect you from that discomfort.

Even if it means keeping your income small.
Even if it means hiding from your own success.

It’s not logical. It’s emotional.

And until you bring those beliefs into the light, they’ll keep quietly blocking the growth you say you want.

Once I realised what my money story was and where it came from, it was so obvious that it was not serving me at all. I had to put my big girl pants on and look at myself in the mirror and have a number very stern conversation with myself and then take the actions that I needed to take to turn things around.

What can you do?

This isn’t about rewiring your whole identity overnight. You need to start small, and gradually your identity and how you see yourself will change.

Here are a few gentle places to start:

1. Notice where you’re stuck
    What part of your business feels like a constant uphill battle? Pricing? Visibility? Asking to be paid? Start there.

2. Ask yourself, “What do I believe this says about me?”
    For example:

• “If I charge more, people will leave.”
• “If I say no, they won’t come back.”
• “If I make too much, I’ll lose friends.”

     Don’t edit. Just write it down. Awareness is everything. Remember this is just for you and your awareness, you don’t have to show it to anyone just yet.

3. Challenge the assumption

    Is that belief absolutely true? Where did it come from? Would you say it to a friend running a business?

    Could something else be true, something kinder, more spacious?

4. Try one small act of resistance

• Say no to something that drains you.
• Send the quote without discounting.
• Practice a new pricing script in front of the mirror.

This is you putting on your own big girl or boy pants. You don’t have to change everything at once. You just have to start noticing where your story is louder than your strategy and interrupt it.

Here’s what I want you to know:

Your business isn’t failing.
You’re not broken.
And the goals you set for yourself aren’t too big or unrealistic.

But if your beliefs about money are out of alignment with those goals, it’s going to feel like you’re trying to build a house on sand.

The good news? Those beliefs aren’t fixed. You can challenge them, soften them, and slowly replace them with something that supports you.

Because your business can’t grow bigger than your self-worth.

What you can do is ask yourself: “Where am I making myself small in my business… and what do I believe will happen if I stop?”

That’s the real work. And you’re ready for it.

*Lynda Moore is a Money Mentalist coach and New Zealand’s only certified New Money Story® mentor. Lynda helps you understand why you do the things you do with your money, when we all know we should spend less than we earn. You can contact her here.