If You Don’t Like the Way You’re Making Money, You Won’t Want More of It

You don’t actually hate money.

You hate the way you’re making it.

Read that again.

Because if the idea of:

• a promotion

• more clients

• a higher income goal…makes your stomach drop instead of light you up, nothing is wrong with you.

You’re not lazy.
You’re not unambitious.
You’re not “bad with success.”

You’ve just built — or inherited — a way of working that your body wants to escape from.

From Inbox Panic to Paris

One of my clients is taking her dream trip to Paris with her high school + college daughters.

Flights booked. Memories incoming. Vision-board moment unlocked.

But a year ago, she was crying over her inbox at 9:30pm.

Here’s what her days really looked like:

• Evenings:
  Stirring mac & cheese for her son, phone in hand.
  A “difficult client” email pops up.
  “Hold on one second, buddy…”
  She answers the email, even though her brain is fried.

• Mornings:
  “Just checking” her inbox at 6:30am, before she’s even out of bed.
  Her nervous system is in panic mode before the day begins.

• Always:
  Afraid she’d be “found out” as not good enough.
  Convinced she had to say yes to everything to keep her job safe and her income steady.

She wanted a promotion.
She wanted the bigger paycheck.
She also wanted her life back.

And her body was already saying no to “more.”

The Truth No One Tells High-Achieving Women

Here’s what I told her:

If you don’t like the way you’re making money, you’re not going to want to make more of it.

You can set as many income goals as you want.
You can choose a “word of the year” and buy a fresh planner.

But if “more money” in your mind equals:

• more late-night emails

• more stress

• more responsibility with zero support

…your nervous system will quietly resist every opportunity that comes your way.

It’s not the money that feels bad.
It’s the way you’re earning it.

What We Didn’t Do (On Purpose)

When she came to me, she assumed the answer was:

• Maybe I just need a different job.

• Maybe I’m not cut out for leadership.

• Maybe I need better time management.

Here’s what we didn’t do:

• We didn’t waste months searching job boards for “easier” jobs in the exact same pattern.

• We didn’t overhaul her entire career overnight.

• We didn’t just turn off notifications and pretend that fixed everything.

Those are surface-level solutions to a deeper identity and calendar problem.

Reinventing the Way She Made Money

Instead, we started with three core shifts.

1. Redefining “On” and “Off”

We decided:

• When she was actually on for work

• When she was actually off

No more “technically off but emotionally on-call 24/7.”

She got honest about what she would and wouldn’t do outside those hours.
That alone started calming her nervous system.

2. Creating a Simple Daily Plan

We made a strategic (but simple) plan for her days:

• What actually matters today?

• What can wait?

• What isn’t mine to carry?

Her calendar stopped being a crime scene of overcommitment and started being a container for what truly mattered.

3. Changing How She Thought About Her Inbox

This one was huge.

Old question:

“How do I respond to this as fast as possible so no one thinks I’m slacking?”

New question:

“Who is the right person to respond to this?”

She stopped hoarding responsibility just to feel safe.
She delegated.
She stayed in her zone of genius.
She showed up like the leader she actually was — not the dumping ground for everyone’s urgency.

The Results: Promotions and Paris

Once she started to like the way she worked again, everything changed.

• She stopped emailing at 9pm.

• She stopped over-explaining every reply.

• She cut back her hours without tanking her career.

And then?

• She got the promotion she originally wanted.

• Then another.

• Then raises on top of that.

But here’s the part I really want you to see:

The promotions weren’t what gave her her life back.

The reinvention did.

Because when she finally had breathing room in her days, she could ask:

• “What do I actually want this money to do for my life?”

• “What would feel fun again?”

• “If I let myself want what I want… what is it?”

Her answer was clear: travel.

She’d had Paris on her vision board for years.

But Paris doesn’t happen when you’re so burned out that even scheduling a dentist appointment feels hard.

Paris happens when:

• Your calendar matches who you’re becoming.

• Your income no longer feels like a cage.

• You’re willing to change the way you make money, not just how much you make.

A few texts with her daughters.
One week where their schedules magically lined up.
Flights that happened to be the best price that month.

And now she’s going to Paris — not as an escape from a miserable life, but as a celebration of a life she actually likes living.

How This Ties to Your Best Year Ever

Your Best Year Ever is not:

• You doing more of what already drains you.

• You saying yes to every opportunity because “you should be grateful.”

• You forcing yourself into a promotion your body is screaming no to.

Your Best Year Ever starts when you tell the truth about:

“Do I actually like the way I’m making money right now?”

If the answer is no, that’s your starting point.

Not “make more.”
Not “push harder.”
Reinvent the way you earn — so more money feels like support, not suffocation.

A Few Questions to Get You Started

Grab a journal or your Notes app and ask:

1. When during my workday do I feel my body tense up the most?

2. What parts of how I’m making money feel out of alignment with who I am now?

3. If I got offered more of what I’m doing this second — more responsibility, more clients, more hours — would I genuinely want it?

4. What’s one tiny boundary I can put around my time this week that would bring me closer to how I actually want to live and work?

You don’t have to blow up your life to start this work.
Tiny, honest shifts add up.

If you read this and thought, “This is me. I’m successful on paper and so tired in real life,” there are two places where we can do this together:

• Best Year Ever – If you want this year to feel different instead of just look different, this is where we map it. We get clear on your real definition of “best year,” then start reworking your calendar and energy so your days match it.

• The Reinvention Room – If you’re ready for a full identity + calendar + work reinvention, this 90-day room is for you. We question the rules you’ve been living by, reinvent the way you make money, and build a life that actually feels like yours.

Wherever you start, remember:
You don’t need to want less.
You just need a way of making money that your body and your life can actually say yes to.