Jen Sincero discusses You Are a Badass at Making Money and her own change in financial outlook. This full interview explores beliefs about money, taking action, and the ideas behind her book.

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Transcript

Automatically transcribed from this episode; timestamps are approximate.

00:00 Each and every week I talk to very interesting people, and the most important part is that I shouldn't be the only one hearing it. I really feel that if these people make sense to me, that everyone out there needs to hear it. So stay tuned, folks, and I hope you enjoy this newest weekly segment on Coach Business. Jen Sincero is a New York Times bestselling author. Her most recent book, You Are a Badass at Making Money, Mastering the Mindset of Wealth, continues to get rave reviews. She says she spent years getting really good at being broke. She worked as a freelance writer in New York City, lived in a converted one-car garage. Sincero says she was in her 40s when she finally decided she was done being broke and set out to get rich. Her first bestseller, You Are a Badass, How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life, got her started on that path, and she hasn't looked back.

00:51 I had a chance to chat with Jen about her life in the garage and how she broke free. Jen, that was quite a transformation. Yeah, it was pretty epic, especially since previous to the transformation. I truly believed that it was not possible for me to make money. So it was a complete overhaul of my entire reality, basically. Well, you know, I think we're all aware of the law of attraction. And it always seemed to me to be, I don't know, more than just, you know, thinking of something and it's going to happen. And when I read your book, it became clear to me it is more than that. It's all about the mindset and sort of reprogramming our subconscious. Absolutely. And it's because your mindset is what propels you to take action. So if your mindset is focused on, I can't, it's impossible, it's going to be hard and no fun,

01:41 your actions are going to reflect that and you're going to get very, very much nowhere. And very, very quickly. Yes, exactly. Well, and I mean, once you decided that this is not how you're going to live, what happened? I mean, what did you do? The first thing I did was I allowed myself to focus on making money, which sounds very simple, but in our culture, it's very controversial. Money is the root of all evil and you have to do stuff you hate to make money. It means you have no morals if you focus on making money. You know, that's what we're, you know, subconsciously raised to believe. So allowing myself to focus on making money was the first huge step. And then I went out and read all the self-help books and hired private coaches and went to money-making seminars. I basically did everything I could think of to get myself in the game with the money thing.

02:30 And I read recently you said that we should be grateful for our debt and everything else. Really? Yeah, because when you, what you focus on, you create more of. So if you're angry at debt, if you're fearful of your debt, if you're angry at your income and your bills, you know, there's so many ways to look at things. And if you look at your debt like, hey, when I needed money, money was there for me. So if I need it again, it could be there for me again. That puts you out in the world with a very different energy and has you focusing on the positive instead of the negative, which is so, you know, so much more powerful than we give it credit for. I know it's sort of tagged as a very woo-woo ideal, but it's real. No, it is real. And I think that once you realize that you've programmed your subconscious all these years,

03:18 it's hard to, you know, reprint it or remake it. Well, you have to work at it. So, you know, to just sit around and hope stuff changes is not going to get you very far. Absolutely. You have to do the work. But, you know, by the way, doing the quote-unquote work is a hell of a lot easier than spending your entire life in struggle thinking it's impossible. You've got to focus on your thoughts and switch them around if they're not helping you and take scary action and surround yourself with people who are kicking ass who can help you out. You know, it's not that hard. It's scary and challenging, but it's not hard. Yeah, absolutely. And here's another one that I've read that I like, play to win instead of play not to lose. Good advice. Yeah, I think that we, you know, it's sort of like working in your business instead of on your business.

04:10 You know, it's sort of just putting out the fires of your day-to-day life. If you really want to create a new reality, you've got to step it up and go for it on a much bigger level than just sort of, you know, continuously keep the status quo. One of the things I liked about the book, too, is, and I never thought of it like this, but having a relationship with money. And it's like any relationship. You've got to work at it. You've got to understand each other. And once you start thinking that way, things start to happen. At least they did for me. Yeah, it's cool, isn't it? It really is. And really waking up to that realization. I mean, I have an exercise in You Are a Badass at Making Money where you write a letter to money as if it's a person. I did that. It's fantastic. Oh, good. Yeah, I mean, when I did it, I was like, oh, boy, I have more problems than I even thought.

04:57 Because like most people, I loved money. I wanted more of it. But I felt dirty admitting that. And I didn't trust it. But I was so happy when it showed up. So lots of us have this very push-pull relationship with money. And that is one of the roots of why you're not making much if you're not making much. Absolutely. Now, you talk a lot about affirmations and how powerful they are. And the book is full of them. And I have them all on my phone, or a lot of them. But one of them wasn't actually an affirmation, but I love this line. It's, shut up, slow down, breathe, connect with your higher self, and act with intention. I think of that every day. Yeah, that's sort of my personal one right now, too. Another one that we had, you say gratitude defeats fear. And you talk a lot about gratitude and how important that is.

05:43 You know, again, what we focus on, we create more of. And when you are in a state of gratitude for what you presently see standing in front of you, as well as what you are working to create, it puts you in a different energy. And we are creatures that thrive on energy. And so when you've got a low energy and you're focused on the negative and all the can't and the woe is me, you pull in more of that into your reality. That's what you're able to see. And so when you're in a state of gratitude, it opens you up to all the experiences and people that are going to help you get where you want to go. And you're just going to feel a lot better. You're just going to be happier. So what's to not like about that? You know, I work with a lot of people that are heading into retirement

06:29 or are scared to look at their retirement. And this is a book that can help them as well, because it really is never too late to start that saving, to start believing that you can have a good retirement. Absolutely. And I think you said something really important. They're scared to look at it. They're scared to look at their money. And, you know, like it or not, money is the medium of exchange on planet Earth in the human realm. So having that relationship with it, again, it's back to that relationship, like know what your money is doing. Create a yummy place for it to grow. You know, you have to know where your money is and how much you have and what's going on with it. You've got to be in the flow with it if you want it to really serve you. So I think it's so important, especially for people who are heading towards retirement, to have a very healthy relationship with their money.

07:19 Absolutely. And to face it head on, because money's not going to hurt you. It's only going to help you. Absolutely. And it gets such a bad rap. You know, why is money the root of all evil? Money is, you know, paying for this phone that I'm talking to you on and bought me a cup of coffee this morning. You know, let's focus on all the beautiful, beautiful things that money really does bring into our world. You know, people do horrible things out of greed, certainly, but it's not money's fault. One of the things you mentioned in the book, too, is the cocktail of creation. That's amazing, too. That whole thing of just, you go through that little list of just one-word things, but they really open up the mind and to sort of get you into that creative flow. Yeah, it's all the stuff that anybody who's schooled in self-helpery, it's the reason that we say this stuff over and over and over.

08:07 It's watching your words and your thoughts and taking scary action and stretching yourself and, you know, doing all the things that you've probably heard that you should be doing all the time and trusting that it really works and keeping the faith and surrounding yourself with strong people. And, you know, there is a method to the madness, and it's a matter of allowing yourself to do it. And you can change your life on a dime. I mean, I certainly, once I got serious about it, it started happening really quickly. What's next for you? You know, I honestly, this book just came out in April, so I'm letting myself be really happy about this book, being out and promoting it and celebrating it. And, you know, of course, I'm getting a million ideas for future books

08:53 that will be written someday, but I'm really trying to just be in the moment with the fact that I just gave birth and celebrating my new baby. Well, I'm happy to help you celebrate because I love the book. And, again, thank you so much for spending some time with us today, and especially talking to folks who are in that retirement red zone, we like to say. And those are the folks that I work with, and they need to hear this as well. They do. And really, honestly, guys, like I was such a late bloomer. I didn't, you know, I'm 52 now, and I didn't start getting my act together until my 40s. I was living in that garage in my 40s. So, you know, it's never too late. And if my broke ass can do it, so can you, because I had spent a lifetime teaching myself how to be poor, and then I decided not to do that anymore. So, seriously, you've got one life.

09:40 I'm with you. Thanks again to Jen Sincero, author of You Are a Badass, Making Money, Mastering the Mindset of Wealth. You can learn more about Jen Sincero at her website, jensincero.com, spelled S-I-N-C-E-R-O. Her books are available everywhere. For the Financial Safari, I'm Steve Sedahl.