Mindset Blocks Around Money: Why You’re Stuck Before You’ve Even Started

If you've ever found yourself saying, “I just need to make more money,” only to feel just as stressed with a higher income as you did before, this one’s for you.

Maybe you’ve been pouring your heart into your work, signing up for all the courses, showing up online… but your bank account doesn’t reflect your effort. Or maybe you're secretly afraid of what you'd even do if money did start pouring in.

Before you assume it’s a strategy or pricing issue, let’s talk about something even more foundational: mindset blocks around money.

I recently had an incredible conversation with financial coach Dawnette Palmore, and we unpacked the hidden money beliefs that hold so many women entrepreneurs back and how to reframe them or let them go.

What Are Mindset Blocks Around Money?

Mindset blocks around money are the subconscious beliefs and emotional habits that shape how you view and handle finances. They’re often rooted in childhood experiences and show up in ways like:

• Avoiding looking at your bank account

• Feeling guilty about charging for your services

• Believing that helping people and making money don’t mix

• Assuming more money will fix everything—while secretly fearing you can’t handle it

• Thinking you need to “earn the right” to feel financially stable

• Equating wealth with greed or selfishness

• Justifying your overspending as "deserved"

  
  

Spoiler alert: none of these are true. But they feel true, which means they shape your behavior. As a result? You hold back. You undercharge. You avoid your bank account like it has cooties.

And the worst part? You might not even realize you're doing it.

Why It Starts Before the Money Shows Up

Most people think you tackle financial systems after you’re making steady money. But your habits don’t magically improve with more money. If anything, they usually scale with your income. So if you're disorganized and avoidant with $500 months, you're likely to be stressed and chaotic with $5,000 or $50,000 months, too.

Money doesn't fix the mess—it magnifies it. Which is why we need to start by asking: where did these habits come from?

How Childhood Beliefs Shape Your Financial Habits

One of the most powerful exercises Dawnette recommends is to reflect on what you heard, saw, or experienced around money growing up. Ask yourself:

• Was money a source of conflict or stress in your household?

• Did you grow up hearing “we can’t afford it” or “money doesn’t grow on trees”?

• Were you praised for saving—or shamed for spending?

  
  

Even if you swore you’d do things differently as an adult, those childhood messages can sneak into your current behavior. Some of us mimic the behavior we observed. Others rebel and swing hard in the opposite direction. Either way, it's still driving the car.

And if you don’t know what beliefs you’re working with, it’s almost impossible to change the outcome.

The “It’s Not About the Money” Trap

This one’s big—especially in the coaching and service-based space. You got into this work because you care. You want to serve. And somewhere along the way, you may have picked up the belief that charging for that help somehow cheapens it.

But here’s what no one tells you: charging money doesn’t make you less caring. It makes you more sustainable. And when you’re sustainable, you can actually help more people.

Being underpaid, burned out, or broke doesn’t serve anyone. Least of all you.

Shifting from guilt to purpose around money starts by realizing that money is simply a tool. It’s not good or bad. What matters is how you use it—and how you feel about using it.

Practical Ways to Start Healing Your Money Mindset

You don’t need to overhaul your entire financial life overnight. Here are five small but powerful actions you can take today:

1. Rename Your Accounts with Purpose

Create a business savings account and call it “Tax Buffer” or “Dream Fund.” The language we use matters—giving your money a mission helps rewire your mindset from scarcity to strategy.

2. Audit Your Subscriptions

Yes, even if they’re just $7 a month. Reviewing where your money is going (without judgment!) is a way of showing your business—and yourself—that you’re paying attention.

3. Journal Your Last Business Purchase

Was it necessary? Did it bring a return? Would you buy it again? This habit builds mindful spending and helps you catch impulse decisions before they repeat.

4. Track Just One Thing

Pick one income or expense item and log it daily. Not because it’s “responsible”—but because it builds familiarity and neutralizes fear.

5. Write Your Revenue Vision

Even if you’re not earning consistently yet, set a goal. Not just a dollar figure, but what it allows you to do. Support your family? Hire help? Take time off? Purpose fuels action, so make it tangible.

Why This Work Matters Now, Not Later

You don’t need to wait until you’re making six figures to start working on your mindset. Start now—because if you don’t, you’ll bring the same patterns with you no matter how much money you earn.

Most people think financial stress ends when the revenue starts. But the truth? If you don’t heal your relationship with money early, you’ll recreate the same stress at every level of success.

Final Thoughts: Control the Money, or It Controls You

We avoid money stuff because it feels uncomfortable. But what if that discomfort is the very thing holding you back? Because the longer you ignore it, the more power it has over you.

The truth is: you don’t have to wait until you’re making bank to start feeling confident and in control with money. You can build that skill right now.

And you should—because your future, sustainable, wildly-paid self? She’s counting on it.

Want More Support?

If you want help building the business part while sorting your beliefs about money, I’m here for that—let's get you set up to thrive.

And if you found this helpful, I’d love to send more guidance straight to your inbox—honest, thoughtful insights for women building coaching businesses with heart and intention.

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