How we think about money impacts what we do with money.

And for many of us, what we think about money is influenced by narratives, frameworks, and biases we picked up well before we started our businesses.

The money framework I picked up as a kid was that I could either make a lot of money or I could do something I love.

Now, no one sat me down and told me I was destined to barely scrapping by if I didn’t choose a lucrative career that I didn’t like very much. But my little kid brain chewed on everything that I was being told and interpreted that way.

I could either make a lot of money or I could do something that I loved for work.

My idealist teenage brain told me that I was NOT going to be one of those people who choose to make a lot of money–so I settled on a major I loved and a career path I thought would bring me fulfillment even if I’d be struggling for the rest of my life.

When I started to have major doubts about that career path, I had to go back to the drawing board. And that’s what eventually led to me starting my own business. Even in that process, that either/or money framework was still doing its work and keeping me down.

It took real work to start to replace either/or with both/and–and truthfully, that work continues to this day.

Today, I know that I can do work that I love AND make a lot of money. But I struggle with similar either/or framework: either I can compromise my values so I can make a lot of money easily or I can hold fast to my values and turn making a lot of money into a struggle.

Today I’m working to replace that framework with one that reminds me that I can hold fast and find abundance with ease. I know embracing that money narrative is the key to the next phase of my business–and my life.

This week, we asked members of The What Works Network to share one thing they thought they knew about money but later discovered wasn’t true. Each shared a narrative or bias that held them back from fully embracing their business and their earning potential.

As you listen, consider which of these narratives are ones you’re currently operating with and how you could start reevaluating them. What would you do differently if you reprogrammed those money thoughts? What decisions would you make if you claimed a new money narrative?

You’ll hear from Charlene Lam, a curator and social media strategist, Maggie Patterson, the founder of Scoop Studios, Carol Hamilton, the founder of Grace Social Sector Consulting, and Anna Wolf, the founder of Superscript Marketing.

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