What Money Thoughts Are Holding You Back in Business? | Money Secrets Podcast

Money Secrets podcast cover for Episode 72: "What Money Thoughts Live Rent-Free In Your Mind?" on a teal background. — We often hear that mindset matters when it comes to money, but identifying the thoughts driving our decisions isn't always easy – a series of everyday business and life scenarios designed to uncover the beliefs, stories, fears, and assumptions we hold about money, success, opportunity, and self-worth.

In this special episode of Money Secrets, Fi shares a powerful guided exercise recorded during a recent Good Money Monday session inside Good Money Club.

Listen to Episode 72

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

How your money thoughts shape your results and influence your decisions.
How to uncover money stories that impact your actions without you realising it.
Why approaching your thoughts with curiosity is more useful than self-judgment.
What your reactions to opportunities reveal about your beliefs around success and visibility.
How scarcity thinking shows up in everyday situations and affects financial decision-making.
The role comparison plays in your money mindset and how it influences your perspective.
What your response to financial surprises can teach you about resilience and money beliefs.
How growth opportunities can uncover hidden fears around success, responsibility, and risk.
Why visibility, recognition, and success can feel uncomfortable, even when you want them.
How your mindset influences the way you market, sell, lead, and grow your business.
How to uncover limiting beliefs that may be holding you back from making more money.
Why self-awareness is one of the most valuable skills you can develop as a business owner.
How recognising your money thoughts is the first step towards changing them.
The connection between money psychology, business growth, and long-term success.

What money thoughts live rent-free in your mind? (EP#72)

Introduction

We've made a lot of progress as a society in many areas, but one thing that hasn’t changed enough is our relationship with money. If we want to tip the scales in favour of marginalised people, we need to understand the secrets to making money in small business.

The more we talk about money — especially the secrets that usually stay behind closed doors or on the golf course — the more empowered we become. My mission is to get more money into the hands of good people, specifically business owners like you.

Because I believe small business can change the world. And to do that, we need to be making more money.

Acknowledgement of Country

This episode was recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation. I’d like to acknowledge them as the Traditional Owners and custodians of this land and water that I live, work and play on.

I pay my respects to Elders past and present, and recognise that sovereignty has never been ceded. This always was, and always will be, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land.

What Your Money Thoughts Are Really Costing You

Have you ever noticed how two people can experience the exact same situation and walk away with completely different reactions?

One person sees a big opportunity and thinks, "Why not me?" Another thinks, "There's no way I'm ready for that."

One person receives an unexpected tax bill and immediately starts making a plan. Another spirals into panic and shame.

The difference isn't necessarily knowledge, experience, or intelligence. Often, it's the thoughts running quietly in the background.

In this episode of Money Secrets, Fi Johnston guides listeners through a powerful thought exercise designed to uncover the hidden beliefs influencing our decisions about money, business, success, and self-worth.

Because whether we realise it or not, our thoughts shape our behaviours—and our behaviours shape our results.

The Link Between Thoughts, Behaviours and Results

One of the key ideas Fi explores in this episode is that our money thoughts don't just live inside our heads—they influence the actions we take every day.

Sometimes those thoughts are obvious.

You might think:

"I could never charge that much."
"I'm not experienced enough."
"People like me don't make that kind of money."

Other times, the thoughts are so automatic that we barely notice them.

But they still influence how we show up.

They affect:

Whether we pitch ourselves for opportunities
How confidently we price our services
Whether we hire support
How we respond to setbacks
The risks we're willing to take

As Fi explains, we don't always have direct access to the thoughts driving our behaviour. That's why creating opportunities to observe them can be so valuable.

What Happens When Opportunity Knocks?

Imagine receiving an email from a highly respected person in your industry who wants to work with you.

What is your immediate reaction?

Excitement?

Suspicion?

Imposter syndrome?

A belief that they've contacted the wrong person?

The stories we tell ourselves in moments like these can reveal a lot about how comfortable we are with success and visibility.

Many business owners say they want bigger opportunities, but when those opportunities arrive, hidden beliefs can create resistance.

Sometimes the biggest barrier isn't getting the opportunity—it's believing that we're worthy of it.

How Do You Respond to Financial Stress?

The exercise also explores a very different scenario:

You reach the checkout at the supermarket and discover there's not enough money in your account to pay for your groceries.

What thoughts arise?

For some people, the response is practical problem-solving.

For others, it can trigger feelings of shame, panic, failure, or fear.

While financial stress is real, our thoughts about the situation often determine how long we stay stuck in that emotional response.

Recognising these patterns can help us separate the facts of a situation from the stories we're telling ourselves about what it means.

Good Money Club

If this conversation resonated, you don’t have to figure it out alone.

Good Money Club is open right now.

Inside Good Money Club, women business owners:

Learn to understand and manage their own money
Build financial roadmaps
Develop sustainable pricing strategies
Get accountability and support
Increase revenue and take-home pay
Make bold, ethical money decisions

If you’re ready to:

Earn more
Pay yourself properly
Build a sustainable business
Reduce money stress
Close your own revenue gap

You can learn more about Good Money Club while doors are open.

Success Can Trigger Limiting Beliefs Too

One of the most interesting parts of the exercise is that it doesn't only focus on challenges.

It also explores positive scenarios.

What happens when:

Someone encourages you to apply for a TEDx talk?
Your biggest proposal gets accepted?
A reel goes viral?
You consider growing your team?

Many people assume mindset work is only necessary when things go wrong.

But success often triggers limiting beliefs too.

Thoughts like:

"I'm not ready."
"What if I can't deliver?"
"People will find out I'm not good enough."
"This is too much responsibility."

These thoughts can quietly prevent us from stepping into opportunities that could transform our businesses.

What Do You Believe About Other People's Money?

The exercise also invites listeners to notice their reactions when other people appear successful.

How do you feel when:

Someone shares a seven-figure launch?
An old school friend posts photos from a month-long European holiday?
A wealthy stranger pulls up beside you in an expensive car?

These moments can reveal beliefs about wealth, success, privilege, deservingness, and what is possible for us.

It's easy to assume we're simply reacting to what we're seeing.

But often we're reacting to the meaning we've assigned to it.

Understanding those stories can help us build a healthier relationship with money and success—both our own and other people's.

Quiet Seasons Reveal Money Thoughts Too

Not all mindset challenges appear during moments of growth.

Sometimes they show up during slower periods.

When leads aren't coming in and motivation is low, what thoughts emerge?

Do you believe:

Business will never pick up again?
You've done something wrong?
Everyone else is succeeding except you?

Or are you able to hold the quieter seasons with trust and perspective?

The thoughts we have during difficult periods often determine whether we keep taking action or retreat into procrastination, avoidance, and self-doubt.

Curiosity Over Judgement

Perhaps the most important takeaway from this exercise is Fi's invitation to approach our thoughts with curiosity rather than judgement.

The goal isn't to eliminate every negative thought.

The goal is to notice them.

To become aware of the stories that are shaping our decisions.

To ask:

Is this thought true?
Is it helping me?
Is there another way I could look at this situation?

Awareness creates choice.

And choice creates the possibility for change.

Final thoughts

If you're looking to grow your income, your business, or your impact, mindset work isn't separate from strategy—it sits alongside it.

The beliefs you hold about money, success, opportunity, and yourself influence the decisions you make every day.

Sometimes the fastest way to create change isn't learning another strategy.

It's noticing the thought that's been quietly running the show all along.

The next time you encounter an opportunity, a setback, a financial challenge, or a moment of comparison, pause for a moment.

Listen closely.

What story are you telling yourself?

Because that story may be shaping far more of your results than you realise.

Outro

Thank you for listening to Money Secrets. If you loved this episode, please subscribe, share it with a friend, or leave a review. Your support helps us get these conversations into the hands of more good people who deserve to thrive in business.

We’ve come so far as a society in many ways, but money is one of the areas where progress hasn’t been enough. If we want to tip the scales in favour of marginalised people, it starts with understanding the secret: money in small business.

In this podcast, Money Secrets, host Fiona (Fi) Johnston—Chartered Accountant, small business advocate, and impact enthusiast—dives into the conversations we need to have about money. The secrets that once stayed behind closed doors (or on the golf course) are finally out in the open.

Fi’s mission? To get more money into the hands of good people, like you. She believes small businesses have the power to change the world, and the key to making a bigger impact is to make—and manage—more money.

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Thank you to everyone involved for bringing this podcast together. We are excited to hear from you with any questions, feedback or suggestions for future episodes that you might have. Send a Direct Message to @peach.business

If you are excited for what’s to come, please like this episode, follow the podcast and share it with your friends. We are thrilled you're here.

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