The Real Question Behind Every Money Question You Ask Yourself
“Why can’t I just be better with money?”
“Why can’t I just get more clients?”
“Why is it that everyone else seems to be better at money than me?”
Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions? If so, you’re not alone.
Most times when you and I are wrestling with these types of questions, it’s likely because the numbers we’re seeing in our banking, credit, and investment accounts are not too pleasing.
And as a result, we often end up feeling financially depleted.
Because numbers don’t lie.
But do you know what else gets depleted as you work on getting your numbers from where they are to where you want them to be? Your financial energy.
I’ve used this phrase several times over the course of this series but haven't defined it — and for good reason: There isn’t a Merriam Webster definition for “financial energy;” I looked. :)
It does, however, have a definition for energy:
“force of expression, inherent power; capacity for action, capacity for doing work.”
So based on my own experience with money along with helping my clients navigate their relationship with money, their choices, and the feelings that surface, here’s how I’m inviting you to think of financial energy:
“As having the capacity to engage with money — practically and emotionally.
Energy includes the attention it takes to make decisions, the confidence to act on them, and the room to recover when money feels stressful.
Culturally, we have a problem with focusing just on the numbers when it comes to money. Plus, there’s also a tendency to minimize the role of “energy” and not see its impact regardless of how much money someone does or doesn’t have.
Because a person can have adequate income and wealth and still feel financially depleted by the:
constant decisions they need to make,
attending uncertainty that comes with, or
competing demands that require re-prioritization.
Someone with fewer resources may have very little margin for error and more resources may give you more time — but no one gets to bypass the effects of “financial energy.”
Ultimately, financial energy is what you have available to bring to your financial life — in all its forms. And you spend it when you plan, choose, worry, negotiate, care for others, and adapt.
And you restore it when your choices become clearer, you have financial systems in place to help you make those clearer choices, and you have the room to act rather than just react.
So, whenever you find yourself asking any of the questions with which I kicked off today’s piece, change it to:
“What is my money asking of me right now and what would make it easier to follow-thru on that ask?”
That question matters because this month, we’ve been building toward this.
Mental energy taught you to notice the tabs — the decisions piling up, waiting to be closed.
Emotional energy taught you to notice the gauge — the level that moves whether you asked it to or not.
Financial energy is where both of those show up in the most literal way possible: in your actual choices about actual money.
Every unclosed tab about your business has a financial energy cost. Every time your emotional gauge runs low, your money decisions get made from depletion instead of clarity — and depleted decisions tend to be expensive ones, whether that’s the client you undercharge because you don’t have it in you to negotiate, or the investment you keep putting off because thinking about it feels like — ugh! — one more thing.
So what feeds financial energy?
Systems you trust enough that you’re not re-deciding the same thing every month.
Clarity on your numbers that doesn’t require a full audit of your feelings every time you look at them.
Support — a person, a process — that means you’re not carrying every financial decision alone.
What drains it? Managing money in isolation. Making the same decision on repeat because you never actually resolved it the first time. Treating “I should be better at this by now” as a plan, instead of naming what’s actually missing — knowledge, a system, or someone in your corner.
This is the piece most conversations about money skip entirely.
We talk about budgets and goals and net worth, and almost never about whether you have the capacity — practically and emotionally — to actually execute any of it.
Or, to hold the “more” you’re wanting.
That’s the work. Not just moving the numbers. Restoring the energy that lets you move them, and keep them moved.
We started this series asking what you wanted to leave behind this fall, and what you wanted to return to. If what you’re ready to return to is a relationship with money that doesn’t ask you to engage with it from a place of depleted energy — that’s exactly the work we do together in “Successful, Profitable…and Not Broke.” Not a budget overhaul. A rebuild of your capacity to engage with money and your business clearly, consistently, and without dread.
If that’s you, let’s talk. [Book a discovery call.]
Because financial success is an inside job — and so, it turns out, is the energy required to sustain it.
About Jacquette
I love to ask questions and spark aha moments. I love to talk about why success with money is about more than just the numbers, and how the cultural impact on the intersection of money, business, and life matters–A LOT! And, I really hope I help people feel seen, heard, and not judged—especially since money is emotional and personal.
