Back when I was working full-time and in university, I had great expectations for my life after graduation. I thought, "Wow I'm going to be better qualified in just a couple months!" Employers would see my experience and qualification and if I continued to work hard, as was my custom, I would be making "real" money in a short while.

I went to bed that night and I had a dream. In my dream I was running errands on a Saturday as usual, but I was making a significantly higher salary. As I pull out of a shopping mall, out comes this big brown hairy creature, standing 10 feet tall and just horrible looking. People were running and scattering away from this tremendous bear like creature. He was tearing up the cars and really making his presence and power felt.

But for some reason I was not afraid. Instead, I found myself curious about this creature and in my dream I jumped on top of the roof of my car to get a better look. I stood there watching him for a while. I woke up shortly after that.

I was completely lost for years as to what this dream meant, but I never forgot it, knowing the answer would eventually come. And it did.
When I started this work with women, I had to begin by first facing myself, looking at my own beliefs and dealing with my own money issues. It was worth the work.

What I found was in my past I had done a lot of hard work and sacrificing, pushing and striving but with little monetary results. I was angry and I was frustrated. I realized during this process that here is where this dream was relevant, that the beast in my dream was a representation of my own fears and beliefs around money.  I was asking for a big shift in my finances but there was some work to be done in order to achieve that.

My subconscious mind was showing me the issue, but it meant I would have to take a good look at my beliefs, at the "beast" of old thinking, broken concepts causing my thinking and my actions to be barren, stopping me from moving to my next level of growth.

If you are an entrepreneur or thinking about entrepreneurship you are no different. You will have to face your deep-seated unconscious beliefs about money. As a matter of fact, in entrepreneurship all your garbage beliefs show up in your business - in your ability to make and keep money, forcing you to face it then deal with it so your business can grow to the next level. If you ignore them your business stagnates.

What does your money beast look like?
My issues manifested themselves in the likeness of a huge bear-like creature. This was the experience I needed, to begin the search for an answer. It was tied to my calling and what I am doing today.

You probably will never have a dream or experience like this one, however, there are tell tale signs that perhaps your money perspective is stopping your personal and business growth, and needs to be addressed.

How do you know you've got a money beast running wild? He shows up in these behaviors such as:
1. Arguing about money with a significant other;
2. Knowing what your services are worth, but still undercharging;
3. Accepting positions or a salary below your skill level;
4. Over delivering on your services;
5. Bartering or trading your services instead of a fair exchange of money;
6. Avoiding sales calls or, on the call you avoid asking for the sale;
7. Not investing in growing your business;
8. Not asking for referrals;
9. Allowing clients who do not pay their bills "off the hook";
10. Believing people won't pay more for your services.

As you can see, this is a very personal issue because it deals with your experiences and what perspectives you have because of them. But with 52 percent of all poor persons in The Bahamas being women, I say this is a part of our gender development that should no longer be ignored.

Look at what we face. Sixty percent of homes in the Bahamas are single parent homes, most of which are led by single mothers, which also account for 42 percent of all impoverished households in The Bahamas.

We have to face ourselves at the individual level. We have to address our own habits around money. How we subconsciously push it away because we are afraid of how we will be seen if we become successful, how our peers and family members will cope with the "new you", not wanting to be seen as greedy or "all about money now". Or just being perceived as less "spiritual" if you begin to make a lot of money.

We need to begin to realize that money is a resource for both spiritual and social development and not a vice keeping us from spiritual and social development.

Let's learn to think about ourselves having lots of money to fund our dreams and projects in a way that moves us forward.
Over the next few articles, I will address how we develop poverty thinking and get to the bottom of this issue so we all can emerge better, brighter and more empowered women. Will you join me?

o Danette Alexandra Malcolm, MSc., is the creator of www.KickTheCubicleHabit.com, where she helps women entrepreneurs and solopreneurs to launch and grow their coaching, consulting and service based businesses before leaving their corporate jobs.
To get answers to your start-up questions, simply go to www.alexandraimage.com/ask-away-wednesday and submit your questions there. The question that will help the most people will be selected and the answer provided for everyone to benefit.

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