Financial Anxiety as a Business Owner with Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, Financial Therapist
Hello Martinis and Your Money Listeners! Most mental health experts I chat with estimate that 97% of people suffer from financial anxiety at some point in their lives and from what I’ve seen at Financial Gym, I would agree with these estimates. Even clients who are financially healthy go through periods of financial anxiety at some point or another. And one of the most common careers where you can experience financial anxiety is as a business owner. So joining me today is Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, a Financial Therapist and author of the book The Financial Anxiety Solution, to talk about how you can manage your financial anxiety, especially if you’re building a business at the same time. And now here’s Lindsay.
What are we drinking?
Lindsay – Water
Shannon – Coffee
Podcast Notes
Lindsay started in the field of therapy with social work. Upon finishing her grad program, she started working at a non-profit organization for a lower wage than she was used to. The financial anxiety caused by this pushed her to learn more about money management.
Once she moved to a higher paying job, she was able to apply these lessons further but she also realized having more money coming in is just as important as successfully managing what you already have.
She later found that there was no established niche in the therapy/social work field for financial stress and anxiety, although many people were experiencing it.
She has evolved her practice to help her clients deal with financially related stresses emotionally and also has a referral network she utilizes to help them with financial advice and money management, but is careful to keep these two disciplines separate.
Lindsay found that many women are financially literate but are not necessarily financially confident.
She feels that when setting goals, whether financial or otherwise, be realistic. Life happens and having a bad month or a “hiccup/setback” on the way to your goal is just part of being human.
In starting a business, Lindsay advises to first tone down all of the “noise” you may be hearing in regards to business start-up. All the unsolicited advice and information out can be distracting, listen to yourself; assessing your needs and consulting those professionals directly involved with your venture should be your focus.
She encourages pushing yourself into the “growth zone”, slightly beyond your comfort level but not to the point of being downright painful.
She also stresses the need to assess the business’ ability to financially support you, as well as supporting itself.
Lindsay refers to her 80% guideline. Is your budget or business working for you at least 80% of the time? Are your savings goals being met 80% of the time? If the answer is yes, she feels you’re progressing successfully. The same should be considered if something is working against you or stressing you out for 80% of the time.
She emphasizes that self-care and a beneficial work/life balance are paramount for business owners.
Financial anxiety can present itself in perfectionism and/or procrastination. Lindsay read that perfectionism can be viewed as “as an attempt to control discomfort”. This changed the way she dealt with her own perfectionism.
She suggests combating perfectionism/procrastination by at least taking the small steps towards your goal.
Takeaway: My biggest takeaway is that financial anxiety is normal and rather than let it prevent you from pursuing your dreams of starting a business, learn to manage it and let it fuel you to be even more successful than you ever thought possible.
Random Three Questions
1. What do you do for your mental health?
2. When things open up, where would you like to travel to?
3. This is your last meal on earth… what are you eating?
Connect with Lindsay
Website: www.mindmoneybalance.com
Instagram: @mindmoneybalance
Podcast: Search “Mind Money Balance”
Reach out to your local bookstore to get Lindsay’s book: “The Financial Anxiety Solution”
If you have any topics you would like for me to cover on this podcast, I encourage you to email me at shannon@fingyms.com or join the private Martinis and Your Money Facebook group and let me know what you want to hear. If you’re thinking about starting a business or leveling up your current business, I highly recommend Financial Gym’s Business Owner courses that you can find on our website. If you’d like some accountability to help you achieve this goal faster than you imagined or you need a financial coach for your business, then you should head to financialgym.com and start working with one of our trainers today. And remember that Martinis and Your Money listeners get 15% off of your Financial Gym membership. We’d love to help you accomplish your dream of building a business you love sooner than later.