Do What you Love … and Lead Your Money!

Remember 30 years ago when Marsha Sinetar told us to Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow? What an encouraging and inspiring idea! You do your passion. You trust. You will be supported.

So has that been your experience? Really? The answer for me and smart, hardworking businesswomen like our NAWBO sisters is YES, when we do what we love, it’s satisfying. But — and it’s a but — the financial reward … Well, sometimes it’s a little complicated.

We might have “done what we loved” and still had to keep a day job, or get supported by a partner or family, or settle for too little money.

After more than a decade of owning my own holistic coaching business and working with thousands of women like you, here’s my counsel: Yes, do what you love. Tap into your passion. What you care about lights you up and the world needs us lit up, energized and brilliant.

And if you want consistent income, funding for future growth, salaries for the team and sustainment for a rich family life … Well, don’t wait for the money to follow. YOU lead the money!
The simplest and most powerful tool for leading your money is to create an inspired, authentic Money Purpose Statement. It’s your current answer to a very important question — a question that I’ve been grappling with for almost 15 years.

In 2005, I was visioning how my work in the world would expand and got a clear idea to explore very deeply how spirituality and money go together. I chose this because I saw that people were suffering.

I saw spiritual people crippled with money concerns, and I saw people in the wealth-building and entrepreneurial space being very disconnected from their spirituality.

What if money and spirituality were not mutually exclusive? What happens when they work together?
One of the most profound ideas that emerged from those days of visioning, contemplation and prayer around this message came on a sunny afternoon in Manhattan Beach, Calif.
I was with my dear friend and prayer partner, Jennifer, and as we talked about what people truly desire in their financial experiences, she blurted out: “It’s not about the money; it’s ‘What’s the money for?’”

What’s the Money For?
When people long for greater financial flow, they are almost always also longing for an increase in their capacity to serve, to share and to give.

Asking “What’s the money for?” activates something magical: Money Purpose — the sense that your higher calling is connected to your money life.

When women business owners and professionals, like you, discover your own fresh answer to that question, you’ll immediately access more energy and focus to apply to making, keeping and sharing money.

A Money Purpose Statement includes a noun (money), a verb (usually something like “serve,” “fund” or “reveal”), and the essence of the thing you’re passionate about (the “what’s it for”). Then add some specifics about your marketing, business and financial goals, and you’ve got a tool for organizing your thoughts, prioritizing your actions and sustaining a sense of purpose with your money.

Here is an example: “I, Mary, see myself as a vital leader of Green Designs Today. Money fuels our commitment to creating vibrantly healthy and practical workspaces for our clients. Top-line revenue grows by 25 percent and more each quarter as we increase client cross sell, prospecting activities and number of affiliate partners!”

Every month or so the bank generates a statement of our accounts. That statement tells us where our money has been and where it is going. Your Money Purpose Statement is an inspiring statement about your professional and business journey. In both cases, the statement tells us about our financial past, present and future.

To lead your money: Yes, do what you love. And yes, tune into your Money Purpose. Then draft your Money Purpose, focus on it each week, and discover your best way to thrive.

Rev. Karen Russo, MBA, is the award-winning author of The Money Keys and Grow Yourself, Grow Your Wealth, and the creator of Lead Your Money coaching experiences. She’s passionate about helping women business owners eliminate struggle, upset and overwhelm with money.

Rev. Russo brings an unusual blend of experience as an MBA from Columbia University, a top-selling salesperson, a corporate leadership trainer and an ordained interfaith minister. Her message has been endorsed by Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith, of Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday, and Sharon Lechter, who selected Rev. Russo to contribute to Think and Grow Rich for Women.