How Much Cash Are You Comfortable With? By Dr. Lisa Cooney

If you’re like most people, you have a desire for more cash. “Oh, if only I had the money for this or that…” you say. You dream of some future time when you hope you’ll have your money situation handled so you can invest in that trip to Europe or the personal chef or the ___________ fill in the blank with what seems unobtainable right now.

But let me ask you this: how much cash do you allow into your life?

In order to have more cash in your life, your business, your bank account, and your wallet, you actually need to increase your comfort with having more cash. This may sound ridiculously obvious and yet this can be one of the biggest blocks to having more cash: your discomfort with having more.

Have you ever noticed you only ever reach a certain amount of cash flow in your business or your bank account? For some people this might be $200 or $1000, for others it might be $10,000 or $20,000, and for some others it might be $100,000 or $200,000. What is it for you?

Yet you plateau at this number. It seems like no matter what you do you don’t ever have more than this amount. That’s because this is the amount of money you are comfortable with right now. This is the amount you believe you deserve or are worth.

You’ve been conditioned to a set amount of money that’s ‘normal’ for you. So when you experience more than that, it’s unfamiliar. Which is why, when you have an experience of unexpected or increased cash flows, you’re often shocked to feel awkward, anxious, uncertain and unworthy. You think something is wrong and go into shutdown mode, returning to your familiar comfort zone with cash.

But you don’t have to remain a slave to the conditioning of what’s ‘normal.’ You can move into a mindset that allows for higher levels of abundance. How?

Start with these three simple, pragmatic and powerful practices:

Practice #1: Increase The Amount Of Cash You Carry

How much cash do you carry in your wallet? When I ask this question in my money classes, participants usually tell me things like:

●“I don’t carry any money with me.”
● “I just gave my last $20 to my kid.”
● “Oh, I have some wrinkled $1 dollar bills and a $20.”

I encourage you go out today and withdraw one or more crisp $100 bills from the bank. What amount would be fun for you to carry around in your wallet?

One woman I know carries ten $100 bills with her at all times. She’s increased her comfort with having more cash by having $1000 on her at all times. I know a man who carries $20,000 on him at all times in a combo of paper money and gold coins.

Practice #2: Don’t Spend These Ben Franklins

Whether you begin carrying crisp $100 bills in your wallet or a gold coin in your pocket or dozens of $20 bills, the key is NOT TO SPEND THEM. This cash has a different purpose: it is here to contribute to your sense of wealth and to stretch you beyond your previous limits of how much cash you are comfortable with.

How can it stretch you beyond your comfort zone if you keep spending it?

Ask this cash instead to act like magnets and invite more cash to come and play with you, your wallet, your business and your bank account!

Practice #3: Notice What It Feels Like To Carry More Cash

I love my Benjamin Franklins! I always make sure to have a bundle of them with me. They contribute to my sense of being cash rich and have increased my own comfort with having more cash.

My clients and participants around the world tell me that when they started carrying more cash with them, they started feeling more empowered and excited about money. Rather than saying, “I can’t afford that,” they began asking different kinds of questions like, “What would it take to afford that?” and “How much more cash can I get comfortable with having?”

Instead of being afraid of cash, they got curious with it. And in the process, they stretched and expanded their comfort to have more cash.

I encourage you to be in action with these 3 practices. How much more cash might you receive as you increase your comfort with more cash?