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You Are A Badass At Making Money review
This is my own personal “You Are A Badass At Making Money” review, a book written by Jen Sincero.
This is a book about money mindset – not money management.
You won’t learn specific strategies to increase your income. You won’t find out about opportunities to make more money.
You will find out about how to change your thinking so you can take advantage of the strategies and opportunities that will come your way.
I really enjoy Jen Sincero’s voice in this book. She writes in a conversational tone that’s fun to read. The woman knows how to write, and she knows how to draw in her readers with her personal stories and sense of humor.
What I couldn’t appreciate, however, was her strong focus on what she calls “Universal Intelligence”. To me, this is referring to someone like God, but without turning off people who don’t believe in God.
But, with that said, I still thought some of her ideas really lined up well with the Christian faith and my own personal views. So, every time I read “Universal Intelligence”, I just inserted God in its place. This is because I’m a Christian and I’m on a first name basis with him. No need to get all formal about it.
Of course, not every replacement of names made sense. Some of Sincero’s ideas were way outside of what God says.
So, basically, I just enjoyed the writing and the humor and the stories, I took what jived with my spirit, and left the rest on the table.
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What jived
There were several ideas in this book that were really inspiring to me. Although the main thread (the presence of a Universal Intelligence) wasn’t something I was going to buy into, I really appreciated Sincero’s consistent encouragement that we all have something significant to contribute to the world.
Not only that, we’re all fully capable of reaching our greatest potential, and that is the biggest gift we can give to the world.
Here are 4 points that really resonated with me.
» You are special
Sincero mentions many times throughout the book that we’re all born with unique desires, gifts, and talents that we are meant to nurture and share with the world. Not only that, they were given to us by the Universal Intelligence (er, God) to be carried out in our lifetimes.
When we’re purposeful about growing these unique desires, gifts, and talents, then success is not too far behind. And, in a book about making money, success = wealth.
I tell my kids this all the time. Don’t believe that just because you are naturally good at drawing or playing basketball that it comes easy to everyone. Don’t think that because you love to write poetry or go camping or learn another language, that who wouldn’t?
Our desires, our natural abilities, our passions aren’t chosen by us. They are given to us. Not only that, they are entrusted to us.
We are all responsible for discovering and developing the gifts we’re given, so we can, in turn, give them away.
Unfortunately, many of us grow up and forget how special we each are. We try to fit in, look like everybody else, keep up with Joe Loaded next door, and find our “tribe”. And we forget about what sets us apart.
We become comfortable with what’s familiar, safe, and easy. We get into our grooves thinking we’re making progress, but we’re actually stuck.
» Change your thoughts, change your life
Sincero encourages us to focus on changing our thoughts. Your mindset is where it matters.
Gain an understanding about your perspective and relationship with money, recognize how they are holding you back from reaching your goals, and make adjustments accordingly.
Some of her suggestions include using affirmations, meditating, changing your vocabulary, being committed to your dreams, learning to forgive, and facing your fears. All of these will help you overcome the roadblocks that keep you from living your best life.
She also points out that our own personal perceptions of reality are limited by our life experiences, our age, our surroundings, and our relationships. It’s important to recognize that your own beliefs about yourself and how much you truly are capable of are probably limited as well. If you can accept this truth, then you can be open to ideas that you would normally shut down.
Sincero tells us there’s a force larger than our physical selves that is at play in our lives. I would call this force God. And I believe He is always working around us, working things together, working things out. There’s more going on than we can see – so don’t trick yourself into believing you are an all-knowing being that has everything figured out, because you aren’t.
» Keep the faith
This is where faith comes into the picture. Sincero tells us that even with changing our mindset and taking action, there is still the part we can’t control that we need to surrender. Do everything you can, the best you can, then have faith that God will fill in the rest.
We won’t have all the answers. We may make a plan and think how the heckola is that going to happen??
Have faith. Have faith that as you need answers, you’ll receive them. Have faith that all the missing pieces in your plan will eventually be found. Have faith that God has your back and is your biggest supporter. After all, He wants you to be the best version of you that you could possibly be.
When you flex your faith muscles, they get stronger. And the stronger your faith, the easier it is to knock down limiting beliefs and dream as big and as wild and as free as your little heart can stand.
» Kick those monkeys to the curb
Of course, not everything outside of the physical realm is on our side. There are also forces working against us. These include our fears, our worries, our resentments and denials, and any unforgiveness we’re harboring.
We can’t see these things, and we may have gotten so used to them that we don’t even realize they’re on our backs. Self-awareness is key in recognizing and working through these issues.
Sincero encourages us to face our fears head-on. Don’t let them keep you from moving forward – in fact, plow right through them if you must.
However, it’s when you confront them that you take back control and end the torture. Call them out for what they are, and let them know you’re not going to be a slave to them no mo’. You’re going to bust out of your comfort zone and start living life like dreams do come true.
Sincero says worrying is “praying for stuff you don’t want”. This is because our thoughts tend to influence our experiences. What you focus on, you create more of.
Do you think a lot about how broke you are and how you’ll never have enough to take that European vacation?
Or how much you hate your job because your boss makes life miserable for you?
Or maybe how frustrated you are with your spouse because he or she thinks so differently than you?
Well, let me ask you: how’s that working for ya?
When our thoughts continuously loop through everything that’s wrong in our lives, then that’s the only thing we see. We perpetuate our negative circumstances because that’s what we focus on. And when our thoughts are consumed with the mistakes in our past or the worries of our future, we miss the opportunities that are right in front of us, here in the present.
Other monkeys that tend to hang around way too long are resentment and denial. When we hold on to past resentments or are in denial about our reality, there’s no moving forward.
The way to break free is practicing an attitude of gratitude. Being thankful for what you have will lift you out of the mud puddle of pessimism. Having a grateful mindset will also help you persevere when times are tough, and keep you on course toward your dreams.
And then there’s resentment’s bestie, unforgiveness. Whether you can’t forgive your dead father, your long gone husband, your childhood friend, or even yourself – it’s all the same. You’ll never reach your “badassiest” self until you grab your bolt cutters and break free from that ball and chain.
One way to do that is to start serving others. Get your mind off yourself and how much you’ve been hurt, and start adding a little sunshine into other people’s lives. Believe me, you’ll feel like a different person.
Also, when you enter into other people’s suffering, your heart softens as it fills with compassion. And compassion is the key to unlocking the door to forgiveness.
And lastly, be kind to yourself and find people that will encourage and support you. Don’t hang out with the worriers, fretters, and naysayers. Seek out those who believe in you as you work on believing in yourself.
And what didn’t jive
As you can read, there were a lot of really good points that the author touches on throughout the book. Everything I mentioned above were thoughts or opinions that line up with my own faith and values. They were points I connected with, that spoke to me, and challenged me. They were lessons I needed to learn or relearn.
But, of course, it’s rare to agree with or be “moved” by everything an author says. So this section includes the ideas that I just couldn’t connect with, personally.
» You can’t be your best without wealth
One major opinion that is mentioned throughout the book is that in order for you to live your most complete, fulfilling, and successful life, you need to be rich. I don’t agree with this.
I understand where Sincero is coming from. Money has the capacity to make groundbreaking changes in the world. It opens up possibilities that would otherwise not be available to you.
But I don’t believe you can’t be the most successful version of yourself without a lot of it.
My first thought was Mother Teresa. She chose to live by humble means, serving others, without wealth. And yet, I am certain that she lived the best version of herself possible.
I think of missionaries, who sacrifice so much in order to make a positive change in the world. I’ve never heard of a rich missionary, but I’m confident they are living out God’s perfect purpose for their lives.
And what about teachers, or nurses, or park rangers, or firefighters?
My son’s dream job is to be a team leader for student groups who travel during a gap year. He would impact the lives of young people on a consistent basis, travel the world, and probably make less than $75K a year. But he would still be living his fullest life.
Along with this idea that you need to be rich to be the best, most “badassiest” version of you, Sincero goes one step further and claims it is your duty to become rich.
If achieving massive wealth was a duty for every person on the planet, we would miss out on a heckofa lot of really cool contributions from some super helpful people. What about all the police officers in the world? Or first responders? What about social workers and pastors?
Maybe I’m completely missing Sincero’s point, but if I take her writing literally then I can’t agree with this opinion.
» Having the mind of God
Another major idea she refers to often is the power of our thoughts, and how our thoughts affect our actions and the realities we experience.
There is a degree of this which I believe in. The bible even speaks of how our thoughts affect what we believe is true and the actions that shape our lives. To change our reality, we start by changing our focus.
However, Sincero mentions that Universal Intelligence (er, God) and our thoughts are basically the same force.
The bible makes it clear that our thoughts are not His thoughts, and our ways are not His ways. We have to rely on Him to constantly renew our thoughts because He’s God, and well, we’re not.
This leads Sincero to proclaim that the more we think powerful thoughts, the more connected we are to God, and the easier it will be to achieve wealth.
I guess if those “powerful thoughts” are prayers you lift up or verses you keep in your heart, this would make you feel closer to him. This is a good thing. But I don’t believe he wants us to feel more connected to him so we could be blessed with riches in return. I’m sure he’s got more important objectives than to make us all loaded.
Sincero also goes on to say our thoughts will alert God to start rearranging “energy” in our favor so that our desires will manifest themselves into physical form. So basically, if we just think we are rich, our preferred financial reality will come true.
This kinda makes God sound like He is our personal genie.
I can totally get on board with taking responsibility for my own thoughts and actions. I wholeheartedly believe that we each can change the direction of our lives by changing our focus. God gave us brains that are capable of so much more than we expect. We really are walking miracles, each one of us.
But God’s in charge, not me. He’s got the last say. I can send him vibes that I’d love to be filthy rich, and I can ask him to “prepare the way” for me to get there, and I can do everything my human mind can think of to achieve that goal. But I don’t get to decide the outcome. I can only do so much on my end, but then God.
This lines up with what Sincero said about having faith. Do what you can, then have faith that God will fill in the missing pieces. Faith is super important – but it’s not a guarantee you’ll be rich.
God’s the only one that can see tomorrow. And I need to trust that despite my deepest desires and biggest dreams, he can do what he deems best in my life. That’s what you call surrender.
» If loving money is wrong, I don’t want to be right
The last declaration of Sincero’s that I couldn’t bring myself to support was her affection for moolah. In fact, she unashamedly makes very clear in the book that she looooves money.
Now, I appreciate her efforts to encourage her readers not to be ashamed of having a desire to increase their incomes. Depending on how you were raised, you may still be clinging to dysfunctional beliefs about how much money you deserve. Sincero spends a whole chapter trying to convince us that wanting to get rich is not a sin, and we all need to get over it.
And I totally agree. Money is just a resource. In and of itself, money has no character. It’s not good, it’s not bad, it’s not evil. It’s just money.
But it’s how we respond to it that makes the difference.
The bible doesn’t say money is the root of all evil. It says the love of money is the root of all evil.
Now, I love what money can do: allow us to take family vacations and create lifelong memories, pay for a home that keeps us warm and safe, buy food to nourish our bodies and keep us healthy.
But if I love money because it’s what I find my happiness and security and peace and joy in, then I’m putting my eggs in the wrong basket. I can’t put my hope in the wealth that money provides. I must put my hope in the one who provides a wealth of peace and joy.
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Why I read You Are A Badass At Making Money
So, you may be asking, why would you read a book like this if you don’t believe money can buy happiness and transform you into the best version of yourself? Why would you even consider the ideas contained in a book titled “You Are A Badass At Making Money”?
I would say the most relevant reason is that I’m exploring my own dysfunctional relationship with money, and I’m looking for a variety of ideas and opinions and strategies that will help me work through these issues.
Secondly, I agree with what Sincero says about each of us having our own unique desires and passions that we are meant to discover and nurture, so we can fulfill our purposes in life. Being married to a man that has no interest in managing money or increasing our income, I’m convinced that my desires to do these things aren’t just typical goals common to everyone. I believe God created me this way, and I’m trying to figure out what He wants me to do with it.
Thirdly, I have to admit the title pulled me in. And I’m glad it did! Because even though there were some parts I didn’t agree with, I was still encouraged and inspired by most of it. You can always learn something from a book!
I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a little extra motivation to increase income. Sincero doesn’t lay it all out in sequential steps that lead to financial success. Instead, she challenges her readers to focus on changing the thoughts and beliefs that keep them from achieving their best life possible.
I hope this You Are A Badass At Making Money review encourages you to identify your limiting beliefs, and then be purposeful about replacing them with more productive thoughts.
Then you’ll be on your way to being a badass at making money!
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