So many entrepreneurs stay stuck in the same income level because their nervous systems literally don’t feel safe receiving more. And how much you can receive is directly tied to how much you can give.
(This post is for you if you suspect that you have trouble with receiving.)
Here’s my best tip: make a mini donation.
Here’s the thing. Everyone has what I’m gonna call their “giving comfort zone.”
If giving $2-5 to a cause you care about feels okay, that’s your giving comfort zone.
If you’re used to giving $20-30 and that feels pretty comfortable, that’s yours.
If you have more money, and it’s no trouble to part with $500 or so at a time, that’s yours.
Whatever range of money feels customary (for you) and not-scary to give away for a good cause… that’s your giving comfort zone.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to pick an amount that is just sliiiiiiightly out of your comfort zone… but not so much it will screw up your finances or fry your nervous system.
So, if $20 feels good, give $23.
If $5 feels good, give $6.
If $300 feels good, give $350.
If you feel a slight edge, a little nervousness, but you know it’s realistically okay, that’s the right number.
I believe that incrementally building safety is the best way to expand capacity.
We’re not shocking anyone’s system into it. I strongly believe that the most sustainable and generative kind of expansion doesn’t work that way.
Feel that slight edge of the slightly bigger number… (and make sure it’s slight!), hit that donation button, and take a few deep breaths, reminding your body that you are safe.
Then, take a moment to visualize your money traveling to where it will go to benefit someone in need, adding more goodness to the world.
One new increment at a time.
Practice this every time you make a donation — to the extent that you’re not jeopardizing your financial safety.
(Please, there is no glory or wisdom in setting yourself on fire to keep others warm.)
And you will experience — as if by magic — an expanded ability to feel safe receiving greater amounts of cash.
Does it work? I am living proof.
I remember when I first donated $20 to Obama’s campaign in 2008. It was a significant amount of money for me at the time, fresh out of college. It made me feel powerful.
The biggest lump sum I donated in recent years is $250,000, to aid refugees of the war in Ukraine.
You better believe the expansion in my ability to give was, and is, directly correlated to my ability to give.