21: Money and Mindset: Managing Finances and Stress (about Money)
with Tiffany Soricelli
You just used the phrases 'scarcity mindset' and a 'growth mindset' -- talk to us about our mindset around money and finance.
It's, it's all interrelated because it directly plays into one's own confidence in their career as well. So when I, when I mentioned scarcity mindset, you know, in a, in a career where you're living on inconsistent income,
you know, as the money ebbs and flows between one contract to the next, it's very easy to get-- build, build a scarcity mindset of I need to hoard all of this cash because I don't know when the next paycheck is going to come. I don't know when the next, you know, work is coming my way. And so you begin to operate thinking from a position of lack. There's never enough. Even if you are making enough.
I've had clients of mine who have very successful careers and always feel like it's never enough, it's never enough. And that's a, that's a mindset standpoint. And then when we look at the data, I can reflect to them, it's always been enough. And you're hitting your goals and you're doing it. But it's, it's having to reflect back to them, but inside their own minds, they're thinking from a scarcity mindset of it's never enough. Whereas if you are in a abundance mindset or a growth mindset, you're grateful for what has come your way. You, you know that and you believe that there's going to be more. And if you have the, the past, you know, success to the point to that, that's one thing. But also just the belief in yourself that even if you go a couple of months between contracts, you're going to find a way to make money. There's always a way that you're going to earn income and believing in the fact that the next contract will come and that you're going to have wild success around money directly plays into one's own confidence in their career because if you're always in a scarcity mindset of, I don't know when the next contract's going to come, I don't know who's going to hire me next. I don't know. I don't know. That energy directly will reflect in your work of, you know, just having that stress with you. And do you really have the confidence and the belief that this is what you're going to be able to do? Whereas if you do have that, it's very easy to stay in an abundance mindset and that carries on over into your, your money behaviors.
I started my career in, in arts management as a contract liaison and as that... in that role, I was facilitating travel and I was seeing directly what the contracts look like and I was seeing what our artists were making in an annual, you know, season and going from one contract to the next, and I was directly interfacing with our artists and I was looking at apartments when they're coming into the city to make sure that they fit their stipulations. And in these conversations I was seeing how hard it was, even though they made it, they had management, they were very successful. They were performing at all of the best houses.
This... the hardship and the constant feeling of, It's never enough or I'm not making enough, or I have to sacrifice and live on less because I've chosen this career... It leads to burnout, it leads to fear, it leads to frustration. People want to be able to have a fulfilling career, but also meet their personal goals, which are directly tied to one's own financial ability to afford things like an actual vacation not for work, or a family or a home or whatever is a priority to them. And what I was seeing, not all of the artists, but some of the most talented musicians that I idolized, were burnt out when I was working with them. And I then saw in a couple of years that they have completely transitioned away from making music. And I think the financial inconsistency played a lot into that.
I, I also think that especially as young artists, when you are auditioning - and as a singer like I, you know, we hold tension in our bodies in all, all different ways - but I can directly feel when, when I'm anxious about something, whether it's about money or my kids or anything else, I'm holding that tension in the body. And if you are constantly in a scarcity mindset of, Oh my gosh, I need this, I need this audition, I need the seat, I need this, this role or whatever, you're constantly in that scarcity mindset. It's going to directly impact your ability to do your best work. The energy that you bring into the room of, Oh, my gosh, I need this. This is my last chance before I can't pay my rent versus walking into the room and knowing that you're going to do your best work, but your entire career doesn't hinge upon today's performance because you have financial stability, you have a safety net, you have the systems that you've put in place. It's a very different energy. And I think that people who are casting or hiring can sense that.
I think when an artist is really good with money, the-- they have fun. They can enjoy it. They can, they can take more risk, they can try new things. They don't have to stay in the box that somebody else has put them in because that's what's making them money. They can play and enjoy and be really intentional about the work they take on. Some of the singers that I work with, I, you know, you constantly feel like you have to say, yes. Somebody's offering you a gig: yes, yes, yes. But if you know what your income needs are and you know you have a financial foundation in place, you can actually be more selective about what you accept professionally, which gives you the freedom to say, you know what, August is... It's not really going to work for me because I want to put in the work to be really prepared for the September contract. So I'm going to decline knowing that you're giving yourself the time to know that you're going to be in peak performance mode when the time comes for the contract that you're prioritizing.
But if you're constantly feeling like you don't have enough or you're in a scarcity mindset, you're going to say, Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. You're going to jump from plane to plane to plane, and you're going to burn out and then you show up to that big contract and you're not going to be necessarily as prepared or in peak performance mode as you would have been if you gave yourself the time to really do, do your best preparation and work. This and take some.
Kellogg:
Talk about what financial living in financial stress would do to one's self versus living in financial stability might do.
Soricelli:
Everybody responds to stress differently. And whereas some people may be able to weather the stress of financial inconsistency for decades and never have any adverse effects, other people eventually are going to get sick, or the body's going to break down, or they're going to get frustrated, or they're not going to find joy in the work that they're doing anymore. When you're living in financial stress, you're operating from that, that fear-based mentality of 'It's never enough' and this is when people get into trouble of, Well, I don't know when my next paycheck is going to come, so I'm going to hoard my cash in the bank and put everything on credit, and then you end up racking up credit card debt out of fear instead of being really intentional around, There's enough there's always money coming in and being able to build a financial system that doesn't have you constantly putting things on credit because you're worried about cash in the bank.
Whereas operating from a, from a place of abundance or even growth mindset around your finances, it's-- your financial management is just the other half of your career. It's the business side of being a working musician. So when you have a handle on that, you can be really intentional around how you spend your time, who you spend it with, where you're working, what gigs you take, you know, what are the personal things that you want to achieve? Being able to be there for the people in your life, being reliable, being dependable, all of those things come from being secure in one's own financial situation. But gone are the days of a patron stepping in to say, Hi, I'm going to ensure that you are, you know, taken care of. I think we all need to step up to the plate and be responsible for our own financial security.