Transform Your Finances with This One Shift

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Summary
In this episode of the Bankruptcy to Bliss podcast, host Louisa Larado discusses the critical mindset shifts necessary for individuals recovering from bankruptcy. She emphasizes the importance of self-worth, breaking limiting beliefs about money, and making a conscious decision to change one's financial situation. Louisa shares her personal journey and the impact of mindset on financial recovery, encouraging listeners to understand their 'why' and take actionable steps towards financial empowerment. Additionally, she introduces her upcoming free bootcamp designed to help individuals navigate their post-bankruptcy journey.

Takeaways

• Mindset shifts are crucial after bankruptcy.
• Self-worth plays a significant role in financial recovery.
• Limiting beliefs about money can hinder progress.
• Making a decision to change is the first step.
• Understanding your 'why' can motivate change.
• Taking action is essential for financial empowerment.
• You are worthy of creating a better life.
• Struggling financially does not benefit anyone.
• The next steps will appear once you decide to change.
• Engaging in personal development can lead to lasting change.

Keywords
bankruptcy, mindset shift, self-worth, financial recovery, limiting beliefs, personal development, money management, financial empowerment, decision making, bootcamp

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Disclaimer: The information contained on today’s podcast has been provided as general advice only. The contents have been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or individual needs. Before making any decision regarding the information, strategies or products mentioned on today’s episode, please consult your own financial advisor or other professional first.

Chapters

• 0:00 Mindset Shifts Post Bankruptcy
• 2:54 The Importance of Self-Worth in Financial Recovery
• 5:49 Breaking Limiting Beliefs About Money
• 9:04 Deciding to Change: The Power of Choice
• 11:56 Understanding Your 'Why' for Financial Change
• 14:51 Taking Action: Steps to Financial Empowerment

Transcript

Hi and welcome to the Bankruptcy to Bliss podcast. I'm your host, Louisa Larado. And on today's episode, I wanna talk about something that I see so many people getting stuck on. And it is a massive reason why so many people stay broke or stay stuck after their bankruptcy. It's one big shift you need to be making and so many people just miss it. So stay tuned for that.


Thanks for tuning in. So today I really want to dive deep on a big mindset shift that you need to make sure you make once you've filed your bankruptcy or once you are starting to rebuild and getting your finances back on track. Now, you don't even have to have gone through a bankruptcy if you're just unhappy with your current money situation and you want to make a change. There's something that so many

people miss. They think if I start budgeting or if I start managing my money better, if I earn more money or if I invest money this way or that way, then that's what's going to make a change. And it might make a little improvement, but unless you shift your mindset, and I've spoken to this on many episodes, then you're going to stay stuck. But there's a really specific mindset shift I want to talk about today. And that is

deciding and making that decision that you are worthy of making a change and creating more in your life. So, so often I see people that are always running out of money or always broke and it's that struggle, but they just don't feel like they're worthy. And I can say that because I know, cause I was there when I went through my bankruptcy.

I felt a big part of the reason that we went bankrupt was because I didn't manage our family's money correctly. And that definitely was not the case. But in my head, being the one responsible for managing how our money was allocated each week and making sure bills were paid and et cetera, I felt that there was a lot of responsibility in that. And when we went bankrupt, I felt like I should have foreseen.

the circumstances that led up to that point. So I punished myself for a number of years after that because I didn't feel worthy of creating money because I didn't think I was responsible for it. I'd had formed these beliefs during that time to say that you're not good with money, you are terrible at managing money, money's too hard, money is a struggle. And that sort of

Louisa Larado (02:54.414)
Concreted that evidence in my brain and I looked around for evidence to say yeah Well, you went bankrupt you you have paid your bills late you aren't keeping up with different repayments on certain things So there was all this evidence that I could say that confirmed these new beliefs So, of course, I kept believing them and this went on for a few years and it wasn't until I really Did some coaching around my mindset of money that I really got to this block so

After our bankruptcy initially, the first couple of years, well the first year just was in denial. Didn't want to think about money. So didn't take any action to sort of get back on track. And then the second year I started looking more at the practical side of things. Because that's the easy thing for us to do. We think we don't want to have to go deep and look within ourselves and do all of that deep, you know, personal development work that we know, we know that that's what we need to do. But

It's much easier to do the things that don't impact our mindset immediately. So I started with budgeting, allocating money in certain accounts, setting up our accounts differently. I read The Barefoot Investor, which I love and I still recommend that book, but I have tweaked his approach onto how I manage my money. But that was a really great framework for me to just start managing our money better and thinking about investing.

And so I started doing all these things, yet we were still living each week paycheck to paycheck. We were running out of money, we were dipping into our savings and we just still weren't getting ahead and we were earning good money and it all came down, boiled down to the mindset. So I've really felt cool today. I've been thinking a lot about some shifts you can make during some mindset shifts that I think are just vital when you're recovering. And it was when I made the decision in myself,

that I'm not serving anyone by keeping, reaffirming these beliefs that I've made about myself, that I'm not worthy of money, that I'm terrible with money, I'm bad at managing money. And all that was doing, because when you're stuck in these limiting beliefs that you have, your brain is going to look for evidence to confirm it. So more things are going to show up that confirm, yeah, you are crap with money, you're doing a really bad job of it.

Louisa Larado (05:20.818)
And what I noticed was I was passing these beliefs onto my children. Now, they were both in primary school at the time, throughout our bankruptcy period, and they were sort of in their young years. And they started echoing words back to me about money, things about not being able to afford things. And it really gave me a bit of a wake-up call that not only have I got these limiting beliefs, but I'm not serving my family by keeping these beliefs up.

What I decided instead that when I was playing small and when I was believing these what I now know are just lies, they were just the beliefs that I had at the time. Once I made that decision that they weren't going to be part of my life anymore and I started creating some beliefs that actually serve me. That's when I realized that I actually. By staying stuck.

And by staying in that struggle, then I was buying into the fact that I wasn't worthy of creating a good life for my family. And that didn't benefit anyone. didn't benefit my kids. It didn't benefit my husband. It didn't benefit my friends, my family. And it definitely did not benefit me. And all I was seeing showing up in our lives was more reasons to struggle, more reasons to feel stressed and worried about money.

This, you know, even impacted things like my health and my wellbeing as well. It wasn't just about the money. And it's funny because looking back on photos the year prior to our bankruptcy and then like right in the middle of it, the amount of, I was just became a lot unhealthier that I went from being quite a healthy person to just sort of that whole self-worth thing overflowing to all other areas of my life. So, you know, I'm

put on a load of weight, I stopped exercising, I took on some bad habits that just weren't serving me. And you can just see in my face, looking at those photos during that period, what I look like, the effect that that had on every aspect of my life, not just my money.

Louisa Larado (07:38.89)
every single aspect, my health, my wellbeing, my family's health and their wellbeing too, which is crazy. But all of this stuff is linked because it came down to a self-worth issue. And once I made that decision that, know what, I am worthy of creating a better life for my family. I am done with the struggle. I'm done. By staying in that struggle mentality and...

Staying in this idea that we're always gonna be broke, money's always gonna be hard, we're never gonna be able to borrow money again, because these were all the ideas I had when we went bankrupt. All this did was show up more reasons for that, those things to occur in our life. And when I made that decision that I am done, I'm actually worthy of creating a better life for my family. My family deserves it, even if it wasn't just for me, if it was for my own kids and my husband and...

my family as a whole, they weren't getting the best version of me. And I was being this terrible role model by modeling all these behaviors to my kids who are at that really vulnerable age where I want to be showing them good beliefs and good ideas and good habits and be a great role model for them in terms of financial empowerment. That's something I'd love my kids to have. So first step was just to make that decision.

And it sounds so simple and it really is, but you need to be ready to make that decision. That was the key. When you are at that point where you're like, I am done, I'm done with this struggle. I'm done with being broke. I'm done with running out of money. I'm done playing small. I deserve more. My family deserves more. Then once that decision has been made and you decide that.

And you need to think about why you're making that decision too. if you just, it's like recently I did a whole big healthy eating overhaul and I knew there were certain foods that were triggering me that just did not agree with my body, but they were all my favorite foods like gluten and sugar. for years I've known I need to give up those foods. I really, really do, but I just really enjoyed them so much. So I couldn't see a way past.

Louisa Larado (10:01.603)
But it wasn't until I made the decision to think, okay, well, why? Why is this so important to me to cut out these foods? What impact is that gonna have on my life? What is my reason? And then it became easy and it became easy and I've not looked back since on that and that's been a few months now that I've been changed my diet and it's made me feel so much better in every single aspect of my life. But it's the same with your money mindset.

So you need to make that decision. Okay, well I'm done with this struggle. Why? Why are you done with that struggle? And for me it was a big part was I wanted to be able to one, be a great role model for my family. I wanted to create a great memorable life for my kids. They're both teenagers now. So I figure we've only got a few years left of quality family time where they're going to want to go and travel and go on holidays with us and you know, do fun family outings before they...

grow up and leave home. So I wanted to not just be on that autopilot living, which we were doing previously, where we were just working and coming home and doing stuff around the house and trying to save and budget. And that was not really a great enriching life for my kids. So I want to, so that was a big thing. Why, why I wanted to get out of the struggle because I want to create a great life for them. I want to be a great role model for them.

But also I want to just create a bit more freedom and joy in our lives for myself, for my husband and my family at large. I want to be able to support my parents. getting to the retirement age now and they're neither in an amazing financial situation. So by creating more money in my own life, I'm able to help support them in some ways as well.

And that would not be possible if I was still in that struggle mentality. Because when you're in that struggle mentality, it's like you've got tunnel vision on and all you can see is what's right in front of you. You can't see the big picture. You can just see day to day. is my day job. I've got to wake up, do the job, get paid, pay my bills, pay for food and do it all again. And that was not what I wanted. So.

Louisa Larado (12:24.458)
making that decision from one that you know what I am worthy of creating a better life than this and I want you to know that too you are so worthy of creating the life that you really desire you don't owe anyone any favors by playing at school by staying in that struggle you're not benefiting yourself you're not benefiting anyone that's around you in your life whether it's your kids your partner friends and family

never benefits anyone when you're playing small and you are staying in that struggle mentality or staying in that sort of broke cycle where it's everything's a struggle. So I wanted to give you a message today to tell you that you are so worthy of more. You are worthy of creating new money goals that are going to serve you. You are worthy for finding the next step forward.

You're worthy of educating yourself on a way to break this cycle, to get out of this way you're stuck right now. Because you owe it not only to the Pete, your loved ones, but you owe it to yourself. You owe it to yourself. Now, no one on their deathbed is going to look back on their life and think, I wish I like, was worked a bit harder and was struggling a bit more. They're to look back and think, I wish I created

better lifelong memories for my family and my friends and myself and got to do all the things I did. And money is that avenue to get you to those places to create that freedom and to create those opportunities. So I wanted to let you know that that is 100 % possible. Now it might sound hard, but the crazy thing is once you make that decision, once you decide I'm worthy and I'm done with the struggle, I am done with the struggle.

It's like the next step magically appears because when you are in that struggle cycle, you're closed off. You don't see anything else. You just see your problems. You're solution focused, you're problem focused. So when you open your eyes to what actually is out there and you're like, right, I'm ready to take some action. I'm ready to stop playing small. I'm ready to get to my next level because I owe it to myself.

Louisa Larado (14:51.468)
and all those people around me, then all of a sudden the next step will show up for you. So it might be a book that you see or a workshop that you attend or an opportunity to learn or to grow or somebody that shows up in your life or a job offer. Like it is crazy when you make the decision. It's like the path all of sudden is illuminated.

Imagine if you're driving your car with your lights off the whole time. That's what it's like right now for you. If you are in that struggle cycle, you cannot see what's right in front of you. But when you make that decision, it's like you just flick that light switch on and all of a sudden there'll be opportunities. And it really is as easy as that if you are willing to make that choice.

So what I suggest you do, if this is something that you wanna think about, if this is something that you are ready to start shifting, then there's a couple of ways you can do it. So firstly, make that decision. Secondly, think of why. Why do you wanna make a shift? Why do you wanna make a change? And a great exercise you can do is,

I've heard this referred to as like the onion strategy or five layers deep. So first of all, you think of your initial reason why you want to do something. So, for example, when I decided to change my healthy eating, the. I'm not recording. That's right. I can edit it so good.

Louisa Larado (16:34.67)
So when I decided to change my eating, for example, I didn't just think, I wanna do it because I wanna lose weight. That was one of the reasons. But the first reason was, okay, well, why? Why do you wanna lose weight? Okay, well, then you go to the next level. But why do you wanna lose weight? Well, because I feel like I have lost a bit of my self-confidence and I wanna feel better when I look at myself in the mirror.

Okay, well why do you want to make yourself feel better? Well, I feel like I am not being a great role model to my kids and I want to set a better example about healthy eating. Okay, well why do you want to do that?

Because I want health and happiness, I guess, for my family. I don't just want one aspect of their life to be content. I want a more holistic approach to my whole family's health and happiness. And you see how the more you go, the deeper you get into it. So you can ask yourself why five times. So first of all, write your first reason, then but why, but why, but why, but why. So you keep doing it.

write it down and you'll be interesting to find what really comes up for you. And it usually gets quite deep. So have a go at that. Getting clear on your why, why do you want to make this change? And then once you've made that decision and you've figured out your why, the next step I recommend is just list out as many ideas as you can think of right now that you could take to help get you in a better situation. Now,

You don't have to do a single thing off this list, but it's just starting to open up opportunities. So it doesn't mean that you have to take a single action on your list, but it's just brainstorming maybe ways you can create additional money, ideas that you have to better manage your money, maybe different books you wanna read or anything, anything that you think is gonna help put you in a better financial situation. Just list them all down.

Louisa Larado (18:46.552)
without judging, just list them down. And it will be really interesting to see what you come up with. And then from here, this is just gonna start opening you up to different opportunities. So mindset, like I say, is the key. It is the key to every successful person. It is the key to not just making this a short term fix, fixing your money situation, but making this something that is

long lasting, that long lasting financial stability. But then it's also taking things to the next level. Because once you're working your mindset, you're like, well, I don't want to play at this level anymore. I'm ready to take it up. So it's all these different steps you start to go through. The first one is deciding that you're done with the struggle and that you will work if you're creating a better life. So that's something I want you to think about today. And I just wanted to remind you that because

We can just go on living on autopilot without giving that a second thought and not actually realizing how much we are struggling and how we are not benefiting anyone by struggling. So hopefully you can take some action from that. Do some of the steps that I have suggested, doing your why, getting clear on making that decision and then listing down, brainstorming, just...

any ideas you have that are going to help you right now. Now if you want to take that even further, I'm really excited because I'm launching my free three-day Beyond Bankruptcy bootcamp. So this is going to be three days of live, immersive, virtual via Zoom workshops where we're going to be covering a holistic

to just what is next after bankruptcy or what your next steps can be. And this is going to be focusing on all of the stuff. So from your mindset to managing money better, budgeting better, how you can set up your savings, ideas on creating additional income, how to build up some resilience and what to do when things go wrong. So I'm going to be covering a whole lot of topics over these three days.

Louisa Larado (21:11.362)
They are all live on Zoom, so there'll be a chance to answer some questions as well and get them answered. And if you can't attend the event live, then you are able to, if you're registered, you'll get the replay of each of those three days too. So can watch them after the event and they'll be up for about a week after the event. So you will not miss out. But my goal right now is just to...

give this information to you because I know that you need it and you don't always want to be paying for knowledge. I want to give out as much free content as I can because I know that it's going to help you and it might just be that starting point that's going to start transforming your whole life and it's you know, think of it's not just you that this is going to benefit, is all those people around you as well, all your loved ones.

your family members, your kids, if you have them. It's that whole ripple effect. So just by spreading some knowledge to you, I'm hoping that's going to just make a little bit of an impact on your life. So if that's something you are interested in taking part, it's happening at the end of October. So all the details you can find at louisaLorado.com forward slash boot camp.

or you can find the link in the show notes below, which is going to give you everything that you need to register. Like I said, it's completely free, but you do need to register so you will get the link to the Zoom call. So make sure that you register there too. And there's also an option if people want a little bit more where they can upgrade.

to a VIP ticket, which is only $33 Australian dollars. So it's super cheap still, because I just wanted to make this something affordable. But that VIP ticket will get you an extra bonus hour after each session of interactive Q &A's that will just be all Q &A's. You can ask any questions that came up during the session, and you'll have that direct opportunity for me to coach you directly in that hour session.

Louisa Larado (23:26.68)
You'll also get a bonus if you're part of the VIP coaching one-on-one call with me after the event finishes, just to help make sure you have got that tailored roadmap for your own recovery, as well as a few other bonuses that I've thrown in there as well. that's also the info is on that site if you are interested in taking part. So I really hope I'll be seeing you in the bootcamp.

If not, you can head over to my Facebook page as well, which is the Bankrupt CWIS Facebook group for some more interactive content and trainings and other people that are going through the same situation to help answer questions and keep you accountable. So you can check that out as well. Thank you so much for listening. If you've enjoyed today's episode or if you think someone else will benefit from this episode, feel free to share it.

Follow along to the Bankrupt to Bliss podcast so you'll be notified when the next episode comes out. And if you enjoyed something today, feel free to leave a comment. I love getting your feedback. Thanks everyone and I'll see you on the next episode.