How To Be Financially Stable – Monique Alvarez
SUMMARY
In this episode, we are here with Monique Alvarez, an author, business consultant, and a digital nomad. She shares valuable tips on how one can create financial stability and still maintain a healthy relationship with family and friends.
Monique says that there are three main currencies in our lives; money, time, and attention. Money is a reflection of how we handle the other two.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Lack of financial stability causes stress in people’s lives that they lose focus on important things.Addressing financial instability solves a lot of problems.
Steps to creating financial stability:
- Figure out what makes you happy.
- Practice energetic exchange.
- Look at your relationship with money.
- Have an open discussion about money.
- Create consistent office hours.
TRANSCRIPTION: HOW TO BE FINANCIALLY STABLE – MONIQUE ALVAREZ
Luis Congdon
Hey there, Thriving Launchers. What does it take to create financial stability and what are some different tips how to be financially stable? We got that on today’s episode and more.
Kamala Chambers
We are here with Monique Alvarez. She is an author, an international business consultant, and a digital nomad.
Luis Congdon
Hey, Thriving Launchers, we’re here with Monique to talk about steps on how to be financially stable.
Are you ready to launch, Monique?
Monique Alvarez
Absolutely!
Luis Congdon
I want to ask you, why is it essential for us to talk about creating financial stability?
I have a lot of ideas about why it’s essential. I’ve been homeless, needy, and worked my butt off to try to create some savings, stability, and profitability.
Why is it so vital for you that you sat down, and you decided to write a whole book about creating a financial stability?
Importance Talking About How to be Financially Stable
Monique Alvarez
It’s important to me because I work with female entrepreneurs. I only work with business women and what I found, is over and over, this lack of stability creates so much stress in their lives that they lose focus on the things that they need to be doing in their business. It also causes them to lose focus in maintaining a healthy marriage or good relationships with their children and taking care of their health.
Monique Alvarez
I want to address this because by addressing this one thing, it solves a lot of problems.
Kamala Chambers
Yeah. It’s so beautiful, and I love that your mission is to help women with it too.
Luis Congdon
Go, women.
Kamala Chambers
What I’d love to hear is what the first step on how to be financially stable?
Monique Alvarez
I love that question because the first step is a little counterintuitive.
When we go into business, and we’re running a business, we often think, “What does my client want?” “What would my client buy?” “What does my client X, Y, Z?”
First Step on How to be Financially Stable
Monique Alvarez
When I wrote this book, I decided I don’t want to start with the client because once again, it’s easy for us to look at what other people need or want from us. And so, the very first step, day one, is figuring out “What makes me happy? What do I love to do in my work? What do I love to offer? It lights me up. It energizes me. I could do it all day every day.” That is the first step.
Here’s the thing.
Why would you want stability doing something you hate? I want my clients to love it. So let’s figure out first what makes me tick, what makes me happy, and then we’ll go from there.
Kamala Chambers
Yeah, I’m with you on this, and we’ve had some influencers on the show who say that passion has nothing to do within. They’re anti-passion.
How to be Financially Stable – Love What You Do
Kamala Chambers
I’m with you on this one that you have to love what you’re doing. Otherwise, what’s the point of doing it, right? I’m so glad you brought that up.
What’s the second step on how to be financially stable?
Monique Alvarez
The second step is practicing the art of what I call energetic exchange.
How to be Financially Stable – Practice Energetic Exchange
Monique Alvarez
I cover in this chapter, we have to be comfortable with both giving and receiving, and we have three main currencies in our lives; time, attention, and money, and all three of these needs to flow both directions freely.
What I like to focus on is “What areas of our lives is there an imbalance? Where is this energetic exchange not working for everyone involved?” It’s about saying, “I am here to serve. And, I am here to be paid for what I do.”
Once again, I’ve noticed entrepreneurs are big-hearted people. They do want to help. They want to serve and change the world, and sometimes they over give. We over give in an attempt to accomplish that goal.
Luis Congdon
What do you think has been helpful in your journey and the journey of coaching and watching your clients and your community find that balance?
It’s because I find that most of us are imbalanced in either giving too much or receiving too much. I’m even curious how that balance also impacts our financial stability.
How to be Financially Stable – Look at Your Relationship with Money
Monique Alvarez
I believe that we have to look at how we honestly feel about money.
Of those three currencies, I feel we have to go to money first because money is a tremendous big mere and reflection of how we handle the other two. Once we can see, “This is how I feel about money. This is how comfortable or uncomfortable I am in receiving it,” then we can begin to identify “This is also why I waste time. This is also why I have so many energy drains in my life.”
Monique Alvarez
I think the root is looking at, “What’s my relationship with money?”
The thing I tell my clients is “If money were a person, how could you approach this relationship differently? Can you let go of the story or the beliefs that were passed down to you? Thank the people who gave them to you; they did their best. But, how can you begin to redefine it for yourself?”
How to be Financially Stable – Open Discussion About Money
Monique Alvarez
We’re adults, and every adult gets to recreate, redesign, reinvent. We don’t have to take what was given to us. We can at any point in our life decide to start over and make a fresh start. I believe that coming to the point of having an honest discussion about money is where this all starts.
Kamala Chambers
Yeah, I find that mindset is such an essential piece on how to be financially stable.
I love hearing what the practical thing is. What is the thing we could be doing or your number one tip that isn’t about the mindset to create financial stability?
How to be Financially Stable – Create Office Hours
Monique Alvarez
For me, a real practical tip that makes a significant difference over time is to have office hours.
It doesn’t have to be 10 or 12 hours. Dedicate whatever is appropriate for your lifestyle and what stage you are in your business, but say, “These are the hours that I work in my business, and I am committed to them.”
I train the people around me to honor and respect those because if I don’t have consistent office hours, I can never expect my business to give me consistent, stable, recurring monthly income. Often, we put demands and expectations in our business that makes zero cents when we look at our habits.
If you don’t have consistent office hours, never expect your business to give you regular, stable recurring monthly income.
How to be Financially Stable – Train Others Around You
Monique Alvarez
That is my favorite place to start on how to be financially stable. It is to create office hours, honor them, keep them, and train those around you. Your spouse, mom, kids, and friends need to know, “This is when I work. I’m focused. No distractions whatsoever.
Kamala Chambers
Kamala’s exceptional with that. She also can be good at pushing those office hours and burning the candle at both ends so to speak.
Let’s get some coaching here. Monique, what do you think about burning candles at both ends and having maybe too much office hours?
Monique Alvarez
Sure.
Kamala Chambers
I want to say something here.
Luis Congdon
No defending yourself.
Kamala Chambers
What I like to do is maybe seen as extremely unbalanced.
Other People’s Ways on How to be Financially Stable
Kamala Chambers
I like to work for long stints at a time that is a way too much work all-in-one chunk, and then take long stints of time off. It seems unbalanced, but that’s my way of creating the balance.
Luis Congdon
I haven’t seen the time off, babe.
Monique Alvarez
We’re still waiting for that.
Luis Congdon
Kamala, I think you’re avoiding the coaching here.
Monique, what do you say about that?
Monique Alvarez
I hear what you’re saying. I can listen to how you’re trying to convince yourself that that’s a good idea.
How to be Financially Stable – Create Consistency
Monique Alvarez
But what I have found is that our ideal clients and current clients respond much better to consistency.
Everything I have learned about productivity and everything that I have experimented with, tells me that my productivity crashes big time after a certain number of hours. That’s why I only work three to four hours a day because I can be super sharp, super creative, I can hone in on money making activities for that amount of time, and then I go downhill.
The other reason I don’t work more than that is that I can be just like you. I can kick into overdrive. When I kick into overdrive, then it’s tough to shut my mind down. It’s tough for me to come to dinner and be present with the conversation that’s going on. It’s tough for me to sleep well, and all of a sudden, I’m moving down on a track I know is not good for me.
This is my test.
Learn How to be Financially Stable and Maintain Healthy Relationships
Monique Alvarez
How is my health being affected? How is my marriage being affected? What are my kids have to say about it? Because at the end of the day, I have to make a good buy. I have to be in good standing with them otherwise, no matter how much money I make, it’s not worth it.
If my husband’s not happy with me, and my kids are wondering why the heck I’m not looking in their eyes and playing with the Play-Doh, then I’m in trouble.
Luis Congdon
You’ve left Kamala speechless.
Kamala Chambers
I think it’s great what you’re saying.
Luis loves the two hour work week. I think he would prefer to work that way.
Luis Congdon
I have another question here, Monique.
We’re talking about balance and regards to how you work, creating consistency, doing work that you enjoy and love, what are some of the other tips that you have for people on how to become financially successful?
Different Views On How to be Financially Stable
Luis Congdon
It’s interesting to me too that so far, we’ve had some of the Ramsey family members on the show. Thriving Launchers, maybe you know of Dave Ramsey. His daughter, Rachel Cruze, we’ve had her on the show, and I’m thinking about how these different people have come on the show to talk about finances.
The first thing they talk about is balancing your checkbook. And yet, from you, I haven’t heard that yet. I am digging it.
Monique Alvarez
I have to say that I tend to take a different angle, a different approach.
How to be Financially Stable – Learn From Experiences
Monique Alvarez
My clients would tell you, “She’s not your typical business consultant.” Part of the reason is I don’t have any formal background training on this. I have no college degree, I have a high school diploma, but I learned business by growing up at my parent’s brick and mortar stores.
Kamala Chambers
Yeah.
How to be Financially Stable – Avoid Working Too Much
Kamala Chambers
I want to say I love what you said about being to look in your kid’s eyes, being able to look in your husband’s eyes. That right there is your barometer for if you’re working too much versus taking the space that you need to be an entirely present human being. That’s something that I find with you, Luis.
Like when we’re struggling, that’s when I know I need to back off. I need to back off because the relationship and the love is the most important thing. It is.
Before we go, is there any last point or any last tip that you want to leave the Thriving Launchers with on ways to become financially independent?
How to be Financially Stable – Serve at the Highest Level
Monique Alvarez
The most significant thing to creating stable income is, as a professional, taking a step back and listening to what your client’s goals are, what they want to get out of their time working with you. Also, being honest, and using your experience to speak from a place of authority and say, “We can’t accomplish this in a week or a month. We’re going to need three months or six months or a year to get where you want to go. And so, this is what I propose. This is the kind of contract I work on. This is the sort of program I have.”
Not only does that create satisfied clients, but it also creates stable income.
My husband and I have certain contracts, particular clients that we can count on month in and month out because we took the time to set that up. This is thinking about how do you serve at the highest level and help your clients accomplish the goals that they have in mind when they come to you.
Serving at the highest level does not only create happy clients, but it also creates stable income.
Luis Congdon
Thriving Launchers, there you have it.
Key Takeaways on How to be Financially Stable
Luis Congdon
If there’s something that you’ve gotten from this, I hope that you’ve taken an opportunity to consider some takeaways from the show.
For me, one of them is maybe being more consistent with my routine, and have times when I don’t respond to clients on Facebook or through email, and creating a certain level of consistency that my clients and the people in my life can count on. That’s for me is one of my big takeaways from this interview.
I don’t know what you got out of it, Thriving Launchers. Whatever you got, feel free to write us.
Thriving Launchers, until next time, keep thriving you all.
