outmoded idea that you can’t love what you do and make money
too? Was I afraid of success? Did I believe that people with
money were not as good as people without money?
I realized that I was thinking all of these thoughts, and it
took many more years before I realized that these beliefs spoke
to the lack that I clearly was connected to.UNDERSTANDING POVERTY
CONSCIOUSNESSI share this story with you, as I believe that many of the pho-
tographers who do not pay attention to the financial aspect of
their business are grounded, as I was, in poverty consciousness.
Poverty consciousness is a term that speaks to a person’s
relationship with money. It does not refer to the amount of
money they have or their potential for earning. Living in lack
comes from a system of beliefs that you have around trust and
control and a connection (usually unconscious) to continuing
a pattern of negative thoughts.
You might be saying at this point, “I don’t have poverty
consciousness, I just never make enough money.” Or maybe
your justification is “I never learned about managing money
in photo school,” or perhaps you are telling yourself, “I have
no money because my clients never have enough money for
projects.”
All of these are simply situations. How you choose to
respond to them represents whether or not you live in lack. In
order to see if poverty consciousness is an active block in your
life, consider the following statements.- I spend more money than I have.
- I often give expensive gifts to others that I can’t afford.
- I spend money faster than I earn it.
- I buy things impulsively.
- I have no savings for myself, or my kids’ education, or for
emergencies. - I never have enough money.
- I never have enough time.
- The world is so expensive.
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