You Are a Badass at Making Money - critical summary review

If you want to start making money, you need to build a healthy relationship with it first. That’s the basic premise of Jen Sincero’s fourth book, “You Are a Badass at Making Money,” the long-awaited companion to her 2013 bestseller “You Are a Badass.” Its objective is both simple and far-reaching: to help you master the mindset of wealth and infuse you with the courage necessary for taking “huge, uncomfy risks.” Get ready to learn how!

Money is a medium of exchange

Building a healthy relationship toward anything or anyone starts with understanding it. Money is no exception. Even though it is everywhere at all times, rarely do we stop to investigate what it actually is and how it came to be. Let’s do that right now and imagine how trade looked before the invention of money.

Most economists agree that it included immediate and direct swapping of goods and services – something referred to as a barter economy. If, for instance, a hunter needed arrow heads and a weapon maker wanted a beaver pelt, then the two could make a deal. But what if the weapon maker wanted something else? That’s the main problem of bartering – it only works if each of the two parties making the trade holds an item the other side wants. So, eventually, this inconvenience led to people stockpiling generally desirable items. Then, these items were assigned particular values in relation to other items and, eventually, they evolved to become money.

So, in essence, money is nothing more but a medium of exchange, or, even simpler, “a unit of measurement used in the act of giving and receiving.” Just as other media (such as, say, language) or units of measurements (such as meters or grams), money is neither good nor bad in itself; instead, it’s an instrument that can be used by people for doing good or bad things. “Money is only a tool,” Ayn Rand said once. “It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.” Staying with the analogy, the pervading belief that money is sinful is not that different from the hypothetical idea that cars are intrinsically evil and cause accidents by themselves. Yet, somehow, only the latter seems absurd!

Money and the Universal Intelligence

Contrary to popular belief, money is not the root of all evil, but rather “a blank slate that gets its value from the energy and meaning we give it.” There’s a difference between making $50 raking leaves for your old neighbor or by stealing it from an unsuspecting man on the subway. In the second case, there is no exchange: you get something while giving nothing in return. Consequently, there’s a different energy attached to the trade.

“Giving and receiving money is an energetic exchange between people,” writes Sincero, “and your job is to consciously get your frequency in alignment with the money you desire to manifest and open yourself up to receiving it.” Because even though money always comes to you through other people, as does every other single thing, it ultimately comes to you from Universal Intelligence, the power that has created and continues to create all that exists. It doesn’t matter whether you call this power God or Spirit or Luck or Coincidence – or even if you believe in it; Universal Intelligence exists, nevertheless, and the power of our thoughts is real and affecting our lives in every single moment.

Think of it this way. Whatever your five senses may be witnessing or experiencing, the information they gather is always processed inside your brain. And there, depending on your belief system, it is filtered and interpreted in this way or another. That’s why, to some people, the observation, “Hey, your childhood friend has built a million-dollar online store” means, “Oh, I’m an utter and complete failure,” and to others “Well, why shouldn’t I be able to do the samel?” Now, ask yourself: which of these two people is more likely to succeed? 

Dictating the truth through your thoughts

Gravity and electricity impact our lives on a daily basis, and yet we can’t actually see them. Most of us don’t even understand how they work! Yet, we believe in each, and we don’t go around jumping from balconies or picking at light sockets with forks to see if these forces are real. Sincero advises one should adapt a similar attitude in relation to their thoughts and Universal Intelligence. The two, she says, “are basically the same force – just as the water droplet that lands in the ocean is part of the whole sea, so your thoughts exist as part of Universal Intelligence.”

So, in other words, even your smallest thought can cause a ripple effect in the endless rhythm of the universe. Whenever you are thinking about something, good or bad, your thoughts “alert the Universal Intelligence to start arranging the energy in such a way as to make your desires manifest in physical form.” Like attracts like in the world of thoughts. Just like a radio transmitter, your mind receives only those things that correspond to its mental attunement. This is why negative people see only negative things in the world and why positive people always see the glass half full.

If you find this logic too abstract, you are free to think about it in somewhat more practical terms. Namely, in addition to alerting the Universal Intelligence, your thoughts also trigger your emotions, which lead to actions which, in turn, are the only things that can get you results and change your immediate reality. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy: think that you are a failure, and you’ll become one; have confidence in your future success, and you’ll make yourself work toward it. It’s like the Gospel says: believe and you shall receive. 

Best practices for busting yourself

But what if you don’t believe? What if you think that money makes monsters out of good people? Is there a way out of such limiting beliefs? Of course there is – you just need to retrain your subconscious mind. Here are a few tips on how to do that:

1. Bum-rush your fears. Facing your fears isn’t enough – you need to really delve into them. So, in this very moment, think of something scary you can do right now that might get you one step closer to your million dollars. Not just risky, but something outright ridiculous, and even dangerous – such as, say, renting out a massive office for your start-up and hiring ten people before even having a business plan. Now, take time to feel whatever feelings might come up about this idea and make a note of all of them. In fact, go a step further. Release your feelings, let them rip, and allow them to take you to the root of your fears and reservations! Then, and only then, start visualizing a new story using the lessons learned from your temper tantrum.
2. Watch your mouth. “Words are great truffle pigs to uncover your hidden thoughts and beliefs about money,” writes Sincero. So, start paying attention and make the commitment to become more aware of your language. Translated into thoughts, “I want” means “I lack”, and “I wish” means “I’m not in control.” Both phrases are disempowering, just as “I can’t”, “I should” and “I’m trying” are. Replace these phrases with more affirmative expressions, such as “I have”, “I create”, “I enjoy”, “I can” and “I’m grateful for.”
3. Slow down and shut up. Even better than being aware of what you say is saying nothing. Because then you can listen and truly hear what the Universal Intelligence is telling you by way of your intuition. “The more you slow down and shut up,” advises Sincero, “the better chance you have to make powerful choices, and the more space you have to catch yourself in the moment and ask: ‘Why am I about to say this?’” The two best ways to shush your way to wealth are meditation and visualization. Even if it is just for several minutes a day, make some room for both. 
4. Have an “us” talk with money. Whether you realize it or not, you already have some kind of a relationship with money. If it’s not a good relationship, you need to talk things out. However, since money doesn’t talk, it’s much better if you write it an honest, heartfelt letter as if it were a person. Once you’re done, read it aloud. Chances are you’ll immediately realize how stupid your negative beliefs about money are. If you don’t, read your letter again!

Getting rich in seven steps

Now that you’ve gotten rid of the beliefs that are holding you back, it’s time to take a few action steps that should help you “put a new bulge in your wallet.” 

1. Give yourself permission to be rich. There is no bigger obstacle to becoming rich than the idea that wanting this automatically makes you a greedy person. “A healthy desire for wealth is not greed,” snaps Sincero,  “it’s a desire for life.”
2. Visualize your financial future. Long before Jim Carrey became a Hollywood superstar, he wrote himself a check for $10 million, dated it a few years in the future, and put in the memo that it was “for acting services rendered.” Three years later, he landed the role in “Dumb and Dumber” and got paid $10 million! Use the same trick. And don’t be vague. “Get clear on the amount of money you’re going to make and the specifics of what the money is for.” Then, “decide, with unshakable commitment, that you are making this money.”
3. Make a plan. There are many ways to earn a lot of money. Choose the one that best suits your talents and abilities. Then, make a plan in reverse: starting from the money you want to make and ending with the thing you must do tomorrow to reach your goal. Break up the plan into “bite-sized pieces,” and put yourself into focus-mode. Now, get to it. One goal at a time.
4. Do your best wherever you’re at. Wherever you are today, don’t be negative about it. Find the silver lining and develop an attitude of gratitude. Growth doesn’t mean focusing on your past or your present, but on your future.
5. Follow your intuition. Your intuition is the Universal Intelligence whispering you a “how” for your “why.” Follow it as often as possible – and especially if it’s scary and risky. 
6. Surround yourself with high-frequency people. Get out of relationships that no longer serve you. Surround yourself with people who boost your energy, strengthen your faith, up your game, make you mightier and celebrate who you are and who you want to become.
7. Be tenacious. According to Sincero, “the number one thing wealthy people attribute their success to is tenacity.” Unlike you, the serial giver-upper, wealthy people persevere. When the going gets tough, they keep going. So, push it real good, and even risk being unpopular if it’s necessary. Big changes affect everything in life, including your relationships with other people. Hold on to them, and you’ll stay poor for life.

Final Notes

“You Are a Badass at Making Money” is less a strategy book on how to become rich than it is a self-help manual on how to change your attitude toward money. More often than not, that’s all you might need to kickstart your personal wealth-creation journey. We wish you luck!

12min Tip

Money isn’t the root of evil, but the root of everything awesome. Love money not because you are greedy, but because you love yourself and you want to make your wishes come true.