Money Is Made in Your Mind, Not at Work
- Brainz Magazine
- 17 hours ago
- 9 min read
Eszter Noble is an RTT® practitioner, Clinical Hypnotherapist, and Coach, specializing in anxiety, fears, and depression. Her method utilizes the most effective techniques from CBT, NLP, psychotherapy, and hypnotherapy, with the ability to provide freedom from any issues and deliver permanent, lasting solutions.
How many of us work long hours, put our heart and soul into our craft, and still feel frustrated because the compensation doesn’t seem to match our efforts? We feel overworked, often even undervalued, and our only answer seems to be to just work even harder. What if I told you that making money has much more to do with your mindset than your educational accolades or effort?
Every financial result is a reflection of invisible mental programming that you may not even be aware of. Your beliefs, your identity, and your sense of what’s possible are what will ultimately determine what your financial success will look like. If your inner story says, “I have to work even harder to earn more,” then your outer reality will reflect exactly that, long hours with linear returns. But when your mind expands, you understand your old patterns and your limiting beliefs, and everything shifts.
Your money story runs you, until you rewrite it
Astonishingly, by the time you are 5 years old, you have already formed your relationship with money. You have formed certain beliefs around it, internalised all the mantras and convictions of your caregivers, and made decisions that will stay with you for decades to come. Money is the root of all evil, money can’t buy happiness, it takes money to make money, and so on. Take a moment and recognize some of the ideas and limiting beliefs you inherited or observed and adopted growing up. You may have felt them strongly, but are they actually facts? Once you start deconstructing and questioning a belief, it begins to lose the power it has over you.
From a subconscious standpoint, your relationship with money mirrors your relationship with worth. If you secretly believe you’re undeserving or that money is scarce, you’ll unconsciously repel abundance through procrastination, undercharging, or playing small.
I remember growing up and desperately wanting a certain brown leather bag for school. No idea what I was thinking, because it was ugly as sin. It was made from multicoloured brown patches stitched together with rough thread. I mean, which 10-year-old schoolgirl dreams of such things?
When I was denied this abomination of a bag, I was inconsolable. My world was well and truly ending. I remember it so vividly, and the strongest feeling that stayed with me was that I’m just not worthy. I don’t deserve it. As a child, it didn’t occur to me for one second that my mom might not be able to afford this expensive abomination. I cried and cried for hours, days even, while putting all my value into this disgusting brown bag. The equation in my head was, I can’t get what I so desperately want, I must not be worthy. Growing up, we simply didn’t have all the tools to make sense of such situations, and parents don’t always have the time or ability to give us an empowering explanation.
Reprogramming starts now, and in the mind. Through awareness and repetition, you can teach your brain new truths, “I am worthy of success.” “Money flows where I add value.” “I’m capable of generating income in new, creative ways.” “Wealth grows from confidence, not constant labour.”
When your beliefs shift, your behaviour follows. You start noticing different opportunities, speaking differently about your value, and making choices from possibilities rather than fear.
You need an alter ego to be successful
There’s a common thread that pulls through all areas of our lives, whether it be relationships, education, work, or you name it. We desperately want to avoid rejection. We are hard-wired to avoid rejection because it triggers deep fears of isolation and challenges our sense of self-worth, which, historically, threatened survival if we were excluded from the group. This emotional pain motivates us to seek acceptance and protect ourselves from perceived social or emotional harm.
It applies in a work or business setting as well. Most people hate making cold calls, pitching new ideas, and speaking up in meetings because the possibility of being shut down or rejected is too real. After months or even years of building yourself up, practicing, and persevering through uncomfortable situations, you can absolutely develop the grit required, but what if there was an easier way?
Some people already say that they have a work and a home persona, so this idea shouldn’t be too hard to implement. Creating an alter ego can help immensely to boost resilience, focus, and success in high-pressure environments. By doing this, you can compartmentalise and help separate your professional identity from personal vulnerability, thereby protecting your confidence and reducing stress during demanding situations. When you step into this alter ego, you could perform exceptionally well in front of colleagues and critical people, regardless of nerves or doubt.
The alter-ego approach provides several workplace benefits:
It creates psychological distance from fears and failures, allowing you to act with greater composure and creativity.
The alter ego embodies desired traits (confidence, focus, persuasiveness), making it easier to override hesitation and deliver peak performance, even under scrutiny.
This strategy doesn’t just protect self-esteem, it empowers you to expand your comfort zone and take bolder risks, reframing challenges as opportunities for growth.
Resilience and achievement rely as much on a crafted mindset and intentional self-presentation as on technical skill. Developing an alter ego in the workplace can help you silence self-doubt, adopt empowered behaviours, and unlock higher levels of performance. Let’s take a salesperson as an example. Jonathan needs to make 70 cold calls a day. The first 10 people are upset and swear at him. Do they actually know Jonathan? Of course not, they never met him. They are rejecting the software he is trying to sell, and not his character or who he is as a person. Compartmentalise and carry on!
Work on yourself before you work harder
Hard work is a vessel, not the creator of wealth. The real creator is the mind that directs it. Once your mindset aligns with abundance, your work becomes more strategic and inspired. Instead of grinding, you grow. Instead of chasing money, you attract it. You have to believe you are worthy.
The most successful people aren’t working harder than everyone else. They’re thinking differently. They’ve mastered the inner game first, and the outer game simply followed. Once you upgrade your beliefs, you’ll naturally upgrade your results.
So, if you want more cold, hard cash in your life, here’s what to do:
Clear your limiting beliefs around money: Take a moment and collate all the beliefs you picked up around money and success growing up. Are they true? Are they at all helpful?
Add value, don’t just expect: Providing value first builds trust and goodwill, making partners and clients more willing to support your needs or requests. When you clearly demonstrate how your actions benefit others, it creates loyalty, opens opportunities for collaboration, and establishes a reputation for integrity and expertise, all of which strengthen your position.
Set clear, measurable financial goals: Measuring your goals makes it easier to hold yourself accountable, adjust strategies if needed, and maintain motivation, all of which increase your likelihood of achieving financial success and minimizing stress along the way.
Hone in on your craft: Developing advanced skills allows you to deliver exceptional results, differentiate yourself from others in your field, and attract meaningful projects or clients. The pursuit of mastery not only deepens your sense of purpose but also elevates your resilience, confidence, and adaptability in the face of career challenges.
The solution is often simple. That doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it’s simple. The clarity of what needs to be done is usually obvious once you see it, so take the first step, have an honest conversation with yourself, and make the change you’ve been avoiding. What makes it hard isn’t the complexity of the actions required, but the resistance, fear, or discomfort that comes with following through.
Your environment matters
Money might not grow on trees, but much like an oak that can’t survive in torrid terrain, you can’t get wealthy if you surround yourself with broke people. Your environment and the people you choose to surround yourself with will have a massive impact on your financial well-being. Your social circle influences your mindset, habits, and opportunities for growth. People with positive, growth-oriented attitudes can inspire smarter financial decisions, share valuable resources, and encourage wealth-building behaviours, while negative or scarcity-minded peers will reinforce limiting beliefs and unhealthy habits. By building relationships with those who support ambition and learning, you position yourself for better advice, expanded networks, and greater confidence in pursuing your financial goals.
I understand it can be hard to find the right people and socialise with wealthy entrepreneurs, but if you have internet, you can do it. There is so much material out there, so many successful people share their expertise, you have to sit yourself down and learn it. Your new circle can be online initially.
If you’d like to hone in on a specific skill, you could search for a mentor. Someone who has put in the legwork and has years of experience can be a fantastic resource. When you reach out, though, let’s keep in mind what we learned earlier in the CASH framework. Offer to add value before you expect them just to spill all their industry secrets. What could you bring to the mentor-mentee relationship? Another aspect worth considering is that often, fantastic resources are just around the corner. Find the biggest house with the most cars parked on the driveway in your town and introduce yourself. Often, the biggest influencers, the people everyone deems experts, are really busy, but John Dough, who made a fortune from gas stations, is also a terrific resource. Branch out, talk to new people, get out of your usual environment, because nothing changes if nothing changes.
It’s all about developing the right habits and spending your time wisely. So next time you are asked to go to the arcade and have some beers or make your credit card work overtime on an unnecessary shopping spree, choose to spend time with your new friends instead, and become financially literate.
The final frontier: Fear
Becoming financially literate means understanding key concepts like earning, budgeting, saving, investing, borrowing, and protecting your assets, and being able to use this knowledge to make informed financial decisions in daily life. Financial literacy empowers you to plan, manage, and grow your money wisely, helping you avoid debt traps, build financial security, and achieve both short and long-term goals with confidence. Unfortunately, this isn’t something that’s taught in schools, but you simply cannot afford not to have the knowledge.
So many people avoid making important decisions because they lack the knowledge, and there is fear surrounding mortgage processes or investments. We fear the unknown. Just because it wasn’t part of the curriculum in class, it doesn’t mean it’s too late to learn.
Take some time to familiarise yourself with budgeting, borrowing, whatever it is that feels daunting to you. The dream isn’t to win the lottery. It’s to upgrade your understanding of money. Most lottery winners end up broke after a few years because they often lack financial literacy and do not have the skills to manage large sums responsibly. Sudden wealth can lead to excessive spending, poor investment decisions, pressure from others, and lifestyle inflation, all of which quickly deplete winnings if not properly planned and protected with professional advice.
Money and your mind go hand in hand. Emotional resilience is just as important as financial clarity. Practice mindfulness, seek professional guidance if needed, and celebrate small wins to increase confidence and reduce stress. Start by acknowledging your financial anxieties and educating yourself on personal finance so you have the knowledge and tools to make informed decisions.
Making money starts in your mind, and money is nothing without peace of mind. Your beliefs about wealth, possibility, and self-worth shape every single financial decision you make. A positive money mindset, one rooted in abundance and confidence, motivates you to pursue opportunities, learn from setbacks, and build habits that lead to financial growth. If your mindset is limited by fear or scarcity, you’re likely to sabotage your own success regardless of how much you earn.
True financial well-being is not just a number on a balance sheet. It means feeling secure, content, and free from persistent stress about your financial circumstances. Wealth without inner calm often leads to anxiety, poor decisions, and dissatisfaction. Cultivating peace of mind involves understanding your emotional triggers, managing your financial habits, and aligning your money with your values, so your pursuit of success enhances your life rather than erodes your well-being. You need both in balance.
Read more from Eszter Noble
Eszter Noble, Clinical Hypnotherapist & Coach
Eszter Noble is an established Clinical Hypnotherapist using the RTT® (Rapid Transformational Therapy) method, trained by world-renowned hypnotherapist Marisa Peer. She is known for handling extremely difficult cases and clients who have been stuck for years and have tried it all. Specializing in anxiety, fears, and depression, she is extremely intuitive and honest, dedicated to empowering her clients to become the best possible versions of themselves. Offering her expertise in English, German, and Hungarian, Eszter’s mission is to take the taboo out of therapy.
