October 3, 2024 • 14 mins
Welcome to this episode of The Cycle Breaker podcast with your host, Sukhi Kaur, a certified feminist life coach helping women of color entrepreneurs break generational cycles and overcome imposter syndrome.
In today’s episode, Sukhi dives deep into the concept of financial freedom—but not just in terms of dollars and cents. We explore how financial freedom means different things to different people, especially for first-generation women of color. Sukhi uncovers how personal values, emotions, and self-trust shape our vision of financial independence, going beyond the numbers to highlight both tangible and intangible goals. Whether you're aiming for early retirement or wanting to support your family, Sukhi helps you reflect on what your version of financial freedom looks and feels like.
Key topics include:
- The unique challenges first-generation women of color face around money and scarcity
- Balancing passion, purpose, and financial goals in entrepreneurship
- Defining both tangible (like retirement) and intangible (like fulfillment) aspects of financial freedom
- How self-trust and emotional awareness can anchor you in your entrepreneurial journey
Sukhi also shares real-life examples from clients, illustrating the variety of paths to financial freedom and why it’s crucial to define it in a way that aligns with your life and goals.
Links:
- Book a free consultation: sukhilifecoach.com/freeconsult
- Connect with Sukhi on Instagram: @SukhiLifeCoach
If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review the show! Your feedback helps us reach and inspire more cycle breakers.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:09):
Welcome to the Cycle Breaker podcast. I'm
your host, Sukhi Kaur, a certified
feminist life coach, and I'm here to help
you navigate being a woman of color
entrepreneur, breaking generational
cycles and letting go of imposter
syndrome. Here you will learn to create
self-awareness around the truth of who
you are and see your ability to
(00:30):
change how you experience yourself. And
further the results you create in your
life. So let's break these much needed
cycles together here in community.
So today I want to talk about something
(00:51):
that's comes up as a common theme when
especially when I do a consultation with
clients of what's their reason for
wanting to start a
business?What's their reason for wanting
to make more money?And this is a common
theme among women of color and
especially as those that are similar to
me who are first generation. I'm first
(01:12):
generation Indian. Growing up in
America, I've had clients that, you know,
grew up in England, in
Australia. Regardless of where you grow
up, this is a common theme just as
someone that's a woman of color and
especially those that are first Gen.
Just because there's like these certain
types of pressures that we grow up with
(01:34):
when it comes to money and there's a
specific type of scarcity that we have
where. You know, we just crave
that safety, that financial
safety, emotional
safety, right. And
I wanted to bring this up because I
(01:55):
think, you know, if this
is something that comes up
for you a lot of like, I would just want
financial freedom. That's why I want to
do this and I'm passionate about this
work, but. You know, I want to have
multiple streams of income. I'm already
have a good job and I want to do more and
I want my life to look a certain way. And
(02:16):
I think a lot of times we stop
at financial freedom and
I'll and often and if not every
time I go in deeper with my
clients where I ask of what does that
look like?And even though this is a
common theme among mostly everyone I
speak to. It looks very different for
(02:36):
each person. If, for example,
like financial freedom for one for one
client was being able to
retire by 41 or
40 and making like
having multiple streams of income and not
having to worry about, you know, asking
for a raise every time and just being
able to happily retire with. Being able
(02:59):
to, you know, maintain the lifestyle that
they have and leave generational
wealth for their family and have a family
and being able to afford it and be able
to have their lifestyle of travel and
where they lived in the city and all that
good stuff. And then somebody else I
spoke to was similar, but one of
(03:19):
one of her goals of why is financial
freedom so important is. To
be able to like be
another income stream for her parents who
were retiring. So supporting her
parents and she's first Gen. So that's
something that you know, it's very
unique to want to have your goals where
(03:40):
it includes being a financial
resource for your family. And I think
like it just really varies of why you
want to do what we want to do, but
sometimes. You know, of course our
passion about something is purposeful. We
love doing it. But I think it does
come down to where I've seen that theme
of financial freedom and I've noticed
(04:02):
that it looks different and it feels
the feeling that everyone craves. Not
only does it look different, but the way
somebody wants to feel. What
what they think they'll feel that they
wanna achieve once they get there, it
varies as well. So when I say what it
looks like, I'm thinking the
outside, like somebody from the outside
(04:24):
can see this. So what I call this is like
tangible results. Like this is measurable
steps of are you retired by 40?This is
your plan. You'll get there this much.
This is how much money you need, all that
stuff where it's like measurable steps,
measurable goals. And then there's
the other part of it, of how-- what do
we-- because as humans, when we do stuff,
(04:46):
we just crave to feel a
certain way. We think we're going to feel
a certain way when we get to a goal,
and that's how we want to do it. That's
what actually like motivates us the whole
way. Um Because you know you may
have-- currently, you may have achieved a
goal of like whether it was your degree
or promotion at work, and it just didn't
(05:07):
feel good. And I thinkA lot of times
our motivation is more so of how is it
going to feel and we think it's going to
be exciting and that's what we're
actually going for. So then there of
course there are tangible goals that we
go for and that we strive for, but
they're also intangible. And I think it's
important when we're trying to do this
(05:28):
work of figuring out why do why is
financial freedom important for me?What
does it look like?What does it feel like?
I think taking it the next step of.
I said tangible results of things that
you can see, but intangible results as
well of, you know, what will it, what
will it feel like when you get to be the
person you think you will be that future
(05:50):
version of you, like somebody that is,
you know, going after other currencies
like courage and resilience
and. Being able to be an example for
someone and just feeling liberated and
not at not as heavy and weighed down by
the burdens of keeping up a perception
and, you know, falling into the traps of
(06:10):
being stopped by
the imposter syndrome thoughts of like,
I'm not good enough, am I questioning
yourself and letting that drive what you
do. So I think the intangible goals are
so important to understand of how do you
think you're going to feel?Who is
that that version of you?How is that
(06:31):
person going to feel when they get to the
financial freedom?Will they feel relief?
Will they feel proud?That's the type of
stuff that we need to plan for. Of
course, you know, knowing you're tangible
when it, especially when it comes to
financial goals, that's important. But I
think understanding both
sides of the tangible goals and the
intangible when it comes to financial
(06:53):
freedom. That's really important because
as I work with different people and
that's like the ultimate goal, right?Like
to have, especially when you're starting
a business or trying to scale it and grow
it and commit to it where you're pursuing
something that you really want. Sometimes
it doesn't really make sense to do that,
but it's something that's purposeful. So
you want to do it anyway and it is
(07:14):
another stream of income or it is like
something you want to. For completely
too, which doesn't have to be the case,
but I think it's important to understand
of like what does it mean to have
financial freedom?What for you,
specifically for you, whether you're
first Gen. or not. I think
understanding why that's important,
(07:35):
understanding what type of searcity might
come up for you of like, you know, am I
going to be able to do all these things?
And sometimes it's a matter of, you know.
I had a client who wanted to retire by 40
and she wanted to, if she stayed at work
and she kept at, you know, getting the
increases she was going to each
(07:55):
year, ask, negotiate each year or change
her job, like she would still make it
there. But then when she was saying, oh,
I would love to like
help other professionals with their
resumes and getting the jobs that they
really love, like it just light, it just
like lit her up. And it was, you can just
see it in her face when she's talking
(08:17):
about it because it was something that
was like important to her that she wanted
to do. And then she was saying, you know,
well, if I start my business now, I think
that'll put me a little bit
farther along the line of, you know, I'm
just going to be starting off as an
entrepreneur, take some time to have
clients. Like if I want to add this, it
may take away my focus
(08:38):
completely from my corporate goals.
And you know, that was a question that we
just had to
explore of like, is that something that
you're OK with or is it more important to
get to retirement by 40?Or is it more
important for you to, you know,
understand the type of business you want
(08:59):
to start, understand how you want to
spend your time and how you want to
support yourself and get there maybe like
3-4 or five years later is
forty-five?Better in that sense
rather than the 40 where you're just
getting there because that's just where
you want to go. And a lot of my and the
reason that I've started coaching women
of color entrepreneurs is because I think
(09:21):
it's so important to have this in mind.
What are our financial, what does
financial freedom mean if that's like
something that really drives us and also
like how do we want it to feel when we
get there?Like is it going to be where we
push ourselves through because you know.
Everyone I speak to very high achieving,
(09:41):
ambitious women and this is, you know,
when you're talking about
entrepreneurship, this is like what
they're passionate about and it's and
you know, especially for me and and what
I see is that where the
space to explore what you want to do just
because you want to do it and and then
make that a stream of income that's not
really as common because it sounds like.
(10:05):
And when you're explaining to others that
it just seems like you're giving up the
stability in order to explore
and really, you know, I'll put this in
quotes like be happy in the end and like
pursue what you want. And I think
having that open space is so beautiful to
explore that of like, hey, am I OK
(10:25):
with getting to, you know, what my my
tangible goal is a little later?Do I even
need to be a little later?Can I just. You
know, work on my business in certain like
certain aspects that it would speed up
things or just being open to how
important is entrepreneurship and
in this picture and how important is it
(10:46):
for you to, you know, do something that's
purpose-led. And it doesn't have to be
that you always have to start a business.
Of course you can start a job, but. I
coach women that wanna be entrepreneurs
and sometimes they've either started a
little and tip their toes and a little
flirted with entrepreneurship, but
haven't had the courage to be like, or
really not even courage because all these
(11:08):
women are very ambitious and courageous
and do hard things. But just having that
self-trust that's required because as a
cycle breaker, this is not modeled to be
like, okay, you know what, you have
stable income, you're likely to,Retire
earlier, doing really well for yourself
and now we just want to change everything
up. Like that's not really not modeled
and that's not really it. Depending on
(11:29):
who you tell that to in your community,
that will be questioned a lot and it'll
help. It'll make you question yourself.
So I think anchoring and self-trust is so
important. So I'd like for you to reflect
listening to all this like what was
coming up for you as I'm speaking about.
You know how financial freedom
drives a lot of us, especially as women
(11:51):
of color entrepreneurs, especially
though. And it's really unique to those
that are first generation
children of immigrants. And like, how
does that play into why you want to
do what you want to do?And like, what
does that look like for you, like your
tangible goals?But what is that?Also,
what will that feel like for you, your
(12:12):
intangibles?Like, what do you want that?
Internally, you would be like, OK, this
is what it would actually be.
Because I think it's so important to
understand that for yourself or what
you're striving for. It's really not just
retirement at 40, right?And that's just
one example I'll keep going back to. But
it's really like, oh, imagine doing it in
(12:34):
a purposeful way and something that's
personal to you and you'll get there.
That would feel amazing. And that's maybe
something that you didn't even think of
can be a possibility. So I'd like for you
to reflect on is financial freedom
something that's top of mind when you
think of what anchors you and your
motivates you and what does that
(12:54):
look like?What does that feel like?And
how would you, you know,
incorporate this into
entrepreneurship and starting and and
starting to explore what you want to do
and. The possibility of your
intangible goals actually
being something that's considered
just as much as your your tangible goals.
(13:17):
So the feelings of how you want to feel
and how you want to be when you get
there, just as important of what
you want to be doing, what you want to be
having, what your your account should
look like and what your lifestyle should
look like. So I would love for you to
reflect on that. Feel free to message me
if something comes up and you just wanna
talk about it. I do offer a free
(13:39):
consult, so you're welcome to
sign up for that as well. Hope you have a
great week.
Hey, if you're listening to this podcast
and wondering how I can help you break
free of your cycles, especially those
that hold you back in business, I'm happy
to chat. You can sign up for a
consultation without any preparation
(14:00):
needed. At
sukhilifecoach.com/freeconsult
and we can talk about your cycles and how
to break free of them. Cheers to breaking
more much needed generational cycles.
Welcome to the Cycle Breaker podcast. I'm
your host, Sukhi Kaur, a certified
feminist life coach, and I'm here to help
you navigate being a woman of color
entrepreneur, breaking generational
cycles and letting go of imposter
syndrome. Here you will learn to create
self-awareness around the truth of who
you are and see your ability to
(00:30):
change how you experience yourself. And
further the results you create in your
life. So let's break these much needed
cycles together here in community.
So today I want to talk about something
(00:51):
that's comes up as a common theme when
especially when I do a consultation with
clients of what's their reason for
wanting to start a
business?What's their reason for wanting
to make more money?And this is a common
theme among women of color and
especially as those that are similar to
me who are first generation. I'm first
(01:12):
generation Indian. Growing up in
America, I've had clients that, you know,
grew up in England, in
Australia. Regardless of where you grow
up, this is a common theme just as
someone that's a woman of color and
especially those that are first Gen.
Just because there's like these certain
types of pressures that we grow up with
(01:34):
when it comes to money and there's a
specific type of scarcity that we have
where. You know, we just crave
that safety, that financial
safety, emotional
safety, right. And
I wanted to bring this up because I
(01:55):
think, you know, if this
is something that comes up
for you a lot of like, I would just want
financial freedom. That's why I want to
do this and I'm passionate about this
work, but. You know, I want to have
multiple streams of income. I'm already
have a good job and I want to do more and
I want my life to look a certain way. And
(02:16):
I think a lot of times we stop
at financial freedom and
I'll and often and if not every
time I go in deeper with my
clients where I ask of what does that
look like?And even though this is a
common theme among mostly everyone I
speak to. It looks very different for
(02:36):
each person. If, for example,
like financial freedom for one for one
client was being able to
retire by 41 or
40 and making like
having multiple streams of income and not
having to worry about, you know, asking
for a raise every time and just being
able to happily retire with. Being able
(02:59):
to, you know, maintain the lifestyle that
they have and leave generational
wealth for their family and have a family
and being able to afford it and be able
to have their lifestyle of travel and
where they lived in the city and all that
good stuff. And then somebody else I
spoke to was similar, but one of
(03:19):
one of her goals of why is financial
freedom so important is. To
be able to like be
another income stream for her parents who
were retiring. So supporting her
parents and she's first Gen. So that's
something that you know, it's very
unique to want to have your goals where
(03:40):
it includes being a financial
resource for your family. And I think
like it just really varies of why you
want to do what we want to do, but
sometimes. You know, of course our
passion about something is purposeful. We
love doing it. But I think it does
come down to where I've seen that theme
of financial freedom and I've noticed
(04:02):
that it looks different and it feels
the feeling that everyone craves. Not
only does it look different, but the way
somebody wants to feel. What
what they think they'll feel that they
wanna achieve once they get there, it
varies as well. So when I say what it
looks like, I'm thinking the
outside, like somebody from the outside
(04:24):
can see this. So what I call this is like
tangible results. Like this is measurable
steps of are you retired by 40?This is
your plan. You'll get there this much.
This is how much money you need, all that
stuff where it's like measurable steps,
measurable goals. And then there's
the other part of it, of how-- what do
we-- because as humans, when we do stuff,
(04:46):
we just crave to feel a
certain way. We think we're going to feel
a certain way when we get to a goal,
and that's how we want to do it. That's
what actually like motivates us the whole
way. Um Because you know you may
have-- currently, you may have achieved a
goal of like whether it was your degree
or promotion at work, and it just didn't
(05:07):
feel good. And I thinkA lot of times
our motivation is more so of how is it
going to feel and we think it's going to
be exciting and that's what we're
actually going for. So then there of
course there are tangible goals that we
go for and that we strive for, but
they're also intangible. And I think it's
important when we're trying to do this
(05:28):
work of figuring out why do why is
financial freedom important for me?What
does it look like?What does it feel like?
I think taking it the next step of.
I said tangible results of things that
you can see, but intangible results as
well of, you know, what will it, what
will it feel like when you get to be the
person you think you will be that future
(05:50):
version of you, like somebody that is,
you know, going after other currencies
like courage and resilience
and. Being able to be an example for
someone and just feeling liberated and
not at not as heavy and weighed down by
the burdens of keeping up a perception
and, you know, falling into the traps of
(06:10):
being stopped by
the imposter syndrome thoughts of like,
I'm not good enough, am I questioning
yourself and letting that drive what you
do. So I think the intangible goals are
so important to understand of how do you
think you're going to feel?Who is
that that version of you?How is that
(06:31):
person going to feel when they get to the
financial freedom?Will they feel relief?
Will they feel proud?That's the type of
stuff that we need to plan for. Of
course, you know, knowing you're tangible
when it, especially when it comes to
financial goals, that's important. But I
think understanding both
sides of the tangible goals and the
intangible when it comes to financial
(06:53):
freedom. That's really important because
as I work with different people and
that's like the ultimate goal, right?Like
to have, especially when you're starting
a business or trying to scale it and grow
it and commit to it where you're pursuing
something that you really want. Sometimes
it doesn't really make sense to do that,
but it's something that's purposeful. So
you want to do it anyway and it is
(07:14):
another stream of income or it is like
something you want to. For completely
too, which doesn't have to be the case,
but I think it's important to understand
of like what does it mean to have
financial freedom?What for you,
specifically for you, whether you're
first Gen. or not. I think
understanding why that's important,
(07:35):
understanding what type of searcity might
come up for you of like, you know, am I
going to be able to do all these things?
And sometimes it's a matter of, you know.
I had a client who wanted to retire by 40
and she wanted to, if she stayed at work
and she kept at, you know, getting the
increases she was going to each
(07:55):
year, ask, negotiate each year or change
her job, like she would still make it
there. But then when she was saying, oh,
I would love to like
help other professionals with their
resumes and getting the jobs that they
really love, like it just light, it just
like lit her up. And it was, you can just
see it in her face when she's talking
(08:17):
about it because it was something that
was like important to her that she wanted
to do. And then she was saying, you know,
well, if I start my business now, I think
that'll put me a little bit
farther along the line of, you know, I'm
just going to be starting off as an
entrepreneur, take some time to have
clients. Like if I want to add this, it
may take away my focus
(08:38):
completely from my corporate goals.
And you know, that was a question that we
just had to
explore of like, is that something that
you're OK with or is it more important to
get to retirement by 40?Or is it more
important for you to, you know,
understand the type of business you want
(08:59):
to start, understand how you want to
spend your time and how you want to
support yourself and get there maybe like
3-4 or five years later is
forty-five?Better in that sense
rather than the 40 where you're just
getting there because that's just where
you want to go. And a lot of my and the
reason that I've started coaching women
of color entrepreneurs is because I think
(09:21):
it's so important to have this in mind.
What are our financial, what does
financial freedom mean if that's like
something that really drives us and also
like how do we want it to feel when we
get there?Like is it going to be where we
push ourselves through because you know.
Everyone I speak to very high achieving,
(09:41):
ambitious women and this is, you know,
when you're talking about
entrepreneurship, this is like what
they're passionate about and it's and
you know, especially for me and and what
I see is that where the
space to explore what you want to do just
because you want to do it and and then
make that a stream of income that's not
really as common because it sounds like.
(10:05):
And when you're explaining to others that
it just seems like you're giving up the
stability in order to explore
and really, you know, I'll put this in
quotes like be happy in the end and like
pursue what you want. And I think
having that open space is so beautiful to
explore that of like, hey, am I OK
(10:25):
with getting to, you know, what my my
tangible goal is a little later?Do I even
need to be a little later?Can I just. You
know, work on my business in certain like
certain aspects that it would speed up
things or just being open to how
important is entrepreneurship and
in this picture and how important is it
(10:46):
for you to, you know, do something that's
purpose-led. And it doesn't have to be
that you always have to start a business.
Of course you can start a job, but. I
coach women that wanna be entrepreneurs
and sometimes they've either started a
little and tip their toes and a little
flirted with entrepreneurship, but
haven't had the courage to be like, or
really not even courage because all these
(11:08):
women are very ambitious and courageous
and do hard things. But just having that
self-trust that's required because as a
cycle breaker, this is not modeled to be
like, okay, you know what, you have
stable income, you're likely to,Retire
earlier, doing really well for yourself
and now we just want to change everything
up. Like that's not really not modeled
and that's not really it. Depending on
(11:29):
who you tell that to in your community,
that will be questioned a lot and it'll
help. It'll make you question yourself.
So I think anchoring and self-trust is so
important. So I'd like for you to reflect
listening to all this like what was
coming up for you as I'm speaking about.
You know how financial freedom
drives a lot of us, especially as women
(11:51):
of color entrepreneurs, especially
though. And it's really unique to those
that are first generation
children of immigrants. And like, how
does that play into why you want to
do what you want to do?And like, what
does that look like for you, like your
tangible goals?But what is that?Also,
what will that feel like for you, your
(12:12):
intangibles?Like, what do you want that?
Internally, you would be like, OK, this
is what it would actually be.
Because I think it's so important to
understand that for yourself or what
you're striving for. It's really not just
retirement at 40, right?And that's just
one example I'll keep going back to. But
it's really like, oh, imagine doing it in
(12:34):
a purposeful way and something that's
personal to you and you'll get there.
That would feel amazing. And that's maybe
something that you didn't even think of
can be a possibility. So I'd like for you
to reflect on is financial freedom
something that's top of mind when you
think of what anchors you and your
motivates you and what does that
(12:54):
look like?What does that feel like?And
how would you, you know,
incorporate this into
entrepreneurship and starting and and
starting to explore what you want to do
and. The possibility of your
intangible goals actually
being something that's considered
just as much as your your tangible goals.
(13:17):
So the feelings of how you want to feel
and how you want to be when you get
there, just as important of what
you want to be doing, what you want to be
having, what your your account should
look like and what your lifestyle should
look like. So I would love for you to
reflect on that. Feel free to message me
if something comes up and you just wanna
talk about it. I do offer a free
(13:39):
consult, so you're welcome to
sign up for that as well. Hope you have a
great week.
Hey, if you're listening to this podcast
and wondering how I can help you break
free of your cycles, especially those
that hold you back in business, I'm happy
to chat. You can sign up for a
consultation without any preparation
(14:00):
needed. At
sukhilifecoach.com/freeconsult
and we can talk about your cycles and how
to break free of them. Cheers to breaking
more much needed generational cycles.
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