Avoiding Your Books? Let’s Talk About Why (And What to Do Next)

Avoiding your books happens.

 

In this episode of Creative Minds Smart Money, we’re talking all about financial avoidance what causes it, how it shows up, and most importantly, how to gently find your way back to clarity.

 

Just grounded support and small, doable steps to help you feel more connected to your numbers because that’s where your confidence grows.

 

In this episode, we cover:

✅ Why financial avoidance is emotional (not a moral failure)

✅ The difference between a break and a spiral with your books

✅ Real-life triggers that keep you stuck in avoidance mode

✅ How to gently come back to your numbers without shame

✅ Tools for re-engagement when your books feel like a mess

✅ How support can shift your mindset (and your outcomes)

 

If you’ve ever delayed decisions, dodged your accounting software, or felt like you’re failing because you don’t “get” your numbers this is the episode for you.

 

Let’s normalize the fear and give you tools to move through it with intention. Because your business doesn’t need perfection it needs you, grounded and reconnected.

 

🎧 Press play and take the next step. Even if it’s just opening QuickBooks and breathing.

 

Connect with Samantha:

Website: https://www.firestormfinance.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firestormfinance/

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@firestormfinance?hl=en

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-e-8796b6176/

Newsletter: https://firestormfinance.myflodesk.com/ajmiv1kyt1

 

📢 Love this episode? Share it with a friend and leave a review to help more business owners get smart about their finances.

 

Have a suggestion for something or someone you'd like to see on this podcast? Fill out this form here.

Episode Transcript

samantha-eck_2_02-20-2025_120206: Welcome to the Creative Minds Smart (00:01):
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Money Podcast, where we turn financialconfusion into creative confidence.
I'm Samantha Eck, bookkeeper andfractional CFO for creative entrepreneurs.
Each week I'm sharing myfinancial expertise and actionable
strategies to help you builda thriving creative business.
Plus, you'll hear from industry expertswho bring fresh perspectives on growing

(00:23):
your business beyond the numbers.
Because building a successfulcreative business starts with
strong financial foundations.
Your next chapter starts now.
you are listening to the CreativeMinds Smart Money Podcast, and today's
topic is all about avoiding your books,why it happens, how to break this
cycle, and what to do next, because ofcourse it happens more than you think.

(00:49):
And I really wanna dismantle thiswhole shame and judgment and fear
around financial avoidance and kind of.
Analyze and discuss the real reason thatit shows up so that we can give you some
tools to move forward with confidenceinstead of being afraid of your books,
because being afraid of them is definitelynot something we want for you ever.

(01:14):
So let's dive into thisand really get into it.
Okay, so you know the feeling when youknow you need to look at your finances,
but somehow you always just avoid it.
You don't look at them, whetherthat's you're just too busy or
something else is going on, or

(01:35):
you just avoid looking at them overall.
Avoidance doesn't mean that , you'reeither bad with money or you're not good
at doing something, or whatever it is.
It's really just that you, yourbody and your brain are trying to
protect you from something thatit doesn't feel equipped to face.

(01:56):
And of course with numbers likewe aren't, like a lot of business
owners aren't equipped to.
Understand or face the numbersthat are coming at them.
There's so much that goes into itthat it's, it is a scary thing.
So I just wanna talk again about whyavoidance happens and the difference
between what a break is, what a spiralis, and how we can come back to where

(02:18):
numbers with a little bit more trustand a little bit less shame and judgment
based on what we're seeing because it'sa topic that I see a lot and honestly,
it's something that I see with a lot of.
Women entrepreneurs that I workwith is the judgment and the shame
around their finances or around theirmoney, and that's why they avoid it.
So obviously avoidance is very emotional.

(02:40):
It's not just something thatcomes logistically, whether that's
you've grown too fast and you dunnowhere your numbers mean anymore.
Based off of our last episode we'retalking about where we hit that
six figure wall, and now it justbecomes a little bit overwhelming.
That's something that sometimes you justavoid your books because you have grown
so quickly and you just don't know.
What your numbers mean and you justdon't wanna look at them anymore.

(03:02):
You're like, I don't evenwanna think about it.
I don't wanna look at it.
I don't want to analyze it.
I don't even wanna see it.
And then of course, one of the otherthings that's an emotional trigger
is that you're afraid that you aresuccess or the success that you've been
seeing won't hold up on the microscope.
Like when you look at everythingwith a fine tooth comb.

(03:23):
It's just not going to give you thesame impression that you got when
you just glanced at it overall.
And then another trigger is likewhether you've had a past audit
from the IRS, maybe you're scaredof your finances because of that.
You've had a bad accountant,someone who messed up your books,
and you're like, I just don't evenwanna look at it anymore because.

(03:45):
I just know it's a mess andI just don't wanna do it.
Or, maybe you've messedit up in some sort of way.
And that's not anything tosay that I'm shaming you.
It happens honestly, it happens morethan you think and it's totally normal.
And then of course, either you have ashame lace moment that left a mark on you.
Maybe you overspent on coffee,maybe you went negative one

(04:07):
month, something like that.
Something that has left you notwanting to look at your numbers.
And then of course, the last kind oftrigger, or something that's deeply
connected to it is you don't wanna confirmwhat you already suspect, which is that
you're either in a cash crunch or youknow you're gonna owe a lot of taxes.
There's some sort of tax issue.

(04:28):
It doesn't make you irresponsible.
It just means you're either overloaded,you're under supported, or you're
just under prepared to take on theimpact that your finances are going
to have, not just on your body, but.
On your mental load.
Now, there's an episode that wehad way back at the beginning with
Melissa Ween who talked about, themind body connection with money.

(04:51):
And I just wanna just reiterate thatimpact, that yes, avoidance and all of
these things are deeply connected toour emotions and are deeply connected
to the way we feel in our bodies.
So it's a weird thing to talkabout, but it's completely normal.
Now avoidance obviously does have acost and it's usually paid, whether

(05:13):
that's in anxiety or emotions.
It's not paid in like the cost of money.
It's paid in the toll that ittakes on us and our bodies.
So costs that might come up becauseyou're avoiding your numbers because
you're not looking at them, obviouslyare surprise tax bills because you
just have not done your taxes in years'cause you just don't wanna look at your
books and now you're doing your taxesand you realize you owe 20 K in taxes.

(05:38):
You make business decisions and launcheswithout data that could help you
understand it if it's profitable or not.
You are feeling reallybroke, but you're not.
It's just the fact that you don'tknow what your numbers are, and
it's just a little bit disorganized.
You can't understand what thedata's trying to tell you.

(05:59):
And then of course, you're gonna delaydecisions and miss opportunities.
Because you don't know if you can hire,or maybe you meet a VA and you're like,
I love this va. I wanna hire them.
But you don't know if you can becauseyou haven't looked at your books
and you haven't let them guide youbecause you've been ignoring them.
And again, we know the emotionaltrigger of why you're ignoring them.

(06:19):
Now we just need to figureout how do we break outta that
cycle and how do we get past it?
Okay.
So in order to avoid avoidance, wedon't want to do huge, huge steps.
We really need to focus on something lowfriction that will get us just a step in
the right direction, if that makes sense.
So first of all, we wantto start with a few steps.

(06:43):
Pause and just locate yourself.
You wanna ask yourself.
What am I feeling when I look at my books?
And this is a serious, go into yourQuickBooks, go into your spreadsheet,
go into your bank account, and askyourself, are you feeling guilt?
Are you feeling shame?
Are you feeling.
Confused, are you feeling broken?
What does it make you feel?

(07:04):
What emotion does it evoke that'scausing you to have this avoidance?
Because of course you can'torganize what you're still avoiding
emotionally, and you have to face that.
What I talked about in the lastepisode was of some sort of emotional
intelligence, and this is whereyou are having that emotional
intelligence to face yourself andsay, okay, why am I avoiding this?
And then you want to reestablishthat new shame zone, remove

(07:27):
the narrative of failure.
Honestly, avoidance of numbers happenso much more often than you think.
Your books are a tool that is utilizedto build strategy and to grow.
It is not a scorecard that tellsyou if you're doing good or not.
So stop thinking of itas a success or fail,

(07:49):
just stop thinking ofit like a report card.
It's not a report card, and it'snot going to tell you that you're
failing or you're succeeding.
Obviously, it is going to tell youif you're making money or not, but
just because you're not making moneydoes not mean you're a failure.
It's just that we need to look atthe data and see how we can fix that.
The next thing you wanna do isjust take a single action, one

(08:11):
single action that's going to.
Lower the pressure and the avoidanceby, whether that's booking a catch
up session and catching up on yourbooks, opening your accounting
dashboard with, your morning coffeeand just no pressure to fix anything.
Just looking and just understandingwhat's going on in your business because

(08:33):
just looking is the first step towardsgetting to where you need to next.
And then of course, the next step willbe to recreate a recurring rhythm.
After you've looked, you know, atomichabits always says like taking that
really, really small step forward.
So maybe you've looked, maybe thenext time you go in there, maybe
you categorize one transaction.
The next time you go in there, maybeyou categorize 10 transactions.

(08:55):
And just continuing to do that andcreating a recurring rhythm by doing
that monthly, having a monthly check-in. getting a, having a strategy session
with yourself, and if you feel like thedo it yourself wall is just too high.
Bringing in support so that you can startto create that recurring rhythm, because
avoiding your books is similar to likeif you skip a dentist appointment, you

(09:19):
can for a while, but eventually you knowthat toothache or those cavities are gonna
come and it's never as bad as you feared.
It's probably just something thatthey could clear up with a filling
or they can clean it, you know?
So similar to bookkeeping, we just needto make sure we get that bandaid over it

(09:40):
and then really focus on getting into it.
So, of course, reconnection is the goal.
It's not perfection.
So we just really wanna focus on.
Getting in there andreconnecting with your books.
So there's three re-engagement pathsthat I suggest, the first step is a
cleanup and catch up, and this is not,if you're like, I can do that myself.

(10:01):
For those who really feel deeplybehind, the first step you're gonna
wanna do is either do a cleanupand catch up of your books to get
caught up to where you are currently.
Now, if you're someone who needshelp and you're like, Smith, I don't
want to do a cleanup and catch up,I just need someone to take over.
We have the entry point ignition pointfor people who are looking for just
baseline bookkeeping services, or evena strategy call, if you wanna jump on

(10:23):
a strategy call and figure out likehow and where and why you're avoiding
maybe so that we can talk about it.
Because coming back to yournumbers is really that active
leadership, it's not punishing youand it's not meant to punish you.
So avoidance is completelyhuman, it's completely normal.
But clarity and confidence is whereyou're gonna get peace for your

(10:45):
business and peace for your mindset.
And it's always waitingto welcome you back.
So if you come back to it, it'sgonna be welcoming to you of course.
So
I just want you to think of it thisway, and leaving you with just this.
If you imagine your books like a kitchencounter, it's gotten a little messy.

(11:06):
Maybe there's some milk onthere, maybe there's some crumbs.
You don't burn the house down.
You clear it off, you wipeit clean and you start fresh.
So it's very similar to whatyou do with bookkeeping.
And if you're ready to come hometo your numbers, of course I have
you, whether it's with a bookkeepingpackage or just to talk it out.
Of course, again, you canalmost reach out to me.

(11:28):
We'll do it at your pace.
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(11:52):
As always, I wish you the best weekever and we'll see you next week.
Farewell fellow Travelers.
I.