167. Frightening Finances: Naming Your Money Fears Before They Run the Show

It’s spooky season — but the scariest thing haunting most people isn’t a ghost or a monster…it’s their finances. If you’ve ever felt a knot in your stomach opening your bank app or avoided checking your debt balance, this episode is for you.

In this episode, I’ll help you name your money fears, understand why they feel so overwhelming, and take small, powerful steps to move from fear to focus. You’ll learn how to stop letting financial fear run the show and start finding peace through clarity and stewardship.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The most common types of money fear (and why they show up)
• How fear feeds on avoidance — and how to break that cycle
• A simple three-step process to move from panic to peace
• Why clarity is always kinder than fear’s imagination
• The truth about courage and what ownership really looks like

Feeling weighed down by money fear? You don’t have to face it alone. Schedule a free clarity call and take your first brave step toward peace: AccelerateYourLegacy.com/claritycall 

Learn more about working with Laura Sexton

. Join the Facebook group Legacy Builders Network.

· Become a master with your money. Learn more here!

· Checkout the resource library here!

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Episode Transcript

Audio Only - All Participa (00:00):
It's spooky season, and while the
jumps, scares, and costumes areall in fun, there's another kind
of fear that isn't so easy tolaugh off money, fear.
Today we're talking aboutfrightening finances, all the
ways money can make us feelanxious, uncertain, or even
ashamed.
So if that sounds like you staytuned.

Laura (00:22):
hello and welcome to money and career mastery from
overwhelmed to ownership.
I'm Laura Sexton, your abundanceand legacy coach here to help
you navigate the world of money,debt payoff, and career growth
with confidence and clarity.
In this podcast, we'll tacklethe financial and career
challenges, holding you back,optimize your income and build

(00:42):
the freedom that comes with trueownership.
If you're ready to break freefrom overwhelm, create a budget
that aligns with your values anddesign a legacy that empowers
future generations.
You're in the right place.

Audio Only - All Participa (00:57):
Hey, accelerators, it's spooky season
and it's not my favorite time ofthe year.
I love the costumes.
My kids are super excited abouttrick or treating, but I'm not a
fan of the jump scares, thescary stuff, the gory stuff,
things like that can really justgo take a hike.
The kind of fear that we'regonna talk about today is money,

(01:20):
fear, and it's the kind thatkind of creeps in late at night
when you're starting to thinkabout bills debt, the future.
It's the kind that makes youflinch when your phone buzzes
with a bank alert or whensomeone asks you how your
finances are really going.
For me, it's how I feel when Iget another reminder that
there's another school eventthat I have to pay for it.

(01:41):
It can get overwhelming.
I understand.
But if you've ever been afraidto look at your balances, afraid
of not having enough or afraidthat you'll never get ahead, you
my friend, you're not alone.
Let's name a few things that canmake money feel scary.
Sometimes it's debt.

(02:01):
That number that sits heavy inthe back of your mind, or it's
weighing on you.
Literally, your body feels theweight of what you owe to
someone else.
Maybe it's uncertain income,especially if your job or your
business feels unstable, it canbe up one month and down

(02:23):
another.
Maybe it's the pressure to keepup the house, the holidays, the
lifestyle you think you shouldhave by now.
I know that one gets me.
Sometimes it's relational, it'sfights with a spouse.
It's the guilt that you haveover how you've handled money in
the past, and you just don'twanna share about that.
And for others, it's the future.

(02:43):
The fear of never being able toretire, never catching up, not
being able to help your kids theway that you want to.
There are a hundred differentways that money can feel
frightening, but underneath allof them is one thing.
Fear.
Fear that we've lost control.
Fear that we've made mistakes.
We can't fix fear that there'snot enough time or money or

(03:03):
grace left to turn thingsaround, and that's the part
we're gonna focus on today.
It's not the numbers, but thefear behind them.
I thought this was perfect forHalloween, and I hope you do
too.
You see fear.
Fear is a survival instinct.
It's your brain's way of warningyou.
Something feels unsafe.
It's not weakness, it's wiring.

(03:24):
You see, the problem is thatwhen fear shows up around money
and you shut off, you shut thatdown instead of leaning in.
Well, by doing that, we'reavoiding checking our bank
accounts and we're ignoring thebill that came in the mail and
we fill the space withdistractions, scrolling,
shopping, anything at all tojust not think about it.

(03:46):
But avoidance, acting like anostrich is like turning off the
flashlight in a dark room.
It doesn't make the monsters goaway.
It just makes them harder tosee, and they definitely feel
more real.
So here's the truth, fear isn'tthe enemy.
The moment you name your fear,you get to take back the power.

(04:07):
Fear feeds on confusion.
It grows in the darkness, butclarity.
Even if it's uncomfortable,always brings peace.
I've walked with so many clientsthrough this, people who are
terrified to face their numbers.
I was one of them.
I didn't wanna know.
I was blindsided one day by therealization of what I was
actually facing.

(04:27):
$372,347 in non-mortgage debt.
When I'm working with myclients, almost every single one
of them to a T is goat.
Oh, well that wasn't as bad as Ithought.
You know it.
It's not that their financialsituation magically improved.

(04:48):
It's that when they looked, theysaw the truth and the truth,
even when it's imperfect, isalways kinder than your fears.
Imagination, fear tells youyou're behind.
Clarity said, Hey, here's whereyou are and here's where we can
go next.
Fear says you're failing.

(05:09):
And Clarity says you'relearning.
Beer says you'll never fix this.
Clarity says one step at a time.
Beer is a signal.
It's your brain's way of saying,Hey, hey guys, this matters.
Pay attention.
If you alarm bells weren't goingoff when you had multiple debts

(05:31):
that you owed to multiplepeople, your body wouldn't be
working correctly.
So this my friends, this is whatstewardship looks like.
It's noticing the fear, namingit, and then doing something
about it.
If we just stuck our head backin the sand, now that you've
heard this, that you know youhave a choice to stick your head

(05:52):
back in the sand or to keepdoing things you were choosing
to avoid, you were choosing tolet the problem grow because
that monster hiding in thecloset.
It's feeding itself in yourfears.
It's feeding itself in interest,payments and fees, and it's just
growing.
So when we turn the light on, wefocus in, we can make that

(06:17):
monster two inches tall.
So how do we do that?
Exactly?
Well, here are three small,brave steps to help you move
from fear to focus, first ofall.
We're gonna name the fear, sayit out loud, write it down.

(06:37):
Sometimes it's really, really,really good to say it to
somebody else.
It just takes some of the shameaway because we've said it out
loud.
So go to a friend and say, I'mafraid I'm never gonna pay my
debt off.
I'm afraid of making anothermoney mistake.
I'm afraid I'll disappoint myfamily name It.

(06:58):
Naming it takes it from a shadowto something you can actually do
something about.
Step number two, find the fact,look at what's really true.
Again, we're taking our feelingsand we're gonna put them off to
the side.
Because feelings, that's ouralarm bells going off, but facts
are our friends.

(07:19):
So look at what's really true.
Open that bank statement.
Check the bill.
Write down the numbers, even ifit's messy, especially if it's
messy.
The truth will always set youfree faster than avoidance ever
will.
And then take the next rightaction.

(07:39):
Fear shrinks when you move.
Maybe it's gonna be updatingyour budget.
Maybe it's deleting the Amazonapp.
Lord knows that helped me.
It's probably a really good idearight before we get into Cyber
Monday and all of those things.
The Black Friday deals are notactually good deals.
Just throwing my notes to thewind here for a second.

(08:00):
The Black Friday deals, theymark up the prices.
And then they show a discountback to what the prices used to
be.
If you track it over time, thatis being seen more and more and
more, and it's just sad.
Don't fall for that trap.
The Black Friday deals and theCyber Mondays and the cyber

(08:20):
weeks, all of that.
Well, unless you're on Etsywhere people are handling it.
If it's a company or acorporation that's handling it,
they're raising the price andthen slashing it down to back
where it used to be.
Do not fall for the trap.
So one more tiny action I wasgonna tell you about is just
having one honest conversationwith your spouse or

(08:40):
accountability partner aboutwhat's been stressing you out
lately.
Look, you don't need to doeverything.
You just need to startsomewhere.
Small steps, build confidence.
And confidence.
Quiets the fear.
Accelerator.
Fear loses its power when youbring it into light, courage
doesn't mean you're not afraid.
It means you move anyway.

(09:01):
This is the work of overwhelm toownership.
It's not perfection.
It's not hustle, it's not havingit all figured out.
It's just one brave choice at atime.
Listen, I know it's exhaustingto be strong.
You don't have to carry, if it'salone, there's peace waiting for
you, not when the numbers areperfect, but when your
perspective changes.
You're not behind.
You're just ready to see thingsdifferently, and that's the

(09:24):
moment everything starts tochange.
So if you've been carryingmoney, fear lately, I want you
to know that you don't have toface it by yourself.
This is what I do every day incoaching.
We take fear, the chaos, theconfusion, and we turn it into a
plan.
And not just a plan, but a planthat works.
You don't need a perfect plan,you just need to start.

(09:45):
So if you're ready for that,schedule a clarity call with me
and let's look at your numberstogether.
We're gonna find peace in theprocess, a promise, and next
week we're gonna talk all aboutstudent loans.
Another fear that is resurfacingfor a lot of people.
I'll show you how to approachthat without panic.
And until then, I want you totake a deep breath.

(10:05):
You are doing better than youthink in fear.
It doesn't get to run the showanymore.
That's it for this week.
Accelerators go out and make adifference.

Laura (10:16):
thank you for spending time with us today on Money and
Career Mastery from Overwhelm toOwnership.
Remember, your legacy isn't justabout financial freedom.
It's about living with purpose,taking action, and building a
foundation that lasts forgenerations.
Don't just listen, implementwhat you've learned and share it
with someone who could use afinancial or career
breakthrough.

(10:37):
If you found value in today'sepisode, help us grow by rating,
reviewing, and sharing thepodcast.
I'll be back next week with morestrategies to help you master
your money and career.
Until then take ownership ofyour future and build your
legacy with intention.