3 Retirement Myths That Are Keeping You Stuck

0:00Have you ever caught yourself thinking, I'll never have enough to retire, I've got too much debt to pay off, or even it's just too late for me to catch up? These thoughts feel true, but they're actually miss limiting beliefs that are quietly holding you back from building the retirement you want. Today, I'm going to show you how these beliefs form, why your brain clings to them, and how you can start rewriting the story and rewiring your brain. Welcome to the Wealthy After 40 podcast, the show for Gen X women and couples who are ready to ditch financial stress and feel confident about retirement.

0:40I'm your host, Daylene Higgins, financial and retirement coach, helping Gen Xers master their money and create a personalized retirement plan so they can stop spinning their wheels and step boldly into their dream retirement. If you're feeling behind, don't worry. Continue listening to this podcast, as well as be sure to grab your free guide, 5 Must Do Steps to Start Retirement Planning Now at elevatefinances.us backslash must do. And remember, let's make retirement possible together.

1:16Michelle D. Smith:Welcome to the Wealthy After 40. Today, we're tackling one of the biggest hidden roadblocks to retirement, miss and limiting beliefs. You know, those sneaky thoughts like, I'll never have enough to retire or it's just too late for me. And so you don't take action, you don't feel inclined, because these stories, these ideas feel true, but they're not. By the end of this episode, you will understand how these thoughts, how these beliefs are keeping you safe, but truly making your outcome worse. So what are myths, or also called limiting beliefs, and regardless what you call them, they come from your experiences in life and how you perceived that experiences and multiple experiences at the time.

2:08Michelle D. Smith:The perceptions may or may not be true, but the way your brain interpreted them, and this is due to age, maturity, trauma, etc. These thoughts and ideas are now a part of your life. These are how money stories get started and can happen as young as age three. This is a story I've shared fairly often about a three-year-old who is with his dad when he opens the door. He opens the door. This man is in a very nice suit. He's angry and he's demanding payment for a doctor's bill. He's the doctor, the three-year-old realizes. And so he kind of looks out and he sees a very nice car. This three-year-old hears this rudeness and the dad going, we're just doing our best and really making some deductions due to age, due to the experience, the yelling, all of these things.

3:05Michelle D. Smith:You may have had something similar. And this is what creates these, you know, really these thoughts in our head that are unconsciously there. And these are okay, because at the time, everything about that was true. To that three year old, that was true. I was working with a client, and we were making good progress, then all of a sudden, she became very reserved, and leery about making progress in one area. We began to dive into maybe some past ideas, past thoughts. And she remembered, which I know can sound probably crazy for some of you, but she remembered a fire from her teen years where they did lose pretty much everything.

3:48Michelle D. Smith:Her parents were also entrepreneurs. So, you know, businesses struggle, businesses come and go. She just realized that sometimes and at some point, probably she would lose everything just like they had. Those were her experiences as a child. That's what she heard. And these, you know, these stories are true and these experiences are true at the time, but they don't have to be true and carried forward with us. These ideas, these thoughts are holding you back in achieving what you truly want. And this is true in any area of life. as you begin to change or do better in some area, ideas, thoughts, beliefs, as you take action are going to pop up.

4:37Michelle D. Smith:And it's very, very important that you actually resolve these and replace these to be able to make progress moving forward. As you are moving ahead in planning for retirement, I'm pretty sure the reason why you sought out my podcast, and I thank you for being here, you may have had any of those thoughts or the following thoughts of, I'll never have enough to retire. I have too much debt to pay off. It's too late to catch up or somewhere in between. You're probably like, yep, this is what I'm telling myself. These ideas, beliefs, thoughts, they're popping up because it's hard for your brain to want you to change.

5:22Michelle D. Smith:As you begin to change from what you've normally done, your body experiences a little stress. You know, you get a little worried and it's hard and your brain wants to keep you safe. It gives you these thoughts and these ideas as alerts to keep you safe. But it's important that you not let them stop your progress. I just want to share quickly inside my Make Retirement Possible 4-Day Life Challenge coming up at the end of September, we are going to go deeper into identifying these types of myths and replacing them with empowering beliefs and actions. Hopefully you'll join me in that challenge. You can find that link and registration for a small investment of$9 at elevatefinances.us backslash challenge.

6:15It's important to recognize what these thoughts and ideas are, and then to put rules and boundaries in place to help you feel safe as you begin to make changes. What do I mean by that? Well, I want to use the example as I have a lot of debt to pay off, because I think this is one that's pretty self-understanding by anybody, whether they're in this situation or not. And you're like, well, I have a lot of debt to pay off. And mine's like, you can't do this. You can't do this. What you need to do in the reverse side of it is tell your brain that you're going to do just a little at a time. As I was thinking of this, I remember not only my child, but several other nieces, nephews, when they want to start expanding their wings and start going somewhere.

7:09And I specifically thought of the swimming pool, you know, and they want to go in the deeper end. And they're like, you know, they're looking at their mom or their dad and they're like, just a little bit, just a little bit. And you as the parent aren't quite ready. So a parent is like the brain, but they're telling you just a little bit. This is the same idea that I want you to do with if you are somebody looking to pay off a lot of debt, even if you're looking to save a lot of money. just a little bit. Pairing this new thought, this new idea with action, positive action, will get your belief to begin to change and soon it will diminish.

7:53It's not going to be right now, be done, resolved. But as you keep going and keep moving ahead, Instead, taking these small safe steps forward, your brain is going to see new evidence. And it's like, oh, and then the old belief that it keeps telling you begins to lose its power. This is how you are able to get past it and not let it hold you back. I want to give you some practical steps. I know we've talked about it in general, like what they are and how kind of, but I want to give you three steps to begin working with these myths, reducing them, getting rid of them, but knowing how to do that.

8:39Name the myth when it shows up. What do I mean by that? Well, state it out loud. Write it down. Acknowledge what it truly is. Thoughts can be so passive. We can be like, oh yeah, I'll never have enough. But until you acknowledge it, you can't take action. Again, call it out loud, write it down somewhere. And then I want you to think, so step two, how can I make a small change to begin removing this thought? You've got to retrain that brain to start being okay with it and start seeing the evidence that you're going to be fine. Set a small boundary or rule just a little bit is the rule we did in the example before, but it depends on the myth.

9:31And again, it's something we'll be diving deeper inside the challenge. But a few ideas to give you as you're thinking about your myth, your limiting belief is rewrite it. You know, instead of it saying, I'll never have enough, rewrite it in the belief that you're going to, and then use that as a positive affirmation. Or think about it as what is truly standing in my way? And how can I get past this? How can I prove that this thought that I am believing is false? And moving with it that way, pairing it again with that positive action, those small steps, over time, this is how your myth will fade and your confidence will grow.

10:20Step one, name the myth. Number two, make a small change by setting a boundary or a rule. And number three, pair it with positive action, but small action. We don't need to jump overboard. If you're ready to take this work deeper and put it in sync with the other four steps of my milestone method, I hope you will join me in my Make Retirement Possible 4-Day Live Challenge, September 23rd through the 26th. And again, I will share all five steps of the milestone method that will help you take these blocks along with your big goal and dream and help you define and create 90-day wins over and over until you reach your dream.

11:08Head over to elevatefinances.us backslash challenge and reserve a spot for just$9. Here's what I want you to take away from today's episode. Those limiting beliefs are just stories from your past. They don't define your future. When you call them out, understand why it's true or false. And if it's false, you've got to remember that. Create a safe boundary and pair that with small positive actions, you will start building a new path toward retirement. It is with these episodes that I share with you every, you know, twice a week now, in helping you take these small steps and helping you take these small actions and move yourself closer to the retirement that you really dream.

12:00And if you want to get there quicker than just these small doses twice a week, and you know, the action yourself, I really invite you to book a free call with me. Let's chat about what that will look like. I always start everybody in a retirement roadmap session, but I can share all about that with you on the Clarity Connection call. You can head over to elevatefinances.us backslash connection and book a call with me there. Thank you for listening and we'll see you next episode.

12:34Thank you for spending this time with me. If you're not already following the show, be sure to hit subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. And I'd love to stay connected with you between episodes. So come join me inside my Facebook community, Retirement Ready Hub for Gen Xers. It's where we're having real conversations about money, sharing wins, working through challenges, and building a clear path toward retirement. And remember, retirement isn't just a dream it's a plan and you get to make it possible