How I Healed My Scarcity Mindset and Found Financial Freedom

1. Letting Go to Move Forward: How I Healed My Scarcity Mindset and Found True Freedom For most of my life, money wasn’t a problem. I grew up in a stable, middle- class household. As an adult, I worked at a hedge fund, earned well, and even saw strong returns from early investments in cryptocurrency. On paper, things looked great. My bank account was healthy. I was financially secure. And yet… something wasn’t right. Despite having enough, I lived with a constant low-level anxiety around money. I was always thinking ahead — planning, calculating, strategizing. I told myself I was being “smart,” but beneath the surface, I felt pressure. Fear. Control. I didn’t realize it then, but I was deeply stuck in a scarcity mindset. I wasn’t overspending or in debt —but I was emotionally tight. I couldn’t fully relax or trust that things would be okay. I always wanted to earn more, save more, plan better. I felt disconnected from any real sense of financial freedom. Eventually, I reached a point where I had to ask myself: Why do I feel like this?

2. That question led me to money coaching with Karen McAllister, and it changed everything. In our sessions, I came face-to-face with beliefs I didn’t even know I was carrying — about success, security, and self-worth. I realized how deeply I had internalized the cultural narrative that money is the ultimate safety net, that work is meant to be endured, not enjoyed, and that accumulating wealth was the only way to eventually be free. That story shaped so many of my choices — even though it no longer served me. The truth? My relationship with money had very little to do with numbers. It was about emotion, identity, and fear. One of the most powerful lessons I learned through coaching was this: The antidote to fear around money is generosity. It started with simple acts — giving a little more than felt comfortable. Offering time. Attention. Kindness. Slowly, I began to feel a shift. Where there was once tightness, there was now flow. Ease. Trust. This wasn’t just about donating money — it was a full generosity practice that included how I showed up in relationships, how I gave to others, and how I treated myself. The more I gave, the more I received — not necessarily in dollars, but in clarity, purpose, and peace. As this transformation unfolded, I started questioning more than just my bank statements. I began to see that my career — as financially rewarding as it was —didn’t align with who I was becoming. I wasn’t fulfilled. I wasn’t excited. I was following a script I no longer believed in. So I made a bold decision: I left the hedge fund world and enrolled in school to study Traditional Chinese Medicine. I wanted my work to be healing. Purposeful. Rooted in service. A true career change— not just for money, but for meaning. If you had asked me a few years ago, I would’ve said I was “good with money.” But now I see that healing your relationship with money is about so much more than budgeting or investing. It’s about letting go of limiting beliefs about money, replacing fear with trust, embracing an abundance mindset, aligning your finances with your values, and living generously — with time, attention, and resources.

3. Money still matters. But it’s no longer in the driver’s seat. I no longer chase it or fear losing it. I respect it. I use it with intention. And I let it flow. For anyone feeling stuck, fearful, or overly controlled by money —I get it. I’ve been there. But I also know it doesn’t have to stay that way. True wealth isn’t about how much you have. It’s about how free you feel. And when you choose to loosen your grip — when you dare to live with generosity, courage, and clarity — everything changes. Sometimes, the greatest investment you can make isn’t in stocks, real estate, or crypto… It’s in yourself.