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Ep. 241: What If Money Didn’t Have to Be Hard?
If money feels harder than it “should” by now, you’re not alone – and you’re not doing anything wrong.
Many heart-centered entrepreneurs reach a point where they’re doing the work, showing up consistently, and making thoughtful decisions… yet money still feels fragile, inconsistent, or heavy to hold. It doesn’t look the way they expected. And quietly, that gap starts to feel personal.
We’re often taught that if growth is real, it should be linear. That success should feel obvious. That ease comes after you’ve worked hard enough. But for many people, especially those who experience money emotionally, this belief creates more pressure than clarity – and keeps them stuck in survival mode even when things are technically “working.”
Instead of asking what you need to fix, it explores a different question: What if money doesn’t have to be hard to be meaningful? What if progress is unfolding – just not in the boxes you were taught to look for? And what if your nervous system, identity, and sense of safety matter just as much as the numbers themselves?
This isn’t about forcing optimism or pretending things are perfect. It’s about creating space to breathe, reflect, and consider the possibility that ease may already be closer than you think.
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Below is the full transcript of this episode, where Aimee explores what it can look like to soften the belief that money has to be hard in order to be real or earned. As you read, notice the simple invitation woven throughout the conversation: instead of bracing or forcing clarity, try asking “what if?” – and see what changes when you allow possibility, safety, and ease to coexist with where you are right now.
What If Money Didn’t Have to Be Hard?
I keep coming back to this question lately. What if this didn’t have to be hard? What if it was possible? What if it worked?
What if you could actually hold it, not force it, not like white knuckle it, just be? Just have it.
What if this was easier than you thought? That’s what we’re going to be talking about today. What can ease look like and the what if and the power of that. So let’s get to it.
Money Is More Than Numbers
This is Money Simplified, the podcast where I help female entrepreneurs go from stress and struggle to unstoppable with money.
Money is more than just budgeting and PNLs, and we’re going to take you through all of it here. We blend proven financial strategy with mindset work and energetic alignment so you can create unstoppable finances, build an unstoppable business, and truly enjoy your unstoppable life.
It’s time to take my wisdom, my expertise to help you simplify money and go beyond the numbers. I’m your host, Aimee Cerka. Welcome. I’m so glad you’re here.
Meet Your Money Confidence Guide
If we haven’t met yet, I’m Aimee Cerka, Money Confidence coach and bookkeeper. Over the last 13 years, I’ve helped over 1,250 women get out of survival mode and make money simple so they can feel safe, clear, and confident with their finances. No shame, no restriction, and definitely no giving up your coffee to get there.
I’m so glad you’re here. Welcome back to Money Simplified. I’m your host, Aimee Cerka, and today we’re talking about the what if?
Questioning the Belief That Success Must Hurt
What if this was easier than you ever thought possible? What if it was possible? What if it didn’t have to be hard? What if it worked?
What if you could hold this? What if you could reclaim your identity? What if you didn’t lose your identity?
So many times things don’t show up in the way that we think they should, in the way that we expect, right? I think a lot of us have created a belief that the fact that growth and success and anything worth having—because I can hear it in my head right now as I say that, like, if it’s worth having, you’re gonna have to work for it, right?
That belief that it has to be hard, that it has to be painful, that it has to be a linear progression. What if that whole “you’re 10 ft away from gold” thing, right? Like you’re digging and you’re digging, and what if you had a massive thousand time return? Or maybe it doesn’t have to take that part—what if.
How Your Past Shapes Money Expectations
Here’s the reason why I’m leaning so much into this, okay? We can expect progress to look a certain way because we’ve got past case study, look at what we did in the past.
We’ve got all this evidence. I can pull up the specific names of the way that your nervous system works, the part that’s firing in your brain every second looking for, like, hey, do we know this? We have all of this evidence, right?
This is the way that things are—so that’s what we can predict in the future. So I wasn’t worthy, I wasn’t chosen, I wasn’t made a priority. That’s what we had in the past, so that’s what we’re predicting in the future.
We also do things like, oh, if we have more income, I’m gonna have more confidence, or if I have income coming in consistently, that’s gonna equal more safety.
When Money Arrives Differently Than Planned
What if you had one payment come in that was $10,000 as opposed to $300 a day or something else along those lines? If you got the $10,000 payment in one day, you’d be set, not having to have consistency, right?
Because real life doesn’t work in these little boxes. We’re not computer systems. We’re built off of more than ones and zeros, right?
Especially as entrepreneurs, especially as heart-centered entrepreneurs. The person listening to this, that’s not how life works. We end up feeling like just because it doesn’t look like the way that we expected it, it’s not working.
Noticing Support You Might Be Missing
I just got off a coaching call with a client. We had this conversation and it’s coming up in the 30-day Money Magnet Challenge as well (still available for purchase—find it here).
We get so focused on, like, I want to make money through this way, and I know you want to have a hundred-thousand-dollar business, million-dollar business. I’m sure that you will.
If you’re doing all the things to be in energetic alignment with money, you’re doing what you’re supposed to, but so often we’ve got the blinders on.
But then over, off to the side, you’re getting a raise at work, or your spouse is getting a raise, you get a refund, a surprise check, receiving gifts. You’re receiving things but you’re focused on it not showing up the way you expected, so you think it’s not working.
You are universally supported. You are held. You’ve got this.
Releasing Worth From How Money Shows Up
What if it just came in from a different manner? Does it make it any less worthy? If it does, then you definitely need to be in the Money Magnet Challenge—because that’s where that right there is tying your worth into money. That’s what we address on day one.
Life doesn’t happen in a linear progression. It’s going to show up in your business—I know it will.
What if tomorrow the $10,000 payment came in? What if tomorrow the $1,000 payment came in? Play with the numbers. What could it be?
Why Ups and Downs Are Part of Growth
The seeds you planted a month ago, six months ago, a year ago—what if that person showed back up in your inbox and it’s, like, hey, I really want to work with you. Can we do this?
We’re going to have lows, we’re going to have in-betweens, because you know what? We can’t experience the highs that we want, the success, the gratitude, the love, without having the lows and the parts that are just “eh.”
You know what? We really don’t remember the parts that are just “eh,” so it’s okay.
Your identity and your belief, your capacity, all of those things show up in who you are. Are you being the person that could receive that or are you shutting it down?
Identity and Safety in Your Money Life
I had a conversation with somebody in a local group, another homeschooling mom. We were talking about nervous center regulation, taking care of yourself, doing those things.
Earlier this week, I had a conversation with a close colleague about the struggle to not lose your identity, especially as you shift into motherhood. Those who are mothers know this—what if it wasn’t a struggle to know who you were outside of being a mother, wife, girlfriend, or daughter?
Who are you at your core? That’s the power we work on remembering.
Why Money and Identity Are Connected
You might be thinking—financial podcast, what are you talking about, Aimee? But this is all of it. It’s who you are at your core.
If you can hold that, if you’re solid in your identity, you know who you are, what you stand for, what you love—you get a day to yourself to enjoy something, do you know what it would be?
If you do, share it with me on Instagram @AimeeCerka.
Half the time, we don’t even know what we’d do because we shut it down.
Giving Yourself Permission to Enjoy
We’re like, it’s not possible. It doesn’t work for me. I don’t enjoy that. How do you know you don’t enjoy that? Have you let yourself enjoy it?
Have you let yourself get a massage? Have you let yourself go for a spa day? Have you let yourself sit in a bubble bath? Have you let yourself go for a hike—all these different things?
How do you know that you don’t enjoy them?
I was someone who would have said, “I am not a super feminine person. I’m a tomboy.” If you’re watching on YouTube, you see I don’t have my nails done—not my fingernails, at least, just my toenails. I would have told you that five years ago for sure.
Because that was the identity I had taken on. But you know what?
Exploring Possibility Without Pressure
I never gave myself permission to try that on, to see if it was something that I liked because I didn’t feel safe enough and I didn’t feel it was possible for me.
It all started with playing with the what if? What if this wasn’t the way it is? What if I enjoyed it? What if I don’t? Who cares, right? A couple of hours—try it.
Try the thing. Look for the possibility. If you go into this self-sabotaging, panicking, or, “I’m not really going to enjoy it because I don’t think it’s going to work or I can’t sustain it”, or “what if they reject me,” then we can’t hold it. If you can’t hold it, you’re not even truly experiencing it.
Allowing Yourself to Receive and Be Seen
You have to claim the identity that you get to try it on. Maybe you’ll like it, maybe you won’t. Maybe it’ll show up.
Maybe you’ll meet the man of your dreams, maybe you won’t. You’re going to be okay either way.
Maybe the business takes off today, maybe it takes off next month, maybe next year. It’s all coming.
What if you felt you were successful? What if you felt powerful? What if you were unstoppable?
What if you claim that now, even though it doesn’t feel perfect? What if you let yourself be successful, loved, and seen?
Letting This Moment Be Part of the Story
What if nothing’s wrong? What if this experience is part of your journey? It’s like the best part of the story.
When you watch a movie or read a book and it’s that heartbreak moment—you know the “no!” moment that builds the rest of the story?
What if this becomes a “because of that” moment? Because of this specific moment, everything you ever dreamed of is possible.
What if it was closer than you think? We’re going to leave it there today.
Stay Tuned and Connect
Make sure to stay tuned next week because I’ve got something exciting and special coming. I can’t wait to share and celebrate it with you.
As always, you’ve got this and I’ve got you.
Bye for now. We’ll see you next time.
Thank you so much for listening to Money Simplified. My favorite place to hang out is on Instagram @AimeeCerka to catch all the behind the scenes in my stories. Send me a message to share your biggest takeaway or just to say hi—I love hearing from podcast listeners.
When you’re ready to take action on your mindset, money, or the systems behind it all, I’m here for you. Whether you’re snagging a free resource, exploring a mini course, diving into the fundamentals, getting in-depth support inside the Unstoppable Experience, or booking a bookkeeping consult—your next step is waiting for you.
Head to https://aimeecerka.com/podcastlinks for all the information (you’ll find that link in the show notes too).
We’ll see you next time.
