The Psychology of Wealth: How to Start Thinking Rich with Dr. Brad Klontz
Release Date: 05/26/2025
Breaking Money Cycles: When Breaking Money Cycles Means Breaking Relationships
It's Not About The Money
I lost one really deep friendship when I started changing my relationship with money - not because I became a different person or got arrogant, but because I stopped being who they needed me to be. What nobody talks about when breaking money cycles is that sometimes the people closest to you have the most invested in keeping you exactly where you are. This is the conversation I've been avoiding since we started this series because it's messy, it's painful, and it doesn't have a tidy solution. But if you've been setting boundaries and healing your relationship with money, you've probably...
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Breaking Money Cycles: Why You Can't Stop Putting Others First With Money
It's Not About The Money
What would happen if you stopped holding all the responsibility with money? If you weren't the rescuer or the provider, the generous one - would people still value you and would you still matter? That may sound like a rather odd question, but right now there are thousands of people searching terms like "Why do I always put others first with money?" and "How do I stop feeling guilty spending money on myself?" because so many of us are trapped in what I refer to as the caretaker money cycle, where your mind and your body have literally learnt that giving money away equals safety, love, and...
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Breaking Money Cycles: Debt, Shame and Forgiveness
It's Not About The Money
If money has been feeling rather heavy for you recently, or maybe you're waking up in the middle of the night worrying about money, I want you to first of all know that you are not alone and there is absolutely nothing wrong with you if you have debts. This episode is specifically about debt and shame, and I'm going to be sharing what happened for me when I was in £35,000 of debt - a story I've rarely told publicly because of the deep shame I carried around it for years. The truth is, debt isn't just about the numbers on a statement; it's about the weight of secrecy, the fear of judgement,...
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Breaking Money Cycles: The Real Reason You Can't Create Consistent Income (It's Not Your Marketing)
It's Not About The Money
What if next month's revenue felt as reliable as your morning coffee? As a financial expert who's helped thousands of business founders to steady their income, I can honestly tell you this: you've already done the hard part - people want what you sell. Let's make the good months stick. Feast and famine cycles aren't personal failures, and it's not even your marketing. It's a pattern that your body and your business have learnt to repeat. Today, I'm going to widen your capacity to receive money, to hold and to give, and pair it with some really simple, practical planning strategies so that...
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Breaking Money Cycles: Why You Make Your Worst Financial Decisions When You're Overwhelmed
It's Not About The Money
Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by a money decision that you've Googled "best savings account," opened 17 tabs, read 18 articles, and ended up way more confused than when you started? Here's the trap we all fall into: when we're stressed about money, we think the answer is more information - one more podcast, one more YouTube video, one more expert opinion that will finally make it all make sense. But that information is actually making the overwhelm worse. Today, as a former financial adviser with 20 years of experience, I'm showing you what's actually happening in your brain when you try...
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Breaking Money Cycles: Why You Hide from Your Numbers (And How to Build Financial Courage)
It's Not About The Money
I've spent the last 10 years trying to find the perfect financial management system for my business and personal finances, and here's what I've discovered: it doesn't matter which system you implement if the one thing avoiding the numbers is you. As a qualified financial advisor and somatic money expert, I can tell you with absolute certainty that financial avoidance has nothing to do with lack of financial education - it's a protection response your body has learned. When you retrain that response, money stops feeling like a threat and starts feeling like simple, neutral information. Today,...
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Breaking Money Cycles: Why You Self-Sabotage When Things Go Well
It's Not About The Money
Have you ever achieved a major financial milestone - landed a big client, hit a revenue goal, or finally built up your savings - only to watch yourself systematically self-sabotage it within weeks? Maybe you suddenly took on underpriced work, made an impulsive expensive purchase, or created some drama that torpedoed your success. If this sounds familiar, I need you to understand something crucial: this isn't weakness, it's not a character flaw, and it's not lack of willpower. This is your nervous system literally treating financial success like a threat to your existence. Right now,...
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Breaking Money Cycles: Financial Trauma - The Hidden Cost of Being the Affordable Option
It's Not About The Money
If you've ever caught yourself saying "I don't want to price myself out of the market" or felt that familiar guilt creeping in when considering raising your prices, you're about to discover why being the affordable option is actually a financial trauma response. The hidden cost of undercharging isn't just the money you're leaving on the table - it's the cycle of resentment, exhaustion, and trauma responses that keep you trapped in patterns of unworthiness. In my book "It's Not About The Money," I explore how under-earning often starts as a trauma response where we overwork to prove ourselves,...
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Breaking Money Cycles: Why You Feel Broke Even When You Have Money (10-Minute Daily Fix)
It's Not About The Money
Have you ever looked at your bank account and thought "this should feel like enough," yet still felt that familiar knot of anxiety in your stomach whenever money came up? You're absolutely not alone in this experience. This week, I'm diving deep into why you can feel broke even when you have money - and it has nothing to do with the actual numbers in your account. The real culprit? Your nervous system and how it's been programmed to recognise what feels "safe" around money. If you grew up hearing "we can't afford that" or witnessed your parents stress about finances, your body has been...
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Breaking Money Cycles: Why Saving More Money Never Makes You Feel Safe
It's Not About The Money
In this deeply personal episode, I explore why having more money often doesn't make us feel safer, and why this isn't actually a money problem - it's a meaning problem. Drawing from my own experience of nearly losing my youngest son Thomas twice in his first five weeks of life, I reveal how our "not enough" programming around money often stems from our deepest fears about being unprepared when someone we love is at risk. Through my three-zone model of receiving, holding, and giving, I break down how these inherited money beliefs create an exhausting cycle where we work harder but can never...
info_outlineIn this episode, I welcome back financial psychology expert Dr. Brad Klontz to explore his latest book "Start Thinking Rich: The 21 Harsh Truths to Take You from Broke to Financial Freedom." Unlike his previous works, this book takes a direct, no-nonsense approach to addressing the mindset barriers that keep people financially stuck.
Episode Highlights:
The Psychology Behind "Harsh Truths"
- Why Dr. Klontz chose a more confrontational tone for this book
- The difference between therapeutic approaches and direct accountability
- How triggering language like "broke" and "rich" can break through emotional noise
- The timing element: only 2 out of 10 people are ready for direct confrontation at any given time
Broke vs Poor: A Critical Distinction
- "Broke" defined as a temporary state of having no money
- "Poor mindset" as a dangerous mental framework that can keep you broke forever
- The importance of attacking the mindset, not insulting people who lack money
- How poor mindset can affect people earning £100,000+ per year
Developing a Rich Mindset
Internal vs External Locus of Control
- The rare person who looks at their financial situation and says "my mindset got me here"
- Why people with external locus of control often stay broke forever
- The power of focusing on the 50% you can control rather than blaming external factors
- How internal locus of control is the strongest predictor of future wealth
The Money Avoidance Paradox
- People who believe "rich people are greedy" also tend to worship money more than others
- The internal struggle: "I hate money but desperately want to be rich"
- How negative beliefs about wealth create psychological barriers to achieving it
The Body-Mind Connection in Money Psychology
- How financial trauma passes down through generations via DNA changes
- The fight-or-flight response around money stored in our bodies
- Why poverty creates survival behaviours that later keep people stuck
- The importance of acknowledging ancestral trauma whilst moving beyond it
The Social Dynamics of Wealth
- Why people sabotage themselves when they achieve financial success
- The tribal psychology: we're wired to stay within similar socioeconomic groups
- How friends and family unconsciously sabotage your financial growth out of love
- Dr. Klontz's personal experience moving away geographically to manage this dynamic
Teaching Children About Money
- Wealthy families have significantly more money conversations than middle-class families
- Dr. Klontz's strategies with his children: emphasising giving, investing, and hard work
- The importance of saying "that's not how we choose to spend our money" rather than "we can't afford it"
- How digital money makes spending easier and less emotionally connected
Practical Applications
- Finding role models who have achieved your goals and share your background
- The strategy of asking successful people for 20-30 minutes of their time for advice
- Why surrounding yourself with people who have a "poor mindset" will hold you back
- The fire (Financial Independence Retire Early) movement example of extreme opposite culture
Final Thought
The key to developing a rich mindset starts with cultivating an internal locus of control. When facing any problem, ask yourself: "What red flags did I ignore? What can I do differently moving forward?" This shift from blame to personal agency is the foundation of wealth-building psychology.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Financial Psychology and Dr. Brad Klont
01:58 Exploring 'Start Thinking Rich' and Harsh Truths
06:29 The Difference Between Broke and Poor Mindsets
10:12 Personal Agency and Financial Mindset
15:49 The Connection Between Love and Money
20:39 Body-Mind Connection in Financial Psychology
25:16 The Impact of Social Circles on Wealth Mindset
29:59 The Psychological Impact of Financial Success
36:05 Navigating Relationships and Money
42:55 Teaching the Next Generation About Money
46:02 Cultivating a Rich Mindset
Resources:
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