Wage Gap Math: 17 Cents Short x 40 Years = Total Bullsh*t”

The stories you tell yourself perpetuate what is happening within your unconscious mind.

The more you talk to yourself in the way you always do, the more those beliefs become cemented.

These stories also give us important clues about the beliefs you’re holding beneath the surface.

When you’re facing a challenge—or even just writing out your dreams or setting your goals—notice what you say to yourself.

When something goes wrong or you don’t reach a goal, do you say, “Just quit”? Do you tell yourself, “It wasn’t going to happen anyway”? Or “I knew it wasn’t possible for me”? Or “That’s going to be too hard”?

When you write down your goals, do you immediately think, Nah…not going to happen, and feel a twist in your gut? Do you try to avoid that thought and that feeling… but it still persists?

The thoughts you have around money, goals, and challenges—in life and in business—reveal whether you’re operating from a scarcity or a wealth mindset.

Scarcity Mindset

A scarcity mindset is a pattern of thinking focused on what you don’t have. It’s the deep-rooted belief that you’ll never truly get what you want—even if your basic needs like food, water, housing, and income are being met.

With scarcity, you see the world as full of limited resources you have to fight and claw for.

Setbacks feel insurmountable.

Scarcity is lying in bed at night, wondering how you’ll pay your bills. It’s making reactive money decisions—like selling your reliable car to pay off debt, only to end up with a cheaper one that constantly breaks down.

Scarcity keeps you in survival mode. You’re always reacting instead of planning, unable to trust or even see the big picture.

You focus on lack: what you don’t have—money, opportunities, recognition. You compare yourself to others with nicer homes, better cars, or more financial freedom.

And you tell yourself: I just don’t have what it takes.

Wealth Mindset

So, what is a wealth mindset?

It’s the belief that there’s enough for everyone. That the world is abundant. That you can create wealth, and that opportunities are everywhere.

People with a wealth mindset spot opportunities, make strategic choices, spend less time worrying about money, and use it more intentionally.

They view problems as growth opportunities and know setbacks are a natural part of success.

They take responsibility for their outcomes. They see money as a tool for growth and freedom, not just a reaction to survival mode.

Wealth isn’t just about money—it’s about power, choice, and time.

A wealth mindset focuses on what’s working… on what you do have.

Women & Scarcity

Women have a unique relationship with scarcity.

The wage gap still exists. Women earn roughly 83–84 cents for every dollar earned by men. That’s not much different from the 77 cents back in 2003. A seven-cent gain in 22 years?! Completely unacceptable.

It might not sound like much, but those pennies add up. According to the National Women’s Law Center and U.S. Census data:

• White women lose about $400,000 over a 40-year career compared to white, non-Hispanic men.

• Black women lose more than $900,000.

• Latina women lose over $1 million.

• Native American women lose around $1 million.

• Asian American and Pacific Islander women lose between $250,000 and $1 million, depending on subgroup and region.

The good news? For workers aged 25 to 34, the gap is smaller—women earn 95 cents to every dollar men earn. So maybe we’re moving in the right direction.

But what happens when these women step out of the workforce to have children?

I don’t know the exact answer, but research shows that one major cause of the wage gap is the choices women are forced to make about how to balance work and family. I can’t help but wonder: will the gap widen again when they return?

This is something to pay attention to.

Scarcity thinking is woven into our lives through generational messages and present-day structures.

That’s why doing the work to break free from scarcity matters… for you and for your lineage.

But we have to do it with love and compassion, especially as women, especially as mothers.

We’re often caught between career and caregiving, in a world that expects us to work like we don’t have children.

A Few Ways to Grow Your Wealth Mindset

1. Read every day.
Take it from billionaires like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates—they read constantly. Jen Sincero, author of You Are a Badass, recommends 30 minutes a day of positive or money mindset reading.

2. Start increasing your net worth—even in tiny ways.
Wealthy people focus on net worth, not just income. Talk to a financial advisor. Start small. Time is money. Saving a little for a long time beats saving a lot for a short time.

3. Watch your thoughts.
Be aware of your internal dialogue. One of my default thoughts used to be: We’re always scraping by. That was a very obvious sign of a scarcity mindset. I thought it daily. Multiple times a day.

Now I tell myself: I make money almost every day. That shift changed everything. That’s how I started building a wealth mindset.

And of course…join Awakened Wealth, where we do the deep work of uprooting the BS programmed into your brain that keeps you stuck in scarcity… so you can move toward true wealth.

One of the most powerful ways to close the wage gap?

We, as women, make shitloads of money.

Let’s do it.