With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, I am reminded just how often unspoken emotions, anxieties and old beliefs around money quietly shape our businesses.

Many times those old beliefs stem from childhood but we are unaware of them.

In chapters #2 and #3 of my book, Dancing with Numbers, I offer practical steps – cue disruption, environmental re-engineering and vigilant monitoring – for turning the fear and discomfort of managing numbers into something useful.

But you won’t make a change if you’re not even aware there’s a problem.  That said, I invite you to reflect on these questions:

What were your earliest memories about money? What lesson did you learn and who taught you?

These are the questions I stopped in the middle of a talk on Strategic Financial Leadership, to ask one of the woman entrepreneurs.

She bravely shared that while she had created a personal budget, she found it incredibly hard to look at her business finances.

She was afraid to confront the ebb and flow, worried about what a decline might say about her, personally.

I paused my original lesson to dive deeper into why she was scared.

What surfaced was a memory from her childhood: she revealed she harbored negative childhood memories from when her family went through seasons of having and not having money.

She recalled the impact it had on her mother and the unresolved trauma she didn’t even realize she had until that moment.

That old story had been living inside her for years—and now it was playing out again through her business. Not intentionally, but unconsciously.

If we had not brought awareness to her old money mindset, she would have continued to be the limiting factor in the potential growth of her business.

Unfortunately many of us are the ones limiting the growth of our businesses and we don’t even know it!

That moment with that woman is exactly the reason why, my book, Dancing with Numbers, opens the way it does.

When I sat down to write the book, I realized I needed to start with what’s often unspoken: money mindset.

The deeply learned behaviors, memories, and beliefs—what psychologists call money scripts—that many entrepreneurs unknowingly carry into their businesses.

Scripts that can be detrimental, often blocking their ability to build a healthier relationship with numbers or engage with them in a more positive, empowered way.

Here are three mindset shifts every entrepreneur needs to make if they want to truly dance with their numbers.

1. Identify and remix your old money scripts

In Chapter 2, I walk you through how to spot the hidden crippling beliefs that quietly shape how you show up to your finances—things like, “I’m not good with numbers” or “I’ll never have enough.” These stories often come from childhood, culture, or past financial wounds.

What to Do Instead: Name them. Then rewrite them. Because you can’t build a financially healthy business while clinging to beliefs that tell you you’re not capable of managing one.

2. Recognize your emotional triggers around money

Chapter 3 focuses on what happens when fear, shame, or anxiety hijack your financial decisions. Businesses ebb and flow—it’s normal. But if your self-worth rises and falls with your business’ bank balance, you’ll always feel like you’re on shaky ground.

What to Do Instead: Learn to notice when emotions are in the driver’s seat, and give yourself tools to stay grounded.

3. Separate your identity from your numbers

You are not your revenue. You are not your balance sheet. Your numbers are information, not a reflection of your worth.

What to Do Instead: Stop avoiding them and start dancing with them—checking in regularly, moving with intention, trusting the rhythm—you gain clarity, confidence, and choice.

This is why Dancing with Numbers starts with money mindset. Because without it, all the financial strategy in the world won’t move you or your business forward.

>>>>> If you’re starting to realize that your money mindset may be influencing your business more than you thought, let’s talk. Book your Complimentary Financial Consult today—and let’s start dancing with your numbers, from the inside out. 💃🏽📊

Tricia Taitt is the CEO and Chief Financial Choreographer of FinCore. She holds an M.B.A from The Fuqua School of Business of Duke University, and a BS in Economics with a Finance concentration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. For over 20 years, she’s been a finance professional. Half of the time was spent working on Wall Street while the other half was spent in the trenches side by side with small business owners. As a result of working with FinCore, clients have been able to take control of their numbers and feel more confident in their ability to make decisions, while increasing profits by 10% and building a cash stash to invest in growth. Follow Tricia on LinkedIn and Instagram.

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