Whether it’s growing up with oscillating family fortunes, or placing academic prestige over paycheques (I’ve been involved in both), there can be situations in which you develop an embarrassment around discussion of money.

Yet, when the pennies you bring in (from whatever venture you’re working on) can be expressed in relative terms, your drive and your care for the opinions of those who would stop you discussing money start to diverge.

When you drop the currency label and instead express your business earnings as a percentage of a tangible goal, things get a lot more interesting. Salary is a decent example of a metric that will interest you whether your an entrepreneur or a 9-5 careerist in the public sector. Amateurs focus on salary, professionals focus on burn rate. What you bring in only has relevance when compared to what goes out again. Count the holes in your bucket before floating about how shiny it is.

In the case of developing business, noting any favourable upward trend in your balance sheet can be made much more powerful when that same quantity is translated into how far along the road of your current goal you are. The cynics will see you making money for money’s sake. You, on the other hand, will see a thermometer filling up to a bulb that you shape for yourself.

Consider how you might rephrase money in terms relative to a goal or person your aiming to invest in.

Listen to the full podcast episode here or wherever you listen to podcasts. Just search “reid_indeed”.