Latest / Marci talks money (and life) / Align your business and your life, mindfulness and personal growth with Cindy Koehler
Transcript
- Marci Grossman (00:15) Hello, I am MoneyMarci. Welcome. I am thrilled to welcome today's guest, Cindy Koehler. Cindy is one of Australia's most experienced manifestation coaches and educators, known for her warm humor, grounded wisdom, and science-based approach to change. Over more than 40 years, she has combined careers in education, business, and wellness with her lifelong study of mindfulness, neuroscience, and identity transformation. She began teaching after graduating from the University of South Australia, later moving into remedial therapies and coaching before founding Mind Garage, a space where practical manifestation meets evidence-based mindset work. Cindy's coaching philosophy centers on helping people empty the drawer first, clearing emotional clutter before creating something new. Her upcoming book, Manifest You, How to Step into the Future You to Change Everything, brings her signature blend of real-world science and human insight to a wider audience. Cindy's joy is witnessing others grow. With her trademark positivity and humor, she empowers individuals and business owners to align who they are with what they truly want, proving that lasting success begins with identity. Welcome, Cindy. Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (01:38) Thank you, Marci. That's a bit of an intro, isn't it? Marci Grossman (01:41) Well, you're quite a bit of a woman. just keep combining and adding to everything that you do. Tell me about this path to becoming a life coach. Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (01:53) Yeah, it's been kind of a pretty natural evolution in its space because it's a beautiful junction of 20 years as an educator and 25 years in business. I've created and sold four different award-winning businesses, as well as this major piece, which is the 40 years of meditation, mindfulness, mindfulness teaching, and real passion for mindset work and study in that space. So coaching is kind of that beautiful middle piece that enables me to combine those three passions. And I think, you know, my key purpose is as an educator and as a business and life coach mindset coach, it enables me to be in that space and to help people and share the wisdom that's been accumulated along the way in all of those spaces. So that's kind of the journey towards, it was kind of a natural evolution in that space. Marci Grossman (02:54) Your businesses were remedial therapies. and Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (02:56) yeah. they were Remedial therapy. So they were essentially assisting people identify pain sites within their body and, then using different manual therapies to assist them in that space. So I had four different sites and a team of therapists that worked with me. And we basically were particularly interested in people who were looking at dysfunction. And my own passion was having a look at the emotional basis behind people's physical pain and having a look at the energetics of that and how the body keeps the score is a very well known That was my key passion and I worked in that space for roughly 20 to 25 years. I sold the businesses in 2020 and found that I had a couple of years trying a couple of different things. But after I'd sort of tried some consultancy work, I found that because I'd done some coaching prior while I owned the businesses that people were requesting me to work with them in that space. So I got some formal education and some qualifications in coaching and continued to do that so that I can sort of best serve the clients that I work with. Marci Grossman (04:10) awesome because that mind-body connection and then it gets in the way of our success in everything we do. It's so much that we look at our financial success because obviously MoneyMarci, it's a financial thing and our mindset and our physical well-being and all of these contribute Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (04:26) Yeah. Marci Grossman (04:32) to our overall well-being, Marci Grossman (04:34) to our acknowledging what it is we really want and being able to work toward those goals. Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (04:41) Yeah, absolutely. Strategy is really important. I think strategy is, it has its place in all the different aspects of business and in our life. People always want to know the how to, tell me how to do it. Always give me the steps, break it down for me, make it easy for me. Just tell me what to do. But it is the mindset that is and I think it's not just mindset. It's actually the associated emotion with it, is the key piece that is the ceiling or, I'm very passionate about cars. So I call it the handbrake. It's kind of like the handbrake in people's lives that stops them from stepping out into the space that enables them to then create through strategy. But in terms of getting that right, having a look at the beliefs, the thoughts, the language and then the patterns and the habits that people follow through in that space. I'm fascinated by money. I studied to be a money coach through an international school at some stage to have a look at that because it really plays out in our everyday life. And money is an ongoing conversation every day, isn't it? We interact with it every day. We have several transactions with it every day. And it has a big impact on our life. So I think it is a really important conversation. And it's really common here in Australia for us to not be really open in our conversations, kind of keep our finances a secret. And I think that probably stems from, you know, that money is evil, money is dirty, that sort of thing. We kind of hold those financial conversations pretty close to ourselves. And that can be associated with a lot of stress as well. Marci Grossman (06:29) is stressful for a lot of people. Being able to communicate with your partner, whether it's a personal level partner or a business partner, and the baggage you bring about money because what we learn when we're young, whether we realize we're learning it or not, impacts how we react to money as we get older. Then you becoming an entrepreneur, now you're not just doing the therapies or the education and everything, now you have to also do the business side of that. And that's a lot to bring to the table. Did you grow up talking about money or was it very quiet in your house? Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (07:02) Mm-hmm. Yeah, I love that you're having this conversation. And I think the more discussions we have about it, the more normal we make it. So it enables, empowers people to sort of say, well, you know, that was my journey too. And what have you say? My household upbringing was, you know, my childhood was wonderful. I had beautiful parents and, you know, they were loving and kind. And that kind of came to a very abrupt halt when my father passed away when I was 11. And that was kind of where childhood went to adulthood very quickly. But it was also a time where I became aware of the lack of financial knowledge in our family. And what happened was, you know, as a child, I wasn't given any financial education. I remember there being a little savings book and I remember we took a little bit of money to school and we put that in every now and again, but it wasn't consistent. We did work from a young age and we were given pocket money and things like that, but we weren't given any what to do with that once you got it apart from spend it. There was these savings books, but there was no sort of correlation for me and no education about what that actually meant for the short, the medium and the long term in my life. I would say that I did not get great financial. I wasn't financially literate until well into my 20s in that space. So my habit with money was, money was like sand in my hand. It came in, it went out. And that was very much what I inherited from my father. He would come in and announce that he had bought a boat and he had bought a shack and what have you. And, it was very much about that it was a resource and we did, we used it well. We didn't want for anything at all when we were kids, we were blessed in that space. But in terms of my own upbringing, I didn't have the financial literacy and that affected me. That affected me later on. My bank account was always the money, the pay came in and then it went straight out on discretionary spending. Marci Grossman (09:23) That's hard when you don't have the education in that and certainly learn it, when your father passed at a young age. I was 22 when my father passed. And so it was, your whole life changes. And at 22, obviously I wasn't really a kid anymore, but it really shifts you much faster into a certain independence of adulthood when you don't have that resource, that person to to talk to and I can't imagine at 11. Do you have siblings? Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (09:59) Yeah, had, my mum was left as a single parent with three girls. So I was 11, my sister was 13, my other sister was 15. So there were some significant challenges for her. And you know, my mum's only just passed in the last, just a little over 12 months at the beautiful age of 87, And thank you. And like, I feel her lost significantly in what was a very rich and full and beautiful and natural life. Marci Grossman (10:17) Sorry for your loss. Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (10:28) It does make me reflect back on the major changes when you do lose a parent at a young age. 11, 22, they're still young ages in that space. I recall also at that time, and my mum spoke about it for many years afterwards, that she had no idea about what our financial situation was. Mum didn't know how to write a cheque back then. She was really in the space of going into it blindly and luckily, you know, there was a small mortgage, but the insurance paid for that. So we had a home, Mum had work. She was thrown back into full-time work to financially support Being a shock as a child for a woman raising three daughters, going into that space with having to work full-time, having to apply for leadership positions to financially support her three daughters was significant. So it was a very different time at that time. Marci Grossman (12:15) And there's the stress because whatever your father was earning, obviously you had the insurance and your mom was in a position where she was able to go into full-time work and fortunately your sisters were old enough that the three of you were able to be somewhat independent, I guess, or dependable or part of the equation rather than just being younger. But that changes everything, the stress of a whole shift in everything. People are stressed about money though, whether they have money or they don't, whether they're earning a lot or they're earning a little. And that whole relationship with money, Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (12:53) Mm-hmm. Marci Grossman (12:55) I look at the coaching and stuff you do. Do you coach on financial aspects of that as well? Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (13:01) I think the majority of people come to me, business owners come to me. One of the key things they want to do is earn more money. That would be one of the reasons why they would bring me in as a coach to see whether they can expand their business to earn more money. And the other key reason would be looking at their happiness and wellbeing. So, you know, they're earning good money, but they're not happy doing the work that they're doing. They're doing everything in the job and they're stressed out and their health is suffering and that sort of thing. So they want to change things. Money is generally one of the conversations that we have. And I think it's a really important conversation in terms of for a business looking at, turnover has a degree of irrelevance. It has to be a certain amount. But it's the gap between what the outgoings are and what the turnover is. Profit is the important figure that we want to be having a look at. So one of my roles as a business coach is making sure that we're really clear so that we can speak really confidently about this is what our turnover is, this is what it costs us to run the business, and this is what I can take home. And out of that, what's going towards long-term savings, whether that's superannuation here in Australia or investments, what is like medium emergency funds and or intermediate savings? And then what is the discretionary percentage that we can spend? What are the household bills? What does it cost to run a household? So it's not just running the business expense. What does the household cost? What can we play with? What are medium type savings and what are our longer term savings plans? Those are all conversations that we have. And ironically, I've spent the last couple of weeks with a young client of mine and we're being really detailed about those things, having a look at what her studio costs to run with her staff and then what it costs for her to live and then what she's actually bringing in. And when we got to that figure, like what it actually costs for her to live in those accumulated two amounts. I love the moment where you go, well it costs you, let's say it's $111,000 to live plus run a business. And they sit there and go, really? I really wasn't aware of it. And I think there's something very empowering. in knowing your figures in both your business and your life, to know really accurately what it costs on a year, on a quarter, on a month, on a weekly basis to run a house is very empowering because then you can make informed decisions about how and where you spend your money and for what reasons and what's a priority for you in terms of your spending. And getting comfortable with those figures rather than definitely here in Australia we have a lot of ostrich in the sand or head in the sand I don't want to look at that that's that's too hard. And for me I find that interesting it's probably associated with people not wanting to visit an emotion that's associated with that experience. Whether that's shame or fear or worry. Yeah, in that space. They generally just want to, they'd prefer not to talk about it, not to know it, not to know it in detail, rather than find the detail and the actual specifics of what it does cost us in this life, because prices are going up here in Australia significantly. Marci Grossman (16:40) I think. Prices are going up here, prices are going up everywhere. I think people want to focus on, I'm just gonna earn more money and then I don't have to look at what I'm spending. And I tell people whether you earn a lot or a little, you're still gonna make mistakes. The idea is you make less mistakes and the people who earn more can obviously afford to make more mistakes. But if you don't know the information, then you're gonna get a surprise one day. It's so important to look at that. It's so important to evaluate your behavior. I do this all the time. Why do I do this? Well, I do it because my mom did it or because her mom did it or my father did it or his father did it or whomever. And you carry these behaviors in this relationship with money with you forward and you have no idea where it came from. Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (17:41) One of the things to start off with is having a look at, and for me, one of the things that I've been told I do really well as a coach is to be able to listen and hear the patterns that play out in people's lives. And to identify those. Hearing the money story, hearing how people will speak about it. There's some key things like money is the root of all evil, those kinds of beliefs. Easy come, easy go. Money is hard work. Money is dirty. Then sort of having a look at, you know, between the ages of zero and seven, where those beliefs are laid down to ask people to reflect back on that first memory of their relationship with money that they can recall. What's the earliest age that they can recall it? So it might be a situation of you got paid a certain amount as pocket money. You might have got the belief during that process. We were told to hold onto it tightly because money's hard to come by and we've worked really hard for our money and we picked that up from that very young age. Marci Grossman (18:42) Right. Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (18:58) We've been told to wash our hands because of dirty money. We're told perhaps we might have stolen something when we were younger. That's really common. so there is this associated value that comes about because of that. And so I think it's really important for us to have a look at that. I recently worked with a young man, a brilliant young businessman. But what was playing out for him was a very strong, beautiful religious upbringing. A family that was living in poverty. And he was very used to going without and scarcity was his norm. And there wasn't a lot of wealth in terms of there weren't a lot of resources for him. And he had brought that and a huge amount of fear into his adult life. So he was trying to build a business with that scarcity mindset. And it was that fear that was really holding him back in that space. And that abundance was seen as evil. And when we kind of flipped it around and have a look at, well, the more abundant, the more you can actually give to your community for the greater good. From a Christian perspective, he was able to adjust that very clearly and his business took off. Just in a really short space of time, two to three months. So I love having a look at those early beliefs that become embedded in us and then the behaviours and the patterns that we do on a daily basis that perhaps we're not aware come from those earlier experiences in life and they do play out. There's lots of grown up children around the place still living some of those childhood beliefs because we haven't been taught to bring awareness to it. Marci Grossman (20:45) Wait. Well, right, if you don't talk about it, heal it, you can't change it, you can't own it. Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (20:55) Yeah, I agree with you. Marci Grossman (21:00) I love that got the scientific basis and yet you do the mind work and sometimes those don't go together very well, manifestation and neuroscience. So I'd love to hear a little bit about how you work with those together. Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (21:15) Yeah, evidence is gathering more and more towards that which physically we can't tangibly see and hold. The quantum, the science of quantum physics, I'm fascinated by in terms of its existence and how it works in terms of being able to, affect change through non-physical energy. And yet we so easily and readily swallow the science of Wi-Fi, which is an energy that is passed between space that we can't see. We swallow that, but when we're given the concept of quantum physics, unless we've got some good science behind it and then some data, good data, not just three blokes in a pub having a beer thinking that it works well, like, you know, some large amount. Once we start to get some good science and some good theory and some hypotheses tested through really good data, the data really adds up to it being a legitimate science in that space. And so, Marci Grossman (22:13) ... Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (22:33) The concept of quantum physics is being in a space whereby energetically we are attracting whatever it is we want in our lives. And sometimes incidentally, we're attracting life anyway. It just depends on whether the individual is the one designing what they're attracting or whether they're just a victim of that based of a lack of understanding about what their thoughts, what their emotional state and what they're putting out into the ether or the universe. They're just kind of a victim to their ongoing thoughts and beliefs without interruption. So my work in that space is about bringing intention. For example, in the first sort of 30 seconds of waking, we have a real opportunity. So what happens after about 30 to 60 seconds when we wake is a part of our brain switches into what is the default mode network. And it starts to replay the thoughts and beliefs and the associated emotions of what we have known in the past. And now our brain is magnificent. Like I think it's incredible, but it is purely a record of what we've known in the past. So For most of us on a daily basis, we're repeating 90 % of the thoughts and the beliefs and the feelings of what's happened from yesterday. So it's like groundhog day for 90 % of the day, unless we acknowledge that and then actively design our day to be what it is that we want to be. What do we want to think? How do we want to feel? What are the behaviours and patterns we want to bring into our lives in that space. So a very simple example might be like, how do I want to feel on a daily basis? How do I want to feel about money, for example? So I want to feel like there is a large amount of abundance in my life. I want to feel that I am abundant. I want to celebrate and bring gratitude for all that I have, you know, the beautiful home that I live in, the resources I have, the cars that I drive, the income I'm receiving from clients, that there are plenty of clients in this space, that I readily access the best clients for me so that I am feeling, bringing the thoughts and the language to it, but also feeling the gratitude for it. And I'm feeling calm that it's coming to me. And I'm feeling trust in that that's what I'm attracting in my life rather than the opposite might be, my God, is there enough money in my bank? Do I check my bank account as soon as I wake up? And then I go into, ⁓ am I going to have enough to pay my bills? Where's my next client coming from? Fear, struggle, anxiety. Yeah. And we setting up patterns in that space. So our day can either look like this or it can look like this based on how we intentionally set about with our thinking and then our feelings and then the actions associated with that. Does that make sense? Marci Grossman (25:57) It does and I've never really thought of it in connection with things like Wi-Fi that you don't see. That's an interesting analogy. Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (26:05) Radio waves have been around for over a hundred years. So we just accept it. Marci Grossman (26:12) Yeah, that absolutely makes sense. You talked about being successful in work, but then also finding the things to make life enjoyable. It certainly looks like you lead the way with your passion because you are... You instruct in rock climbing and leadership, mountain leadership and sailing and windsurfing and kayaking. So you are a very, yeah, these are the things I enjoy in life and I'm putting it out there and I'm doing that. And this is what it looks like to put these things into your life, not just say, well, when I have time later on, you make time and those things are a part of your life and that has to be very powerful when you are coaching people to say, it is about the balance. It's not just work, work, work and make money. It's also these other things, the things you enjoy. Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (27:08) Yeah. And, you know, that Marci, that word balance is interesting, isn't it? Because, if I attempted to put, in terms of balance out the number of hours I spent in my work with the hours I wanted to, with my hobbies or, time with family, they wouldn't actually balance out, because there's just not enough hours in the day. So, Mind Garage, our sort of byline here is create spectacular. So what I'm attempting to impart with my clients and demonstrate in my own life is a very intentional, how do I want to create a spectacular day on a day by day basis and a moment by moment? How do I want to feel? What are the activities that bring me joy? Like I love coaching. I love talking to you on this podcast because at heart I'm an educator, it enables me to fulfil my purpose. I love scuba diving. I love walking with my dog. Beautiful black Labrador sits just behind me on the ground. I'm amazed you can't hear her snoring. But like those moments of waking up for your dog owners that are listeners, that brings me absolute joy. Sitting down with a good friend and having a cup of coffee brings me joy. So it is about intentionally creating the life that I want to live, not just have those, big future plans about holidays and, wanting to achieve a certain amount or getting another qualification. It is about really leaning into a spectacular life. It's really about taking my financial resources and making sure I'm spending them. on the things that bring me joy, on the things that enhance my life, on, for me, health, education and adventure are the three areas that stand out as being aligned with my values and it's where I would spend most of my resources that are, is or are discretionary. So when I can identify those things, health in terms of preventative health. training, personal training, being active, active hobbies, education, learning, growth, I'll spend money on books and podcasts. And then adventure is travel. So it is very much designing a life that I love. And that takes intention. Without the intention, without awareness, you become a victim of circumstance. You just roll along with what Marci Grossman (29:35) It is very much designing. without the intention, without awareness, you become a victim of circumstance, you just roll along Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (29:50) comes up in your life and you might, empower yourself in little bits and pieces, but you have the opportunity to fully grasp every moment on a moment by moment basis. And particularly when it comes to money and particularly when it comes to, how you spend, how you save, how you earn. I think it's very empowering. Marci Grossman (30:17) Do you any suggestions for people to build that financial confidence? Any tidbits you can share? Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (30:23) Yeah, like I think financial literacy is critical and it might at the start be one of those scary small steps for people. And it is always going to start with those people that are sort of starting out and going, well, I don't know where to start in that space. Something as simple as a household budget. Budget is a weird word, maybe a spending plan is a more empowering bit of language you can use. So that you're having a look at in your everyday life, do I want to spend that? In Australia, that $7.50 on a coffee at a cafe or that $28 breakfast? Is that where I want to spend my money or do I want to have that at home and then put that money towards it accumulates towards a holiday, to go to the mountains or something or other. By doing a budget and getting a really clear and honest picture of where you're at now enables you to make decisions in your life about where you want to move to in the future. I would say one of the key things would be to document your spending and then see where it is that you want to actually spend your money. I think it's in terms of having a look at if there is a space whereby you are overspending and putting yourself into debt. I think it's also really important that you document that and then have a look at and go and get some help about if you are in that space with particularly this time of year when we've got Christmas credit cards coming in from spending. That really loads up stress on families. And then, you know, going back to school for us here in Australia, to the new school year starts at this time of year, there's, uniforms and shoes and the haircuts and all of that with children. it's also really important to have a look at where you're at now and have a look at debt and see whether you can consolidate debt, whether you can go and get help to consolidate that debt., and then have a look at how you can slowly chip away at bringing that debt down to erase it so that you're in a positive financial space. I think that would be really helpful. And then, the third piece is always having a look at when you do have some, leftover money from expenses, is some of that going towards long-term investment? Is it some of it going towards medium-term savings? Marci Grossman (32:51) left over money from expenses, is some of that going towards long term investment. ⁓ Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (32:59) Then having a look Marci Grossman (32:59) and having Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (33:00) what's the play money? What's the discretionary spending that I can spend on, know, coffees or a new shirt or whatever it is that you want to spend it on. I think it comes down to some real simplicities, but spending some time documenting your situation is always, I think, a very powerful process to go through. It puts you in charge rather than guessing, Marci Grossman (33:00) what's... Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (33:27) and then waking up with a reality that isn't what you want in your life. Lastly, think an abundant mindset is something that takes effort and energy to develop. if I think about abundance, looking at abundance is just not a financial money thing. Marci Grossman (33:33) I think an abundant mindset is something that takes effort and energy to develop. that abundance is just sort of financial money thing. It is as simple as saying, well, an abundance of love. Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (33:48) It is as simple as saying, well, an abundance of love with the people I spend time with. Do you have people in your life that love you, that you love? Do you have an animal in your life that loves you and that you love? That is an example of developing an abundant mindset. Abundance in terms of, do I have access to clean water and fresh air? Marci Grossman (34:10) in terms of do I have access to... Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (34:17) I'm very blessed in the city that I live in. We have an abundance of both. So while finances might be challenging for some people at certain times, you can still develop greater abundance in terms of your mindset and your feelings and your celebrations of abundance through other aspects rather than just money. And that will spin off and add to your financial abundance in that space. Marci Grossman (34:45) Thank you. Cindy, before we wrap up, do you have anything else you'd like to mention that maybe we didn't cover? Cindy Koehler I Mindset Coach (34:51) No, I think we've covered a number of different things. I think money is always a great conversation. I love chatting about money and if anyone's got any questions, they can just flick me an email. I'm happy to answer them for people, happy to unpack anything else. Tthank you so much Marci for having me on board. Marci Grossman (35:10) Cindy Koehler, thank you so much for being my guest today. We appreciate you taking the time to join us here. I will be sharing a link to Cindy's information in the show notes. Please check her out. She shares a lot of interesting information and you can see a picture of her beautiful dog on her website. Don't forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and stay tuned. I'll see you next time. This has been MoneyMarci on Marci Talks Money (and Life). You got this.