How a weekly habit helped undo shame around money

In their book Emergent Strategy, adrienne marie brown writes about small-scale practices that grow and reflect larger-scale systems. They talk about fractals and patterns of how we are at a small scale is how we are at the large scale. I think about this all the time.

In the early days of my coaching business, I worked with a money coach, Nicole Burkhard, who provided me with a MoneyFlow tracker spreadsheet to help me feel more confident and informed about making money decisions in my business. Years later, each Friday, I have time on my calendar to review the financial snapshot of my little growing business and update my MoneyFlow tracker. I call this ritual Finance Friday.

As someone who avoided financial spreadsheets and in-depth data tracking for a long time because, quite honestly I had a lot of fears and discomfort around money, I am celebrating that I have this weekly ritual I look forward to around money management. It feels like I'm Adulting with a capital "A".

Even weeks or months when revenue was low, I felt in control because I made small decisions while keeping the bigger picture in mind: slow, non-linear, organic growth over time. What invoices need to be sent? What expenses did I have this week? What expenses are coming up soon? How much money can I move to savings? How much can I contribute to mutual aid and causes I care about this quarter?

A seashell shows how small patterns grow into large patterns.

And since I'm diligently tracking year-to-year, I'm able to see that as of Iast month, 6 months into the year, I've already surpassed my total revenue for all of 2025. woo!!

Running a business takes so much more than money management. It's a creative practice. It's a relationship ecosystem. It's a personal journey in my own self-development. And I have more goals and measures of success than money made. But at the end of the day, I aim to run a practice where the exchange of helping people for money means that I can thrive, too. Plus, what motivates me is, as Simone Grace Seol says, "movements need money."

What habits are you forming now that will grow with you?

Side Note: We can acknowledge that most of our economic issues are systemic rather than individual. Tracking spreadsheets don’t magically make high healthcare costs disappear. Let's be clear about that.