The Hidden Cost of “Luxury” Thinking

The things you call indulgent might be the very things that hold your life together.

We all have stories about what’s okay to spend money on.
What’s essential. What’s frivolous.
What’s wise. What’s wasteful.

I recently worked with a client navigating a cash crunch.
To tighten up her budget, she decided to cancel her gym membership.

“I couldn’t keep wasting money on that,” she said.
“It’s a luxury.”

Here’s the thing:
That wasn’t her voice.
It was the voice of a belief handed down.
From a well-meaning, scarcity-trained lineage.
Wrapped in practicality.
Reinforced by society.
And rooted in a misunderstanding of what her body—and business—truly needed.

She didn’t just lose a gym membership.
She lost access to a regulated nervous system.
To her clearest thinking.
To the grit that makes building an empire sustainable.

And the results showed up fast.
Her creativity dipped.
Her energy dropped.
The business work she once moved through with ease now felt like a slog.

By forgoing what she thought was a luxury, she cut herself off from one of her most potent tools for success.

I know it sounds counterintuitive.
But some of the things you’ve been taught to label “luxuries” are actually linchpins in your Prosperity Ecosystem. Vital threads in the web that hold your energy, your joy, and your revenue together.

For her, it was the gym.
For me, it’s a weekly massage and mail ordering my favorite coffee.
For one client, it’s marathon training.
For another, it’s volunteering in a community garden.

None of these are line items to be slashed.
They’re capacity builders.
Life extenders.
Dream scaffolding.

You are not a machine.
You are the engine of a vision.
And your fuel matters.

When my clients try to expand from a place of constriction, it rarely works.
Because creativity, magnetism, and leadership all live in the expansive state.
Your soul’s mission doesn’t thrive in survival mode.

And my job?
It’s to see the whole board.
To help you find the possibilities that constriction blinds you to.
To recalibrate your relationship with money, with capacity, and with what you actually need to thrive.

So before you cut the thing that keeps you whole—
Ask yourself:
Is this truly a luxury… or is it lifeblood in disguise?

👉 Reflection Prompt
What’s one thing you’ve labeled a “luxury” that actually fuels your creativity, capacity, or clarity? What would shift if you called it a necessity—and treated it as such?

🔥 Daily Affirmation
I honor the investments that sustain me.
I trust my capacity to expand and be supported.
I choose nourishment as strategy.
I allow joy to be my compass.
I am resourced and rising.

PS Profit is protest, and you deserve a life that supports your vision, not just your survival. Every so-called “luxury” that restores your brilliance is a line item in the revolution.

🎧 Song of the Day: What About Everything – Carbon Leaf