The Confidence Shortcut with Niki Sterner
The Confidence Shortcut is your permission slip to start before you’re ready. Hosted by actor, comedian & producer Niki Sterner, each episode is packed with honest conversations, mindset tools, and practical shortcuts to help you silence your inner critic, develop a growth mindset, and get unstuck.
Designed for high-achieving creatives, performers, visionaries, and entrepreneurs, this podcast helps you build the habit of courage in the face of fear—so you can finally share your voice with the world.
If you’ve ever wondered how to build confidence, overcome self-doubt, or stop overthinking and start taking action, this show is your weekly boost of momentum. Whether you’re battling imposter syndrome, stuck in perfectionism, or simply afraid to take the next step, you’ll leave each episode with real-life tools and the confidence to move forward—one bold (and sometimes messy) step at a time.
Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to the show wherever you’re listening, and grab your free “Confidence Kickstart” in the show notes.
The Confidence Shortcut with Niki Sterner
#18: Lindsay Cressey | Oxford Graduate & Dual-Qualified Lawyer | Teaching Women to Enjoy Money Without the Bro Jargon
Ever feel like money is that dusty corner of your life nobody taught you how to clean? You're not alone. In this enlightening conversation with Lindsay Cressy, Oxford graduate, dual-qualified lawyer and teacher, and financial empowerment coach, we shine a light on why women's relationship with money deserves a complete makeover.
Lindsay reveals the startling truth: despite receiving elite education, she was never taught about money. "I had the highest education you could go for, and yet at no point was I taught about money," she shares. This educational blind spot leaves most of us operating from childhood beliefs about finances that no longer serve us as adults.
The revelation that stopped me in my tracks? Women actually make better long-term investors than men. We're naturally inclined to invest in alignment with our values and stay the course rather than reactively trading. Yet the "bro language" of finance, with its emphasis on risk and complicated jargon, creates unnecessary barriers that keep women from stepping into their financial power.
What if investing could be as enjoyable as shopping? Lindsay suggests starting by "dating your money", creating pleasant experiences around financial planning rather than dreading it. She offers brilliant practical strategies like investing in companies you already patronize: "Instead of just going to your favorite store, why not buy some of their shares? Then when you're spending money there, you're investing in your own company."
Whether you're a creative entrepreneur struggling to charge what you're worth or someone who's never considered investing, Lindsay's approach makes financial empowerment accessible and even fun. By sending your money "out to work for you while you sleep" through simple automated investments, you can build wealth without stress.
Ready to break the money taboo and start creating financial freedom on your own terms? This episode will transform how you think about money, from something to fear into a powerful tool for creating the life you deserve.
Connect with Lindsay here:
JOIN Lindsay's VIP Email: Get first notice of her new Money Mindset Program
Website: https://lindsaycressey.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindsay_cressey
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsay-cressey-471418170
For Private Coaching, contact: info@lindsaycressey.com
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Welcome to the Confidence Shortcut, the podcast for ambitious creatives and entrepreneurs who are ready to stop overthinking, take bold action and finally step into the life they've been dreaming about. I'm your host, nikki Sterner mom, actor, comedian and producer. After years of playing small and waiting to feel ready, I went on a courage quest and found a shortcut to confidence. Each week, I'll bring you real stories, simple steps and conversations with experts in mindset courage and confidence, plus heart-to-hearts with fellow creatives who are turning their dreams into reality. It's time to get unstuck and start showing up. Let's dive in. Welcome to the Confidence Shortcut. I'm your host, nikki Sterner.
Speaker 1:Today's guest is Lindsay Cressy, a trailblazer redefining the relationship between women and money across the world, with a mission to foster confidence, wisdom and financial freedom. Lindsay goes beyond the numbers, focusing on money, mindset and empowerment. She wants women to have the courage to feel good about their money and the trust that they can build their own wealth in whatever way fits their life at whatever stage they're in. A graduate of Oxford University in England, lindsay is a dual qualified lawyer and teacher, a certified money coach and an investor. She's the creator of Money L Plates, an educational series of programs on money, property and wealth designed especially for female entrepreneurs, artists and creatives. Her impact reaches far beyond her own programs. Lindsay has created curriculum content and delivered sessions for the Financial Literacy Inclusion Campaign, a UK charity founded by the Financial Times, bringing financial education to schools, the armed forces and communities that need it most.
Speaker 1:Lindsay has recently been featured on MSN's 10 Money Mindset Coaches, changing how we Think About Money, and in the UK's iNewspaper. So please welcome to the show, lindsay Cressy. Thank you, nikki. Thank you Lovely to be here, so I would love for you to start off by just telling us who you are, what you do and what you're passionate about right now.
Speaker 2:Oh, thank you very much. Well, I am Lindsay Cressy, I live in England and I am dual qualified. As you said, I started out in life. I was at Oxford University that was a fantastic time and I went into the city of London. I was a solicitor, a lawyer, in the city of London and worked within the city for about eight years or so and I have three children. I had three children within four and a half years. That was a slightly busy time.
Speaker 2:And then I have always been involved in business and teaching and I have spent some time as a teacher probably about 10 years of my life within the education sector. That was because at Oxford University, the tutors our tutors were really keen that we go out and teach, and here in England teaching is not the best paid job. It's not always regarded as one of those top, high flying jobs, but our tutors really believed that it was really important that you take your knowledge, you take your skills and you go out and you teach and it was the best thing we could do. So I did go, do that. I went out and taught and I was a maths teacher and a geography teacher and I loved it.
Speaker 2:However, what actually what I specialised in was really bringing confidence out, particularly in girls with maths. It was really interesting and I realized as I was teaching maths that in fact, we weren't teaching about money and it was an area which my girlfriends were not very confident talking about. Confident talking about and in a world where everything is discussed and everything is on our screens, money seemed to be that sort of dusty corner that no one really wanted to look at. And I felt really strongly, partly because of my legal background, of wanting to help women and feeling very strongly about empowering them, and I thought actually we need to be teaching about money. So I pivoted probably just before the pandemic, so 2019, I really started to get interested in teaching money and that's where I am here today.
Speaker 1:Wow, I have so many questions for you. I don't know how you even get started and where do you? Where did you look Like? What happened to you that got you super interested in the money and how did you educate yourself? As someone who's not super educated on finances and investments and that kind of stuff, how do you get started?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a great question. Do you know what? I think? One of my big takeaways from my life so far is that I had the highest education that you could go for, as it were, and yet at no point in my education was I taught about money. We had one lesson at school where we were taught to write checks physically write checks and I think we all practiced our signatures and that's about it.
Speaker 2:You grow up with money in your family. You're taught by your family, you learn, you watch, you listen, you see the emotions attached to your own money. I never really thought about it like that. My parents were born in the 30s, so in the war, and they were very frugal, very careful with their money. They did teach me to invest at the time, so I knew about investing and I learned investing, but when I was teaching maths, I was teaching fractions actually, and I thought this is ridiculous. We're spending all this time teaching the children and we need to bring money into the classroom and we need to show them money and we need to let them touch it. And actually I did some work.
Speaker 2:Richard Branson had something called Make £5 Grow, where the children were physically given a £5 note and were encouraged to be entrepreneurs. So I taught that within our school and the children. They just came alive, they absolutely came alive, and they had such beautiful sort of feelings about money. They weren't embarrassed about it, they would chat, they would discuss, they wanted to make more and I think that was a real eye-opener that at some point money gets shoved into a cupboard and we don't talk about it and there's shame and there's guilt and people make mistakes and, especially for women, it becomes a bit of a hole that we don't want to have a look at. So where did I start? I thought naively. I thought I shall just teach money on the internet. That's what I'll do. I'll teach money and of course, you can teach how to invest. But it's's so much bigger than that. It's so much bigger. It's it's it's your psychology, it's how you feel about money, what holds you back it's. There's so much more about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm just thinking we never really talked about it, other than we didn't have it Like. It was like it's either there or it's spent and we have to be careful and not we can't afford that. Or it was always on a tight budget, or my mom was on a tight budget, my dad was spending, so it was like, but it was never talked about. There was never any conversation about what is money, what do we do with it? How do we feel about it? There's so many emotions and feelings attached to money that we just don't even talk about. We just, like you said, it's in the dusty corner. I love that phrase. It so is how do you talk about it? What do you say?
Speaker 2:And, of course, money itself is a piece of paper or a coin. It's totally neutral. It doesn't have any emotions or feelings. It's what we attach to it which is so interesting. And, of course, within families, normally when money is discussed, it's in a crisis point. So, as a child, one may witness a lot of heated emotion around money, a lot of feelings of famine or feast, all that kind of thing. So it's an empowering tool to which we attach childlike emotions. And I do believe and I don't know what you think about this, Nikki that when we go to school, what was your favorite subject at school?
Speaker 1:math I loved, like in third and fourth and fifth grade and even middle school, like all throughout high school too. I loved like multiplication, division, subtraction, addition. I was really good at math, yeah, but I never. It never translated to like finances for me, like it was just those skills yeah, and that did you have a really good teacher. I did. I had really good teachers. They made it fun. They made it really fun but there was never like talk about money, it was always just the math, like the facts like coming to the finding the answer yeah.
Speaker 2:So I think one of my theories is because we're not taught the subject in school and therefore we don't have that relationship with a fabulous teacher which would normally encourage us and it's what we like to follow. Very often, if you go on and follow a subject, it's because you've been inspired by a teacher, isn't it? And you think, wow, that's cool and you enjoy it and you do well, and it compounds. The whole experience compounds, and I think one of our sticking points is that we, because we don't teach to money, we don't have that chance to feel great about it because it's not celebrated in the classroom At all.
Speaker 1:Like at all. No classes ever did I take were about money and how to feel about it or what to think about it or I don't know. It's just crazy to think about now as an adult. Like you said, like we attach our childlike emotions to money, I still have those childlike emotions around money. I don't have my adult head with money yet no, it's really interesting, isn't it, and I think?
Speaker 2:but it's only when you pull to think about it or typically it's when there's a crisis. So, whether the crisis is, you lose your job. Maybe COVID was a crisis divorce, separation, death, separation, death. Very often and here in the UK I know it happens in America we can get a lot of women in poverty later on in their life because they haven't prepared. They are at a disadvantage throughout their working life because they've not worked full time, because they've had children and caring responsibilities. So it really it falls into every single part of our life and yet we're not, we've not got anybody leading us, and so I have stepped in Nikki.
Speaker 2:I really feel very strongly, really strongly, about empowering women just to feel better about money and to trust themselves with it and to know that it's not over complicated, because I do think the language around the finance world is very bro and it's, and especially here in England.
Speaker 2:I don't don't know about America it's quite serious and it talks about risk. Well, women really don't like the word risk, I find, and there's a lot of talking up and actually women make better investors than the chaps over the long term, really, because we tend to invest and we leave it and we have a longer time view of it, whereas we're not reacting when the market's changed. So we take a longer view in stocks which are aligned with our own beliefs about what we think are good in the world, what companies we think will do well, and we tend to put our money in and invest it wisely for longer, whereas chaps they can be shown to. When the markets change, they flip around with their investments. So actually we're more skilled. The numbers show that we're more skilled at investing, but I think what holds us back is a belief that we don't know how to do it and that we are scared about what will happen with that money.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like messing up, making a bad investment and also comparing ourselves to that bro or masculine type of investing that doesn't feel aligned. Yeah, it just feels out of alignment, so like, why would I do that when it feels off?
Speaker 2:yeah, it doesn't sit comfortably with us. And also the other thing, nikki, is, of course people make mistakes all the time, but they don't talk about it oh, you're talking about investing mistakes. Yeah, and I've made some cracking mistakes absolutely absolute howlers, absolute howlers. I only invest what I can afford to invest and I hope that it's going to do really well, and sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't, and I think trusting yourself just to have a little go is a really good thing.
Speaker 1:Confidence doesn't come first. Action and habits do. That's why I created the Confidence Kickstart Morning Routine, a 15-minute free guide to help you build habits that actually work. You'll get powerful journal prompts, a guided audio meditation and my three-part Confidence Shortcut System, mindset Path and Action. It's the exact routine I use to get up on stage and speak up. No more shrinking or second-guessing the link's in the caption. Grab it now and build the confidence to move forward every single day. What were some of the conversations you had with your family about money? Did you, were you able to ask them questions?
Speaker 2:Yes, mom and dad lost his parents at a very young age so he was really cautious, but he was very wise and his wise and prudent moves have helped look after my mum. He died 15 years ago. All those long-term investments and we definitely went without from my childlike views of seeing how other people had cars and big televisions and all that kind of stuff. We didn't have those things. They paid for our education. It took a lot of. Therefore, we didn't move house. It was that kind of thing.
Speaker 2:So we had that feeling that money was, was. We had to look after it carefully and we had to. It wasn't always there and we had to be grateful for what was there? Probably quite similar to you as well, but mum was quite good at she did have her what she called her running away fund and she was the one who taught me the power of compounding, that you could put in a small amount every month and just leave it and that these pots would build up.
Speaker 2:But I did some some really bonkers things, nikki. My dad bought some shares in certain things and put them in my name and said that these are few. I think I was only 19 at the time and I think I remember and he obviously meant for the long term but I went away to college and I thought I could do with some money, so I'm just going to cash in those shares because they look like they've done really well. Cashed in the shares. But he'd been in there like 18 months or something and I remember him asking me about the shares and me thinking, oh, I think I've cashed them in. We all make mistakes.
Speaker 1:That's what it's all about yeah, oh my gosh, that's so funny. Okay, did you ever have a moment where you realized that you wanted to start investing more? Did you go to something? Did you have a mentor? Did something happen?
Speaker 2:I did actually I was. I did this thing where I wasn't working for a while and I was investing for the children but not for myself. I don't know why I did that. I just was quite keen to invest for them but didn't invest for me. And I'd been a property lawyer. I'd always wanted some property and I think I got frustrated where I thought how do people make real wealth?
Speaker 2:What's going on here? Because actually working in a job and saving a bit of money doesn't seem to create the wealth. And I, of course, being a property lawyer, I'd always known about property investment, but I had. I read a book, I heard a podcast and came across Robert Kiyosaki, rich Dad, poor Dad, and I think I read, I think I read and I sort of I get very invested. So I delved into that world and I saw that he had his wife, was called Kim Kiyosaki, and it just so happened that we were going on holiday to Portugal and I booked the most beautiful villa. I can't tell you how beautiful it was. It had this massive ramp pool, it had this beautiful outdoor kitchen, it was ticking all the boxes. We were away, there were friends staying in the resort, it was absolutely fabulous.
Speaker 2:And I saw that Kim Kiyosaki was coming to London.
Speaker 2:She doesn't talk that much these days publicly and she was coming to a conference in London and I just thought I have to go because she's one of the original, the OGs of investing, of women investing, and so I booked, I'd taken everyone out on holiday, we were all out on holiday and then I flew back to London and I was in London for three days. I never went in that pool because we were only there for a short time before we went to another villa, but it was an absolute eye opener. An absolute eye opener to see and to hear women who had started with nothing. I think she said that her she'd invested her in her first property and I think she made a 25 profit in the first month or something and just to see an inspirational woman who was talking the talk and walking the walk, basically, and I think that I thought if she can do it, I can do it and I'm going to make it happen. And that's when I got really absorbed in investment and property investment and I bought my first investment flat.
Speaker 1:So that was in 20.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I saw her in 2019 and I completed on my property in February 2020, just as we went into COVID.
Speaker 1:Oh wow, and what did you do with that investment property?
Speaker 2:So it's a. It's a one bed flat and I refurbed it so I bought the. It was an absolute. It was absolutely dreadful, dreadful state when I bought it. But I bought the. It was an absolute. It was absolutely dreadful in a dreadful state when I bought it, but I loved the potential so I completely upgraded it. It's in the most beautiful art deco building here where I live and I decided that I wanted to rent it out to women, single women, young women, professional women in their 20s who started a new job. Because when I started out in London as a young solicitor in my 20s, I couldn't find anywhere where I felt really safe to live and I wanted to provide that environment for a young lady. So I have the most beautiful tenant. She's fantastic and she is a young corporate girl and she lives in the flat. So that's my way of giving back and it's a long term. It's a long term project. I love that.
Speaker 1:So how do you recommend women start taking the small actions, like you're saying you did? How would one start that?
Speaker 2:I think you have to learn to date your money. Almost you just have to take a bit of a breath and you have to get your numbers in front of you. You just have to know your numbers to begin with, and whether you just make it a really beautiful experience. So, instead of it feeling hard work or huffy, or do it in a beautiful surrounding, have something lovely to drink and enjoy being with your numbers, and even if you've got debt, and you just need to know where you're at. So I would say that was the starting point. So know your numbers, know what's coming in, know what's going out, and then really no, I think sometimes when we have, it's hard to see so far in the future Does that make sense? It's all very well saying you've got a 20 year goal with investing, but I would say, know what inspires you with your money. So if you want to, you're saving for a property or if you're saving for a longer term pot and I encourage my ladies to have pots of money which accumulate over time so when you get into your 60s, 70s, 80s, you've got these extra pots to rely on top of your pension, but then to also enjoy it and spend it and let money flow.
Speaker 2:I love lovely things, I love luxe living. I'm very good at spending as well, so I invest and that money just goes out. I set up automated payments, so my bills, everything is automated, I don't have to think about it. So I think that taking the stress out of money is really key. So, whatever's stressing you, you have to take an overview and realise and think actually that's the bit that's stressing me and then having the courage to just say we're going to look at it and we're going to sort it out. So if you're stressed about repayments on bills, sort out automated payments. Or if you're really struggling, ring up the company and have a discussion with them. I think being communicating almost communicating with your money and communicating with yourself is really important, because if you've got barriers there, then you have to start to break those down.
Speaker 1:In your program do you talk to women about? You said it's for entrepreneurs as well. Is that women who are charging for their services, and how do you get them to overcome the block of charging for their service?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's huge. It's huge, nikki, isn't it? Especially if you've been in a job where you get paid for your time. So when you go in and you do a job where you go in for five hours, you get paid for five hours, and the minute you start to work on your own and be an entrepreneur, it becomes really hard, doesn't it? Because suddenly you have to work out where the money comes from.
Speaker 2:So I think at that point and I definitely went through that's why, when I was at the point where I was thinking I'm just going to go out and teach about money, and then I was like whoa, so those feelings about charging other people, will people buy what I've got? All the deep money, beliefs and hurdles that you wouldn't even know about until you stepped into them. So, yeah, I do quite a lot of mindset work that's the majority of my work that I do and people. It's different processes and there's lots. It's very popular, isn't it?
Speaker 2:But your affirmations and visualizations, and I say, layer it up, everything helps, everything helps. And take the nuggets as you go along, learn as much as you can and you'll come through and decide where you want to pitch. Charging high ticket is not a problem. If that's where your client is and that's where you can deliver your value, then that's absolutely fine. If you want to go low ticket, then do that as well, but I think doing what works for you and trying to separate yourself from that, from the charging entity, so it's not about you, and I think having strategy without emotion when it comes to your business is really important.
Speaker 1:It sounds like from everything you've said. I teach in the Confidence Shortcut. We talk about getting clear on your dreams and then aligning your mindset and then taking action. It sounds like it's the exact same thing with money. Getting clear on what your money looks like in 20 years is what you said, I think. What is the goal for your pots of money? And then having the right mindset with your money, if you have those beliefs that are from your childhood, what you absorbed like maybe digging those up and planting new beliefs around money, because you're an adult now and you handle money differently and so it sounds like that and then not just changing your beliefs, but then taking action, finding ways to invest and what are you passionate about investing. And the action part, I think, is where maybe some people get stuck. So how do they get into action with you?
Speaker 2:in Into action themselves in terms of investing. Yeah, yeah, I'm just going to. Can I just say something from what you just I thought was really good? Once you start to think about money and once you you become focused on knowing that there is a money mindset, you can you start to observe how everyone else talks about it. It's really interesting. So you always get a bit of a 10 000 foot view and then when you see other people talking and it might, you might think, oh, that's what I was taught. Money doesn't grow on trees. All that, those beliefs which are deep in with your family. But when you see them and when you hear them, that's a massive step because then you can say, oh, okay, that's what other people think. And I choose to think this, I choose to think that I am teaching, I am working, people will pay me for my services, people want to pay me for my services, people are coming into my life, they're waiting for me to put my product out there. That's a good one, pay me. So I think that's that acknowledgement of the beliefs and recognizing. That's the acknowledgement of the beliefs and recognising them as huge.
Speaker 2:And with the investing, it's really interesting because I think now, with your phone. The days of having to use a stockbroker to go and buy shares are over, and it's only 50 years since women have been allowed to run their own financial affairs, so it's no wonder that we're slightly behind in terms of feeling confident about it. So you can use your phone. We probably have different apps in the different countries, but you can very easily set up an account. It's like shopping you can go into somewhere.
Speaker 2:This is not a recommendation, but maybe a platform like Vanguard, and they have pots of shares you can go and invest in and you spread your risk across the share so you could put in. I invested for my children 35 pounds a month and over 18 years it created pots of almost 20 000 pounds for them and I just put that money aside and just left it. So I say don't overthink too much. Find one that works. Ask your friends, see what's going on, see if you've got any recommendations, and I do think discussions with our friends and with our family are really key in terms of having ideas. The chaps are really good about talking about it.
Speaker 1:Perhaps we're a bit less yeah, I love how you just said to look at it like shopping, because I'm like I'm a good shopper, exactly. If it's just like shopping, then sure sign me up, teach me how to shop. I'm a good shopper, exactly, I'll do that. So if it's just like shopping, then sure sign me up, teach me how to shop there.
Speaker 2:I had a conversation with my son and his girlfriend today. So we have a very popular fast food outlet here called Gregg's and Gregg's is everywhere. It's everywhere and the children, they all, they love to eat it. And I said to them, instead of going to Greggs, or as well as going to Greggs, why don't you just buy some of their shares? And then, when you're spending your money in Greggs, you're investing in your own company and I think, if you, whatever you shop in the big supermarkets, if you can buy some of the shares to support your shopping. But yes, I totally agree, nikki, we're great at shopping and when you go out and you and to see, you think, oh, actually I want to invest in this type of company and I didn't know that there were shares in this type of company and the pots of shares. It's like buying a basket of fruit, basically, or organic veg, however you want to see it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. If you're going to go eat someplace or shop someplace, why not invest in their stocks? Yeah, absolutely. And then you're paying yourself. It makes so much sense, yeah.
Speaker 2:There's so many, so many ways to gamify it. Or if I'm going to spend a dollar on this, then I invest a dollar. There's all kinds of different ways to make it fun. It's trying to get rid of that feeling restricted by it. That's the whole idea. As soon as you make it fun and interesting, then I think more people will do it. And the more that we women invest in the better things in the world, I think, the better the world will become.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, this has been so enlightening. I just think, the more we become aware of what you're saying, like the awareness of how we feel about money, talking about it, having conversations and just bring it to light, then we can. I don't want to say fix it, but then we can change it and adapt to what we actually want, versus living in the past like how we grew up with money. We don't have to live there forever, it's just that awareness.
Speaker 2:It doesn't mean that you don't love your family. I think people get really scared that it means that they have to break up with their family. And it doesn't. It's just they perhaps didn't know what we now know, especially our moms and our grandmas, and I think it's, and I think for our daughters and our sons going forward, the more we can do to help them and talk about money, the better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's just any relationship, emotion, belief there. It's like getting vulnerable and there's that vulnerability with money I think that you brought to light, like just having the conversation around it. It's like having a conversation with your spouse. It's I love you and I want more for us, so I want, I need to talk about this. It's the same thing with money. It's I love you money, but I want more for us, so we need to talk.
Speaker 2:Or maybe how about this I love you money, but I'm going to send you out to work for me because I want you to make more while I'm asleep. So I'm going to pop you in that investment account and you can just compound and work away without my help and I'm just going to carry on this part. A little bit of money I'm going to use to go and do what I want to do.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love that so much oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:I'm getting like goosebumps. I'm like, oh yes, I'm so excited, great, oh. This has been amazing. I created the confidence kickstart morning routine because I know what it's like to have big dreams and still feel stuck behind self doubt, fear or the pressure to get it right. As an actor, comedian and award-winning filmmaker, I've been on over 50 stages, but confidence didn't come first. Action and habits did. This free guide gives you the exact 15-minute routine I use every morning, with journal prompts, a guided audio meditation and a simple step-by-step process built on the three pillars of the confidence shortcut mindset, path and action. These aren't just feel-good ideas. They're habits that work, that build confidence, that move you forward. If you're ready to stop overthinking and start showing up the link is in the caption Go grab it and start your day with clarity, courage and real momentum. Okay, we're going to move into the final round, the confidence quickfire round.
Speaker 2:I want to ask you five questions.
Speaker 1:Okay, the first one is Lindsay how do you define confidence?
Speaker 2:Okay, so I like to go back to the root of the word confidence, which means with trust. I think you can only have confidence when you do something and when you trust yourself. You don't necessarily trust the outcome, but you trust yourself to take the step. I think that's really key. And then it grows, doesn't it, as you take those steps. It grows every single time, but you have to take action and trust that the steps you're taking will lead you in the right direction.
Speaker 1:Yes, cause, I totally agree. Cause confidence, I don't think, is knowing that you're going to do it perfectly, but it's knowing that you're going to show up and you're going to do something and you're going to learn and keep going forward, yeah. The second question is what's one bold move you made before you felt ready?
Speaker 2:To do with money or to do with anything, can I?
Speaker 1:Anything, it could be anything for you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to share my deepest fear, and so I enjoy swimming, really enjoy swimming in the sea. But I'm really scared of the deep sea, and then I think that's from growing up in the era of jaws. I'm just going to say that. But last year my youngest son was traveling in Australia and he asked us to join him to go and swim with whale sharks, which are those massive that you know what I'm talking about, those massive I think they're fish, whale sharks anyway, the ones that which which go along with their mouths open.
Speaker 2:And to do that, nikki, I had to jump off a boat in the middle of the ocean off Australia.
Speaker 2:We used to live in Australia and one of the reasons I'm scared of the deep water is because of the crocs and the sharks and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2:Anyway, I didn't really think about it until I was there and then I was on the boat and then I thought, oh, flipping heck, I really don't want to be here and I really don't want to jump, and I knew that I could stay on the boat and it would be, and my life would be the same. One could jump off the boat and I'm, and it might be amazing and and so when we went in with some instructors and they counted down and I just took a breath and I jumped. And I tell you, when I we were just snorkeling and when I put my face under the water and looked and saw this beautiful whale shark, I was absolutely blown away, absolutely blown away. It didn't take the fear away, yeah, and I was definitely when I was getting out of the water to go back onto the boat. I was definitely going out quite quickly but I survived and I think that was a real lesson for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah that is insane. How long did you? Were you in the water with them?
Speaker 2:they're really fast actually. So once you're in with them, you have to swim really fast to keep up. And it was incredible and I think and they're very careful where we were, we're up on the West coast of Australia, up near Exmouth, and they're very good on their conservation and their behavior around the whale sharks so we swam with one whale shark. I swam with her probably three or four times and then I did call it a day and Tom, my son, he carried on. He was doing all kinds of stuff, but I was. Yeah, it took. It was a bold move. It really was a bold move.
Speaker 1:Yeah, very bold. We have two young whale sharks here in the Georgia Aquarium and they're like 30, 40 feet. I can't imagine this one.
Speaker 2:They're incredible. They're so beautiful. I was so blown away. They were so beautiful. It was so peaceful and actually that's really interesting because all I focused on was the whale shark. So I think, in terms of the fear, I didn't even think about what else was going on around me and what else could possibly be in there with me. I just was looking at this very beautiful creature and it was just, it was amazing.
Speaker 1:So yeah, Wow, that's so neat, oh my gosh. Okay, the third question is how do you quiet or face your inner critic, my inner critic?
Speaker 2:Oh, I learned to recognize it actually and I'm just saying, actually you know what, I can hear you and I think, a bit like the boat, I think either I can just stay where I am or I can take a different step, and my critic is loud at times. I'm a very harsh judger of myself and I have very high expectations of myself, so sometimes I just have to take a moment to think you know what you do not? Yeah, wow. Yeah so just Just acknowledging sometimes, but it's not easy.
Speaker 1:It's a practice. Do you tell it like, hey, I hear you, but you go in the back like I'm taking over?
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly that, and it is almost a physical thing, nikki. It's almost like, yes, I see you and I hear you, but actually my shoulder, okay.
Speaker 1:The fourth question is what's one habit that's helped you build real confidence?
Speaker 2:A habit I think having I mentioned earlier about having a 10,000 foot view. I think I like to get a bigger perspective of a situation and I think that always helps. I have a very deep ability to focus as well, which I must say is getting harder in this time of phones, and I noticed that my focus and my concentration isn't that great these days. But I can silence everything and I can really know where I'm going, have the 10,000 foot view, know where I'm going and then take action, and I'm not. There was a time when I was bothered about what other people thought and being judged, and I've learned to think. Actually, that's your view, that's your narrative, but what I'm doing is what I want to do and it's what works for me best and that's it.
Speaker 1:I think that comes with age to be honest, that's powerful being able to just own yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay. Final question what's your favorite book or resource that changed how you think?
Speaker 2:Let's go back to Kim Kiyosaki, because it was her book and she's written a few books, but she's written one called rich women. Rich woman, a book on investing for women, and it's I got mine. In fact, I've got mine here. Let me see. Do you know what it arrived? I got it on amazon, second hand, and look, it arrived all crinkled with somebody else's notes in which I always think is a real privilege actually that someone else has been through. It's made an impact on them what does the?
Speaker 2:cover look like, so it's purple book. It says here which I rather like a rich woman, a book on investing for women, because I hate being told what to do, which about sums me up I hate being told what to do.
Speaker 1:That's why I had to leave a job oh my gosh, that's so true though, that so is.
Speaker 2:It says for women who insist on being financially independent and not depending on a man, family, company or governments take care of them. And it's beautifully written. And it's written using a story format about different stories about women. It's a good one, easy to read.
Speaker 1:Oh good, I need to get that. It's called Rich Woman, rich Woman by.
Speaker 2:Kim Kiyosaki. I wonder who will have written in yours, nikki, when you get yours?
Speaker 1:oh yeah, that's right, the confidence shortcut. My plan is to have it out this year. I can't wait.
Speaker 2:I can't wait. You are incredible. You're fabulous.
Speaker 1:I love what you do oh, thank you so much and thank you for being on the podcast today and please tell us how we can follow. You. Find you on social media. Are you on? Where are you? Oh?
Speaker 2:thank you. I'm under Lindsay Cressy L-I-N-D-S-A-Y-C-R-E-S-S-E-Y On Instagram. I'm wwwlindsaycressycom. Just Google me. It's a really unusual name, so it comes pretty high up, if not at the top of the Google search. Yep, you can find me there and you can reach out to me, DMing on Instagram or email through, and I can let you know what programs are going on at the time.
Speaker 1:Okay, I was going to ask if you had anything going on right now, just at the moment because it's summer.
Speaker 2:Actually, I've just closed down my vault at the moment my programs because I've got something quite interesting coming up in autumn which I'm just working on. Yeah, it'll be hopefully very exciting, just a bit different. Yeah, I just want to make money fun and not so taboo. I'm going to tell you it's a bit tricky being in England because it's a taboo subject over here. So trying to get everyone relaxed about it.
Speaker 1:Have you already written a book? No, but I probably should, maybe. Yeah, I was going to say I would buy your book whenever that's available.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you. Yes, I will do and yes, hopefully lots of exciting ideas in the parallel.
Speaker 1:Yes, all right. Thank you so much for enlightening the conversation and sharing so much of how we can be more vulnerable with money, how we can gamify the investing and how we can own our own financial wisdom and look at it like shopping and make it fun.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And yes, like we surround ourselves with lovely things, we can make money surround us and help us to do lovely things. So I think it's really key. Yeah, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:Lovely, oh yes. So I think it's really key. Yeah, thank you. Yes, you're lovely, oh yes. Thank you so much for being here. Thanks so much for listening to the Confident Shortcut. I hope today's episode woke something up in you, reminding you that your dream matters and you can start now. If this sparked something, share it with a friend who needs it too. And don't forget to follow me on Instagram at Nikki Sterner, and join our Facebook community at the Confidence Shortcut. Ready to take the next step? Check out my free guide, the Confidence Kickstart, linked in the show notes. Keep showing up, keep taking action, and remember the shortcut to confidence is courage.