You've told yourself you're not a numbers person. Maybe you've bought the course. And you still don't open the reports your bookkeeper sends, or you only ever check the bank balance.

That's not a knowledge problem. It's a fear problem, and it needs a different fix. I'll even admit to the stretch when I, a bookkeeper, didn't keep up my own books. Along the way:

• Why the people with the most at stake look away the most
• Why financial education barely changes what people do
• The costumes avoidance wears, including "my bookkeeper handles it"
• What happens when clients finally look at their reports
• A 15-minute monthly routine: guess first, three numbers, one question
• When looking too often becomes its own problem

Mentioned: the ostrich effect research on investor logins · the financial education meta-analysis by Fernandes, Lynch and Netemeyer · Cambridge research on financial anxiety · implementation intentions

Want more tips on balancing business and life? Follow me on Instagram for insights on bookkeeping, business, and everything in between! @_stephblain_

Interested in a bookkeeper? Book a free consultation at starlightbookkeeping.com

Bookkeeper, accountant, fractional CFO, business coach, financial advisor. They all say they'll help with your numbers, so you hire whoever's in front of you and hope it was the right call.

I got turned around on this myself while shopping for a coach, and I run a bookkeeping firm. So here's who actually does what, where they overlap, and how to tell which one you need right now. Plus why I still haven't hired a coach, and why that's on purpose.

• The one question each role is built to answer
• Why your bookkeeper's advice covers more than you think, and where a CFO takes over
• "Do you do taxes?" No, and why you're still in the right place
• Coaching is unregulated, so how to vet a coach yourself
• The difference between strategic delay and procrastination

Mentioned: Piers Steel (University of Calgary) on procrastination · research on what makes coaching work · the International Coaching Federation

Want more tips on balancing business and life? Follow me on Instagram for insights on bookkeeping, business, and everything in between! @_stephblain_

Interested in a bookkeeper? Book a free consultation at starlightbookkeeping.com

You bought the course. Maybe the coaching program too, or ran the ad. It felt like progress. But if someone asked whether it actually paid off, you'd have to guess.

I'm all for investing in yourself. I've done it, and I'll keep doing it. But it's only brave if you can read the result. These are the four questions I answer before I spend money on growth, plus my own recent decision on a coaching program.

• Why revenue is the wrong way to judge an investment
• The five usual bottlenecks, and why naming yours cuts through the sales calls
• The one sentence to fill in before you pay for anything
• Upfront time versus forever time
• What your books need so you can tell whether it worked

Want more tips on balancing business and life? Follow me on Instagram for insights on bookkeeping, business, and everything in between! @_stephblain_