Written by: Tessa Hull
If you don’t know who Joe Exotic is, you’re missing out on one of the most jaw-dropping, mind-blowing Netflix series available. Imagine meth, tigers, corruption and a decade long feud between a woman dressed in leopard print and flowers and a man with a mullet and an eyebrow piercing, throw in multiple husbands and a possible murder, and you’ve got yourself the lockdown binge-worthy series of Tiger King. You can thank me later.
Along with learning the value of sardine oil, and how not to run a political campaign, there’s also some hidden lessons in the series. Read on for the top five lessons in money mindset from Tiger King.
“People don’t come to see the tigers; they come to see me” - Joe Exotic
Lesson One - Know your value.
It’s important to know your value when it come to a positive money mindset. Simply put, if you don’t believe in yourself and believe you are worthy of money and abundance, then you are holding yourself back. Understanding your value will help with self-confidence, setting boundaries, charging for your product or services, and your self-worth overall when it comes to receiving and earning money.
“That was definitely a champagne and brie evening” - Howard Baskin
Lesson Two - Visualize your goals and enjoy your money
Visualization is all powerful when it comes to achieving goals, including your financial goals. Take the time to think about how you will feel when you are living a life of abundance. Enjoy imagining what you will do with your money, and don’t hold back. Understanding that spending money is not a negative action helps you shake off the feelings of guilt. Enjoy a life of abundance, and occasionally “act as if” - enjoying a champagne and brie evening without worry will help you feel a positive response to money, and welcome more into your life.
“There is a science to getting rich, and it is an exact science. The ownership of money and property comes from doing things in a certain way. Those who do things in a certain way, whether on purpose or accidentally, get rich.” - Carole Baskin
Lesson Three - Look at your beliefs about money
What you learn about money, especially in childhood, will greatly affect your mindset. While this quote from Carole loosely references the book “The Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace D Wattles, it goes to show how beliefs about money shape your behaviors surrounding money also. If you were brought up in a family that always worked hard and struggled for money, you will feel like money is something you must always work hard for. If you were told as a child that “money doesn’t grow on trees” you are likely to be more cautious about money. On the flip side, if you were brought up with someone that spends recklessly, you may find yourself with poor money management skills - either spending recklessly also, or becoming overly frugal. Spending time on your “money story” will help you realize where your beliefs might hold you back.
“I can give you your money back, or I can give you a rain check. Why don’t you come back at another day?” -Joe Exotic
Lesson Four - Turn your attention away from the negative, and plan ahead
In one of Joe’s most infamous moments, when one of his employees had an arm ripped off by a tiger, he demonstrates the ability to plan ahead, offering guests the opportunity to get a refund or return to the zoo another day. He also turns attention from the negative, immediately offering a solution. For you, consider how you approach problems. Do you look at roadblocks with a negative outlook, assuming the worst? Or do you aim to see solutions? By focusing on positives, and choosing to divert attention from your roadblocks to success, you are more likely to remain motivated and achieve your financial goals.
"The more gratitude you show for the opportunities that show up in your life, the more you’ll start to notice them."
"I don’t pay anybody to do animal care, because people will do that for free.” -Carole Baskin
Lesson Five - Recognize abundance
Abundance doesn’t just come in the form of hard cash. Your salary is an obvious source of income, but what other opportunities do you have for abundance in your life? Consider inheritances, winning contests, unexpected bonuses, refunds, people who can assist you for free or at low cost, sales on items you want, even an open parking space can be considered abundance. The more gratitude you show for the opportunities that show up in your life, the more you’ll start to notice them.
“I’m never gonna financially recover from this” - Joe Exotic
Bonus Lesson: Keep an eye out for scarcity mindset
Your thoughts dictate your feelings. Holding a scarcity mindset in regard to money, means you are always more likely to experience scarcity in your life. The mind cannot separate what is true and what is thought, so be careful with the language you use surrounding money and opportunity in your life. Your subconscious stores your scarcity thoughts and draws upon them as true experience in future situations. Learn to re-frame scarcity thoughts with thoughts of abundance and watch how your life begins to transform!
There’s plenty of approaches to adapting your money mindset, including using journalling, meditation, visualization and re-framing work. Once you begin to empower yourself to believe you are worth more and abundance will flow into your life, you will begin to see changes - money mindset doesn’t just help with money, but also with clarity surrounding goals. Take these lessons and start to work on your money mindset, and as a final lesson from Tiger King - don’t ever put your arm into a cage with live tigers.
Tessa Hull, Guest Writer
Tessa Hull is a certified Canfield Success Principles Trainer and Success Coach helping individuals with a mind full of ideas and habit of procrastinating shake their bad habits, get their thoughts and beliefs in order and create effective and individual plans to hit goals. After several years in managerial and training roles, including working alongside high end brands such as LVMH, she now runs her own Success Coaching business No Right Way Ltd. She is based in Sicily, mainly for the good weather and the cheese, but ventures back to her hometown of Manchester every now and again for a decent cup of tea.
You can find out more here
