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Weekly Wealth Building

🪙The Cost of Performing “Okay"

Published 2 months ago • 1 min read

Wealth and Wisdom
​Monday's

You don’t have to look successful to be safe.
Here’s what we mean: So many of us learned early that being “okay” meant being low-maintenance, impressive, or unbothered. Especially during the holidays, success becomes something you’re expected to wear (think. . . nice gifts, upbeat energy, curated stories about work and life.)
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But performing okay is still labor.
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And emotional labor always sends a bill. Usually to your body.
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Sometimes to your bank account.

Dollars and Sense

We once worked with a client who everyone in her family called “the stable one.” Good job. Cute apartment. Always showing up with the right energy and the right gifts. No one ever asked how she was doing because she looked like she had it together.

One evening, she told us about getting dressed for a family gathering.

Standing in front of the mirror, adjusting her sweater, she thought, Just don’t ask me how work is. Just don’t ask me how I’m really doing. She’d spent the week juggling bills, helping a sibling financially, and quietly panicking about a credit card balance she didn’t want anyone to know about.

On the way there, she stopped at a store and bought one more gift she hadn’t planned for. Not because she wanted to but because it felt safer than being seen. Safer than someone questioning her generosity, her success, her worth.

We felt that story in our chests because we’ve lived versions of it too. Smiling while tired. Nodding while overwhelmed. Saying “I’m good” when what I meant was “I’m holding a lot.”

The truth is: performing okay can cost more than being honest. It costs rest. It costs connection. And yes, it can quietly cost money, too.

Do a quick “money visibility check.” Look at the last two months of statements and notice anything you’re paying for just to keep up appearances or avoid discomfort.

Pick one thing to cancel, downgrade, or renegotiate (not as punishment, but as relief.)

Less hidden spending = more energy, more cash flow, and more honesty with yourself.

Your Next Financial Move:

💤If you're tired of holding it together alone . . .

Our sessions are a space where you don’t have to perform. Just arrive as you are.

Hit reply and tell us: One place I’m tired of pretending I’m okay is…​

You don’t have to send a paragraph. A word counts.

You’re allowed to choose authenticity over appearances. Your peace is worth more than the performance.

We promise: every message gets a real response, from us to you.

Until next time,

Freedom Life Therapy Team

860-517-4352

www.freedomlifetherapy.com

101 Centerpoint Drive, Suite 214, Middletown, CT 06457

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Weekly Wealth Building

LaQueshia Clemons, LCSW, AFC - Financial Therapist

Helping ambitious professionals build aligned wealth—without shame, sacrifice, or burnout. Join 1,500+ subscribers every week for mindset shifts, boundary-setting tools, and real talk on financial healing that actually sticks.

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