Podcast Summary: The Psychology of Making Money | Build with Leila Hormozi (Ep 332)

Release Date: December 16, 2025
Host: Leila Hormozi
Main Theme: Unpacking the deep psychological beliefs that dictate our financial outcomes—and how to rewire them to create lasting wealth.

Episode Overview

Leila Hormozi dissects the psychology of building wealth, drawing on personal experiences and behavioral research. She explains that financial success isn't about intelligence or luck, but about mastering your subconscious "money scripts" and breaking free from six major limiting beliefs. Throughout the episode, Leila outlines practical steps to identify your financial mindset, create new wealth-promoting habits, and fundamentally shift how you think and act around money.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Money Scripts: Childhood Beliefs That Shape Finances

[00:00-07:20]

• Definition: Subconscious patterns around money formed in childhood, significantly impacting all financial decisions.
• The Four Types of Money Scripts:
  • Money Avoidant: Sees money as bad, self-sabotages, feels undeserving of wealth.
    • Examples: "If you grew up hearing people say rich people are greedy, money is the root of all evil, that's probably the script you have." [01:35]
  • Money Worshiper: Believes money solves all problems, never feels “enough,” chases wealth at the expense of other areas.
  • Money Status: Self-worth tied to net worth, overspends to impress others, anxious when outpaced by others financially.
    • Quote: "It's the typical keeping up with the Joneses. You're looking in the yard of your neighbor and you're like, dude, I need to have a better yard than him." [03:45]
  • Money Vigilant: Chronic saver, constant anxiety about financial future—secretive, never feels secure.
• Leila’s Own Money Script:
  • Revealed: Money Vigilant; anxious about spending despite being wealthy. Even at a $100M net worth, hesitant to spend.
    • Quote: "I spend nothing compared to how much money I have to the degree that when I had $100 million net worth, I didn't even want to spend over a couple million dollars on the house." [05:10]

Actionable Exercise:

• Reflect on childhood money phrases (e.g., "money doesn't grow on trees"). Identify and consciously rewrite your "money script."
• Quote: "Once they get written into your subconscious, they start dictating everything about your life." [07:15]

2. The Wealth Ceiling: Your Subconscious Income Limit

[07:21-13:40]

• Concept: Your internal self-concept acts as a financial "thermostat," unconsciously capping your earning potential.
• Self-Sabotage: If you view yourself as only making $50k/year, you avoid or unintentionally sabotage opportunities to earn more.
  • Quote: "The amount of money that you have is capped by how you see yourself." [08:32]
• Personal Example: Leila was "stuck" at $85k/year, created an identity around it, and worried about "messing up" when approaching higher earnings.
• Identity Shift Exercise:
  • Write: “I’m the kind of person who __” (current pattern).
  • Then write: “I’m the kind of person who builds and manages wealth with ease.” Re-read and reinforce this new identity over time.

3. Assets vs. Liabilities: What the Rich Understand

[13:41-19:30]

• Core Idea: Most people buy liabilities (which drain money) instead of assets (which generate income).
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad Principle:
  • "Rich buy assets, the middle class buys liabilities thinking they are assets." [14:30]
• Examples:
  • Car: Liability; loses value, costs money.
  • House you live in: Liability (controversial, due to ongoing costs and no income generated).
  • Business Equipment: Asset if used to generate revenue, otherwise, liability.
• Action Step:
  • Review your last 10 purchases. Label each as asset or liability. Commit to filtering future purchases through this lens.

4. Scarcity vs. Abundance Mindset

[19:31-27:04]

• Scarcity Mindset: Operates from fear—there’s never enough, hoards money, avoids investing, focuses on short-term survival.
  • Quote: "Having a scarcity mindset actually can make you dumber... Your cognitive bandwidth shrinks. You make worse decisions." [21:45]
• Abundance Mindset: Believes there’s always more to create, open to investing and sharing, focuses on long-term gain.
• Personal Example:
  • Early in business, Leila was scared to spend even as revenue grew. Major shift happened after investing in a $40k/month coach when earning $50k/month, which ultimately led to a multimillion-dollar exit.
    • Quote: "I can have those thoughts. I don't need to listen to them." [24:40]
• Abundance Reframe:
  • Instead of asking, "How do I protect what I have?" ask, "How do I create more of what I have?"

5. Loss Aversion: The Pain of Potential Loss

[27:05-32:20]

• Definition: The pain of losing money is psychologically twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining it (Kahneman/Tversky research).
• Behaviors: Holding losing investments, staying in bad jobs, avoiding risks—out of fear of loss.
• Personal Example:
  • Leila stayed in an unfulfilling job two years too long, realizing later the opportunity cost was far greater than the loss she feared.
• Reframe Loss as Tuition:
  • When losing money or making a mistake, view it as an investment in future learning, not just a sunk cost.
    • Quote: "I paid $3 million to learn this lesson. And you know what? I would pay $3 million again to learn that lesson." [31:50]

6. The Time Trap: Stop Saving Money, Start Buying Time

[32:21-End]

• Money Multiplies, Time Doesn’t: Prioritize tasks that buy back your time—hire help, automate, delegate anything below your “hourly value.”
• Rich People Buy Time:
  • Even early on, Leila’s first hire was an assistant, freeing her up to focus on high-value activities.
    • Quote: "First thing I hired was an assistant when I barely had enough money... because this is what rich people do. They hire people to get their time back." [33:40]
• Time Audit Exercise:
  • Calculate your hourly rate (annual income/2000 work hours). Audit your weekly tasks—delegate anything below your rate.
• Leverage Creates Freedom:
  • Reinvest time savings into high impact activities for further growth.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Leila Hormozi on Mindset Shifts:
  • "I'm no different from you. It's because I stopped letting my broke mindset run my actual life." [00:20]
• On Rewriting Your Script:
  • "Money is a tool that lets me create freedom and help more people." [07:02]
• On Loss and Learning:
  • "Reframe every loss as tuition." [31:25]
• On Time vs. Money:
  • "Money multiplies, but time doesn't multiply." [32:28]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–07:20: Money Scripts—Identifying Your Subconscious Patterns
• 07:21–13:40: The Wealth Ceiling—Expanding Your Financial Self-Image
• 13:41–19:30: Assets vs. Liabilities—How to Really Build Wealth
• 19:31–27:04: Scarcity vs. Abundance—Tuning Your Brain for Prosperity
• 27:05–32:20: Loss Aversion—Managing the Pain of Risk
• 32:21–End: The Time Trap—Buying Time for Greater Wealth

Final Challenge

Pick one mental shift or exercise discussed and commit to applying it this week. As Leila urges:
"Pick just one of the shifts from this, and I want you to say, this is the one where I think I'm going to get the most gains. I'm going to start practicing this week." [35:45]

For Listeners

This rich episode covers the root psychology behind wealth-building, stripping away myths and offering practical frameworks. It’s a must-listen if you want to ensure your mindset supports, rather than sabotages, your financial success.

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