Why business strategy alone won’t fix your undercharging (and what will)”
You’ve probably tried to fix this before.
Hired a business coach. Took the pricing course. Read the books on sales psychology. Maybe even worked with a therapist on your “money blocks.”
You got the strategy. You understood the tactics. You felt inspired for a week.
Then the next client meeting happened and your throat closed anyway.
Here’s why:
Myth 1: “You just need better marketing”
The guru tells you: “You need to clearly communicate your value. Better positioning. A compelling USP. A sales funnel that converts.”
So you redo your website. You craft the perfect pitch deck. You practice your elevator speech.
Then you get on the call and your voice literally shrinks when you say the price.
Why this doesn’t work:
Your marketing can be flawless. But if your nervous system interprets “being seen” as dangerous, your body will sabotage every tactic.
You’ll post inconsistently. You’ll soften your messaging. You’ll hide behind “letting the work speak for itself.”
The strategy isn’t the problem. Your body’s relationship with visibility is.
You might have the best value proposition in your industry. Your case studies might be impeccable. Your messaging might be razor-sharp.
But if your body learned 30 years ago that being seen means being targeted, criticized, or rejected - your marketing will always have a brake on it.
You’ll write the LinkedIn post and not publish it. You’ll record the video and delete it. You’ll craft the outreach email and let it sit in drafts.
This isn’t procrastination. This isn’t perfectionism. This is your nervous system protecting you the only way it knows how: by keeping you invisible.
Myth 2: “You need to work on your mindset”
The coach tells you: “You have limiting beliefs about money. Let’s reframe them. Repeat these affirmations. Visualize success.”
So you journal. You meditate on abundance. You tell yourself “I am worthy of high prices.”
Then a client pushes back on your rate and you immediately offer a discount.
Why this doesn’t work:
Affirmations live in your prefrontal cortex - the thinking brain.
But the pattern that makes your throat close lives in your limbic system - the survival brain.
Your survival brain doesn’t care about your affirmations. It cares about keeping you safe. And it learned 30 years ago that speaking up leads to conflict, rejection, or chaos.
Here’s what actually happens in that client conversation:
Your thinking brain says: “I’m worthy of this price. I will hold firm.”
Your survival brain detects: Threat. Client hesitating. Possible rejection. Possible conflict.
Your survival brain overrides everything and triggers: throat tightening, chest constricting, words fumbling, immediate backpedaling.
You can’t think your way out of a nervous system pattern. The limbic system moves faster than conscious thought. By the time you’ve noticed the pattern, you’ve already offered the discount.
Myth 3: “Just charge more”
The business advisor tells you: “Stop undervaluing yourself. Raise your rates. Charge what you’re worth.”
So you update your pricing. You commit to not negotiating. You prepare to hold firm.
Then the client hesitates and you panic. You add extra deliverables to “justify” the price. Or you create a “special discount just this once.”
Why this doesn’t work:
Changing your pricing without changing your embodiment is like putting a Ferrari engine in a car with bicycle brakes.
The external change is there. But your internal system isn’t equipped to handle it.
Your body doesn’t feel safe at that price point. So it finds ways to sabotage back to familiar territory.
You say the higher number and your body immediately floods with: “That’s too much. They’ll think you’re greedy. Who do you think you are? You’re not worth that.”
So you unconsciously sabotage:
Adding extra deliverables you didn’t quote
Over-delivering to “prove” the price was justified
Accepting scope creep without charging more
Offering bulk discounts before they even ask
You think you’re being generous. You’re actually reinforcing the pattern: “I’m not actually worth what I’m charging.”
Real-Time Example: The €3k Test
Just this week, a founder I work with got offered an opportunity worth significant monthly revenue. Work he’s capable of doing. Work that would solve his immediate financial anxiety. Work that... drains his creative energy and pulls him away from what he’s actually building.
He messaged me: “I could do this. I’ve done similar work before. I could make it work... but this doesn’t fuel me. I left this kind of work behind for a reason.”
Notice what happened: He HEARD his compass. He said it out loud. That’s growth.
But then: “Well, I could use the money. Maybe I should just take it and outsource the parts I don’t want to do...”
That’s the pattern arriving in real-time. Not as a character flaw. As a survival strategy:
Your over giving pattern showing up to solve their problem at his expense
Financial anxiety overriding his alignment compass
The familiar pull to take work that depletes him because “money is money”
We’re working with it right now - not in theory, but in practice. That’s how the patterns get rewired. Not in a vacuum. In real decisions, real stakes, real moments.
The work isn’t eliminating the pattern. It’s catching it in real-time and choosing differently.
What’s Actually Happening
The truth that most business coaches won’t tell you is this:
Your undercharging isn’t a skill problem. It’s not even really a money problem.
It’s an unprocessed survival pattern that’s still running your adult business.
When you were young, your nervous system learned specific strategies to stay safe:
Make yourself small so you’re not a target
Manage other people’s feelings so there’s no conflict
Over-give so people won’t abandon you
Stay quiet so you don’t provoke chaos
These strategies worked. They kept you safe in an environment where you had no power.
But now you’re an adult with agency, skill, and value - and your body is still running the same code.
Every time you undercharge, your nervous system logs it as: “See? Staying small kept us safe.”
Every time you over-deliver without boundaries, your system confirms: “See? Managing their happiness prevents rejection.”
Every time you hide instead of being visible, your body reinforces: “See? Invisible = protected.”
The pattern becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Not because it’s true. Because your nervous system is designed to confirm its beliefs about what keeps you safe.
The Missing Piece
This is why Jamie’s transformation worked when others hadn’t.
We didn’t just work on his pricing strategy (outer work).
We didn’t just process his childhood patterns (inner work).
We did both. In parallel. Over 12 weeks of 1:1 strategic and somatic support.
Because here’s what I’ve learned after hundreds of sessions:
Outer work without inner work = knowing what to do but not being able to do it
You understand the strategy. You’ve read the books. You know exactly what you “should” do.
But your body won’t let you execute. You self-sabotage back to familiar patterns because familiar = safe, even when familiar = broke.
Inner work without outer work = feeling better but not earning more
You process your stuff. You do the therapy. You feel lighter, more aware, more present.
But you still don’t have a clear revenue plan, a defined offer, or a business model that works. You feel better about being stuck.
The breakthrough happens when you do both simultaneously.
While Jamie was processing why his throat closed when stating his price (inner), we were building his monthly revenue architecture (outer).
While he was practicing embodied truth-speaking in our sessions (inner), we were preparing his client pitch strategy and handling objections (outer).
While he was reconnecting with what actually energizes him creatively (inner), we were identifying his ideal client profile and competitive positioning (outer).
The inner work gave his nervous system permission to operate differently.
The outer work gave him a clear structure to execute within.
One without the other doesn’t create lasting change:
Strategy without nervous system work = endless knowing-doing gap
Somatic work without strategy = feeling good about going nowhere
But together? That’s when founders go from undercharging to confidently commanding their worth. That’s when throats stay open during pricing conversations. That’s when the business finally reflects the skill level.
The Timeline
Three months later, Jamie pitched at a price point that would have made his throat close before.
Not because he “got over” his patterns.
Not because he suddenly became more confident.
But because we rewired the nervous system response while building the business strategy.
His body learned a new pattern:
Speaking his price doesn’t lead to rejection (we practiced in low-stakes scenarios first)
Being seen doesn’t make him a target (we worked with visibility gradually)
Asking for what he needs doesn’t create chaos (we processed why his system believed it would)
And simultaneously, his business had structure:
Clear service offering designed for his energy and the market
Pricing model that reflected actual value delivery
Client acquisition strategy that didn’t deplete him
Revenue pathway mapped for the next 6 months
The inner and outer worked in tandem. That’s why it stuck.
The Principle
Your nervous system needs to feel safe before your business can scale.
No amount of marketing tactics will work if your body is in survival mode. You’ll sabotage every strategy, not consciously, but automatically.
No amount of mindset work will translate to revenue if you don’t have a clear business plan. You’ll feel enlightened and still be broke.
You need both. In parallel. At the same time.
That’s the missing piece most coaches won’t address because they’re only trained in one domain:
Business coaches give you strategy but can’t work with your nervous system
Therapists work with your patterns but can’t build your revenue model
Mindset coaches give you affirmations but can’t do either
You need someone who can do both. Simultaneously. In real-time as your patterns show up in your business decisions.
What This Means for You
If you’ve tried business coaching and it didn’t stick - it’s not your fault. The strategy was incomplete. You were given tools but your body wasn’t ready to use them.
If you’ve done personal development work and you’re still underearning - it’s not your fault. The application to real business decisions was missing. You processed the past but didn’t build the future.
The question is: are you ready to do it differently this time?
Are you ready to work on both levels at once - rewiring your nervous system while building your business model?
Are you willing to feel uncomfortable for 12 weeks if it means your throat stays open when you say your price?
Can you commit to catching your patterns in real-time and choosing differently, even when your body screams that it’s not safe?
Because that’s what this work requires. Not passive consumption. Active participation in your own rewiring.
What’s Next
Tomorrow I’ll break down the exact framework we use to rewire nervous system patterns while building revenue.
You’ll see:
The 3-phase structure over 12 weeks
How somatic work and business strategy integrate in practice
What Jamie actually did between sessions that made the difference
How we catch patterns as they show up in real business decisions
If you’re done with half-solutions, stay tuned.
Or if you want to explore working together now, book a 30 minute clarity call with me here and let’s have a real conversation about whether this approach is right for you.
– Dan