Break the Money Ceiling: How Perception Shapes Wealth

“Your perception of money is the ceiling on how much you’ll ever earn, save, or invest. Change the ceiling, change your reality.”

Disclaimer: this is not financial advice.

Growing up, money wasn’t exactly abundant. I had a happy childhood, and I was never deprived of anything, but wealth wasn’t something I saw up close.

If you’d told teenage me that by 24 I’d have over £100k saved and invested (back then I didn’t even know what the stock market was), I would’ve laughed in your face.

Fast forward to now: I’ve crossed milestones I once thought were impossible.

Each time it was new, uncomfortable, and almost surreal. But once I hit one milestone, the next one felt less intimidating—like I’d broken through a ceiling that no longer existed.

For years I believed £1 million was something you only reached in your 50s or 60s, and the only path was property. Then I learned about compound interest. Suddenly, £1m wasn’t just a dream; it was a mathematical equation. I could reach it much earlier, in my 30s and 40s. That shift in perception changed how I saved, how I invested, and what I believed was possible for me.

Here’s the truth: a number like £100k feels out of reach for most people. And statistically, it is—only about 9% of UK adults (roughly 4.9 million people) have £100,000 or more in savings, even after years of saving and despite the cost-of-living crisis (source).

That’s a small slice of the population. But it proves it can be done.

I believe in the law of attraction—not in the “stick a picture of a yacht on your vision board and wait” sense, but in the way your beliefs shape your reality.

The way you think about money dictates:

And here’s the part people don’t like to hear: you are capable of doing it too.

Yes, some people have it easier—family money, better opportunities, higher salaries. But nobody knows what the next 5–10 years will look like for you. What you can control is your mindset.

If you raise the ceiling on what you believe is possible for yourself, your actions will rise to meet it.

The first step is to reframe £100k as normal—even easy.

I know what you’re thinking: “but you just told us hardly anyone has this—how can it be easy?”

Bear with me. I almost titled this “£100k Is Easy, Actually.” Not because it doesn’t take sacrifice (it absolutely does), but because that’s the mindset you need if you ever want it to feel achievable.

Calling £100k “easy” doesn’t make you delusional. It makes you someone who is building belief. Most people think belief comes after proof—but the truth is, belief creates proof.

Maybe it’s my religious upbringing that taught me that, but it stuck: what you believe, you act on.

Step 1: Automate saving & investing 🤖💰 — make progress feel inevitable.
Step 2: Surround yourself with possibility 🌟 — friends, creators, thought leaders who inspire you.
Step 3: Track & celebrate small wins 📈🎉 — each milestone reinforces belief.
Step 4: Adjust belief → action follows 🔄💪 — belief shapes proof, proof reinforces belief.
Step 5: Consistency is key — tiny habits done daily compound into life-changing results.

I’m confident that you, reading this, are capable of achieving this.

It all starts with awareness. If you don’t know that another 20-something has this net worth, why would you think it’s possible for you?

Once you have awareness, it’s about focus. Maybe your priorities are different—you might choose to sacrifice saving in your early 20s for another goal, and that’s fine. Where your focus goes, your energy follows suit.

Finally, it’s about consistency. As James Clear says in Atomic Habits:

Wealth isn’t built in a day—it’s the sum of tiny habits you do every single day. If achieving a certain net worth is truly important to you, your micro-habits will begin to reflect it, and eventually, make it real.

The truth is, it took me over six years to reach this goal. That’s the part people don’t like to hear—there’s no overnight shortcut. Real success comes from delayed gratification, steady effort, and belief that what seems out of reach now could be your future reality.

That’s all from me this week,

Mia xx