Never before has there been more misinformation or more people — intentionally or unintentionally — misleading others on what is or is not a lot of money, and how well they’ve done. These disingenuous lifestyles are causing serious damage to people’s mental health. I want to put an end to these money myths out there.

One of the areas I see this misleading information the most is in the coaching world. People want to sell you on a program that’s going to increase your success. The fact is, you’re probably far more successful than these people would have you believe.

Here are four misleading messages I see people leveraging — and other people believing — that aren’t telling the whole truth:

1. When people call themselves a millionaire. This is misleading because selling a million dollars worth of a product or course does not make someone a millionaire. A millionaire is not someone who makes a million dollars a year. It’s someone who has over a million dollars of net worth. This makes you believe that you have to make a million dollars in a year to be a millionaire, and that’s simply not true. Or when people call their business a “million dollar business.” This is typically not true either. What they mean to say is that their total sales have eclipsed a million dollars, but unless someone is willing to buy their business for a million dollars, they don’t have a million dollar business.
2. When people talk about a multi-million dollar exit. Most founders don’t own the bulk of their company when they sell it. In many cases they only own a small percentage. The problem with this is that it makes people who have done amazing things feel like they’ve actually accomplished so much less — simply because they are comparing themselves to a number that doesn’t tell the whole story.
3. When people are bragging about their massive launches, keep in mind that they are not including the amount of money they spent to get there.
4. Rich people have less actual money than you think. Wealthy people may have a high net worth, but that’s tied up in investments, properties, employees, stocks, and more. Money should be working for you.

It’s time to stop being so hard on ourselves. It’s time to stop thinking that we are not doing well enough. It’s time to appreciate just how much you’ve accomplished, and adjusting our expectations of growth. Second guess each person you put on a pedestal because you never know what you’re not seeing. You are doing better than you think.