Your thoughts and feelings could play a part in how much money you earn, says Suze Orman, personal finance expert, best-selling author of "Women & Money" and host of the "Women and Money" podcast.
"The biggest thing holding you back from building wealth is you," she tells CNBC Make It.
Orman explains that fear can be a powerful factor keeping you from asking for a raise, investing in the stock market or attempting to reach any number of other financial goals. It comes down to "you thinking that you can't do it," she says. "You thinking that you're not smart enough. You thinking that you're not good in math or whatever it may be."
"You most likely are your own financial obstacle, and you have to remove your fears from wanting to create more," she adds.
The same is true when it comes to paying off debt, Orman says: "Debt is bondage. You will never, ever, ever have financial freedom if you have debt."
You most likely are your own financial obstacle.Suze Ormanpersonal finance expert and best-selling author
You should aim to eliminate debt as soon as possible, she explains, but not just because it costs you money. The side effects of debt can affect other important parts of your life, keeping you from earning more and getting what you want, professionally.
"When you are in debt, you feel it," Orman says, and "your boss can feel that," too. In essence, "you render yourself powerless."
Carrying debt can make you feel out of control and dependent on other people: "You walk into an interview and you need that job because you have to pay for your debt." That's a problem because "powerlessness repels people, and people control money," Orman says.
Other financial experts agree that your mindset can affect your finances. Best-selling author of "You Are a Badass," Jen Sincero, who went from earning around $28,000 a year to making seven figures, credits part of her success to a mindset shift.
Having been on both sides of the spectrum, she says that "the biggest difference between wealthy people and broke people is their mindset and how they feel about money."
If you want to build wealth, you have to start by telling yourself it's OK, Sincero writes in her 2017 follow-up, "You Are a Badass at Making Money." "One of the biggest obstacles to making lots of money is not a lack of good ideas or opportunities or time, or that we're too slovenly or stupid. It's that we refuse to give ourselves permission to become rich."
Sincero had to stop letting herself say, "I can't afford it." Instead, she forced herself to repeat, "Money flows to me easily and freely." She felt silly at first, but the practice taught her to think about money in a different way.
"Once you shift your focus off of proving that, 'I can't afford it because I am Jen Sincero and I am broke,' to proving that my money flows to me easily and freely, you open yourself up to the ways to make the new mantra true," she says.
To Orman, it's a matter of having faith in yourself. "It's really simple: You have to be more in order to have more," she says. "You have to know who you are."
Still, you also need to be willing to put in the work. "You have to have the desire to be able to make it against all odds," she adds. "You need to be a warrior and not turn your back on that battlefield."
"Stop feeling sorry for yourselves and go out there and create the financial life that is waiting for you, if you're just willing to walk through the door."
Like this story? Subscribe to CNBC Make It on YouTube!
Don't miss: Suze Orman: Why you should start investing in your 20s
