Does that sound like a car salesman? I asked someone I trust before a contract call. I was restructuring my pricing — cutting one fee to make a bigger package more attractive. Classic move. I wanted to hear it out loud before I said it to a client.
They said yes. It does sound like a car salesman.
I thanked them and didn’t change the plan. Not because I’m stubborn. Because I already knew where the line was. The question wasn’t a plea for permission. It was a calibration. If I can say the quiet part out loud and still stand behind it, the motive is clean enough.
Yoga teachers do a softer version of the same dodge, just in the other direction. We call undercharging “service.” We call avoidance “simplicity.” We call weak boundaries “community.” It sounds holy. It mostly sounds scared.
Here’s the cleaner practice: look at your motive without punishing yourself for having one. Money isn’t a moral failure. Manipulation is — and manipulation is hiding the transaction, not naming a price. Clarity is saying what you want and letting someone say no.
The car salesman check is actually the opposite of being one. A real car salesman never asks the question. He just keeps talking.