First, let's talk about budgeting your money.
Over the past several years we have meticulously been paying off all our debts, and, FINALLY, we are virtually DEBT FREE. Like seriously. All we have left is our house. We have been frugal, but not without what we needed, we have been creative, we have been blessed with better jobs, and even a better house. We even bought a couple new high ticket items here and there. All the while, we were tackling away, penny by penny, at our debt.
We set a BUDGET, we determined exactly how much was non-negotiable to spend on our debt (on top of our monthly payments), and committed to it. And we didn't make excuses to cut into it, except for once when we went to minimum payments for a period of time to move across country. Even then, we had a set time for this. And as soon as we could, we made up the difference.
Many people think you have to 'get lucky' to accomplish such a goal. We weren't lucky, we were just aware, and we made a CONSCIOUS decision to prioritize this goal above all others. Awareness is KEY. It doesn't just happen, we didn't win the lottery, we just made smart choices, and hoped for the best!
Ok, Ok... What does that have to do what Success??
None of us is blessed with enough time in the day to get EVERYTHING done, just like the average person doesn't have enough money to just go and buy everything they WANT. We have to make CHOICES, day in and day out, to do what is most important. If we don't DECIDE to do what is most important, we will end up just doing whatever we do and hope that we get everything done. 9.9 times out of 10 we go to bed tired and guilty of missing those few KEY things we NEEDED (or felt like we needed) to get done that day! This is a vicious cycle. We go to bed exhausted, guilty, feeling down, and then we wake up discouraged and less motivated and confident.
So, if you are an average person, with not a ton of resources at your fingertips, how do you get ahead of this?
BUDGET!
Write down EVERYTHING you have going on in your life.
Write down or STAR the MOST important things.
Then put those in order from most important to least important.
How many of these are daily activities? Weekly? Monthly?
Start a list, even if you hate them! Prioritize the most important goals, prioritize your daily goals, weekly, monthly, yearly. Create the awareness of them. Write it where you can see it. Keep it in a small notebook or paper in your wallet or purse. If you are saving for something important, put your debit card in an envelope labeled with that name. Every time you pull it out to buy something you are reminded of what your goal is, and you can then make a better decision on whether or not you need the thing you are trying to buy in that moment, or if you can do without.
If you are trying to get fit and healthy, how can you MAKE that happen? Do you really need to sign up for that bake sale? Do you really need to host that tupperware party? Do you really need to spend all that time unwinding at night watching TV for hours? Write down your goals and MAKE THEM HAPPEN!
Just like you would put your most important bills first, so you make sure they get paid before you run out of money. Even if you are living pay check to pay check, you figure out a way to buy food and pay rent and electricity! It happens because we MAKE IT HAPPEN! It happens because we NEED it to happen.
So if you are SERIOUS about changing your life. If you are SERIOUS about SUCCEEDING and accomplishing those goals of yours.
ACT LIKE IT!
We ALL have to make sacrifices in one way or another. So make them count! Take that step you need to in order to take charge of your life! Being busy, broke and run down doesn't earn you a medal, but being financially, physically and emotionally FREE pays off in DIVIDENDS!
So what's it going to be?
NOTE: Some EXCELLENT books to read (or listen to):
EAT THAT FROG - Brian Tracy
FIRST THINGS FIRST - Stephen R. Covey
THE COMPOUND EFFECT - Darren Hardy
TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER - Dave Ramsey
RICHEST MAN IN BABYLON - George S. Clason
5 LESSONS A MILLIONAIRE TAUGHT ME ABOUT LIFE AND WEALTH - Richard Paul Evans
THINK AND GROW RICH - Napoleon Hill
AS A MAN THINKETH - James Allen
