We have looked at our spending habits, or rather, our spending tendencies and why some people prefer spending money on things rather than experiences.
We’ve talked about how to deal with a partner that is the complete opposite to us… and yet there’s still so much to talk about!
Every time I come back to talk about money, I always end up on Mindset. I know I’ve been at it for a while now but, I come to the realisation, like, every single day, that if your mind is not in the right space, you “ain’t got this“!
What I mean is, if you are trying to change your life circumstances, no matter what it is, you need to first get to the right place mentally to then be able to put in place whatever you need to get on your journey.
As an example, I can tell you yet again about my story and how we worked for years without seeing any traction on our debt payment. Yet, as soon as we changed our thoughts, our perspectives and then took action, everything started to shift.
You may argue that mindset and action go hand in hand, one walking beside the other. I do agree but to an extent. I mean if you are not reaching the right mindset to do what you want to do, or change what you want to change, you can take steps (action) to try to reach it.
It has happened to me before, that I was so uninspired that instead of mentally trying to change, I started to put into place small routines that would take me in the direction of changing my mind and get me to the mental place I needed.
Now, having done it both ways, my take on it, is that, it’s harder to take action before you are in the right head space to move forward. For example, for me it’s the healthy habits I want to implement that have a greater success with taking action first and then changing my mind.
I want to create healthy habits, not in a: “I want to lose weight and exercise 7 days out of the week“ kind of healthy habits. More like, I want to move my body at least 3 times a week and I want to eat healthier foods.
Now, in my mind I know what I need to do, but as soon as I think I need to give up chocolate what do I start craving? You got it! Chocolate! I’ve tried the whole routine of eating fruit and then bread and then finally the chocolate (you know instead of just eating the chocolate straight away! I know, I’m not very good at listening to myself!)
But if instead I tell myself I can eat whatever I want and for breakfast I start by having a protein shake instead of bread, butter and cheese… I then think well, if I didn’t have the bread in the morning, I’m not going to have any now… and then if I didn’t eat bread, I’m not going to eat french fries, I’ll make a salad (ok maybe 2 fries!) and then I’ll have tea in a really nice cup… see where I’m going with this? By taking a small step in the morning it’s going to keep me focused during the day (well, most days!) until I start to see some results, health wise, until my mind is finally on board and starts to shift.
For me it’s in the health department for you it might be in the financial department. For example, before your mind is on board to start paying debt, you start taking small actions, like cutting off your credit card or start a budget. Then, slowly, you start to see results and your mind starts to shift.
I’m a believer that, one size does not fit all (I don’t care what the label says!). You have to do you, you have to experiment and see what works for you.
I can tell you until I’m blue in the face that you “got this“ but if you are not ready to accept it, you definitely “ain’t got this“.
I know I’m a little off topic here, but it’s so important that you be firm, consistent and graceful to yourself in life. You can do whatever you believe you are capable of and I can help you. My mission is to empower you to take the next little step in the right direction and if you don’t even know what that is… just make a really small shift in any direction and you’ll see light at the end of the tunnel!
Are you ready? Let’s do this!
Sara
