I don’t know about you… but I am almost NEVER motivated to go to a workout class. There are days when I am literally dragging my feet. But I have learned that if I just take it one step at a time…
- Have coffee. (MUST)
- Put my workout clothes on (even if I haven’t convinced myself that I’m going yet)
- Fill the water bottle
- Get in the car and go (maybe I’ll just half-ass it today. Even if I just show up, that’ll be fine.)
- Start the class (feeling a little groggy maybe)
- KICK ASS
Okay, so maybe I don’t kick ass alllll the time. But the point is… once I am there… once I have ACTIONED myself to GET there… and I start doing it… I realize that I have more energy than I thought I would. I start waking up. I start to move my body and push that preconceived notion of half-assing it. I find motivation to finish strong!
This is like MANY things in life. Have you ever needed to finish a project and just dreeeeaded starting it? Did you get through it?
And you know what? Sometimes we fail. We don’t do the thing that we needed to do. Or we do it, but not the way we expected. It’s hard to see the possibility of success if you’ve only experienced failure. Yet it’s often only after a number of failures that we have a chance at success. Don’t let failures move you into inaction. Instead, view it as a learning experience and try again (action!) The motivation often follows when you start to see small successes.
This is just like learning to manage your finances. So many women that I meet are just not motivated to learn until they’ve reached the point that their debt is crushing them and they’re fighting with their spouse every day.
But learning to make your money pretty rather than an ugly problem doesn’t have to be boring, take a lot of time, be stressful, or take a finance degree. No matter where you are in your financial literacy, you can take it to the next level.
One of my clients joined the Pretty Money Club because she wanted to buy a vacation home and just couldn’t figure out why her dream wasn’t coming to fruition. She has a really high income, but because of the security in knowing her income easily took care of her needs… she was spending carelessly. She actually had no idea how much until we got it on paper. After several budget revisions, her priority list really changed. She bought that vacation home after two years of practicing more mindful spending.
Most of my clients do not think about vacation homes when they think about prioritizing their money, but I wanted to give you that example to show you that even if you have more money… without the knowledge of how to manage it… it may not make a difference.
Many of my clients are just “stuck.” They have enough money to pay the bills and they have some disposable income as well, but they’re restrained by their fixed income, 40 hour work week, and family life. They forget to reassess their goals and end up in “inaction” simply because they’re going through the motions… every single day.
You are going to live through good times and bad times. You are going to live in periods of excess opportunity and times when it looks like there is zero opportunity.
The strategy? Focus on doing the best work you can today.
Overwhelmed? Take action. You immediately shift your focus from staring at the impossible path in front of you to taking the first step.
“But Lindsay… I’m so drained from everything else that I have to do.”
Sure. I get it. Busy Moms have a LOT on their plates… and in the Pretty Money Club, guess who you will find there? BUSY MOMS!
Refocus your energies. Cut out the 5 most energy-sucking activities in your day (watching TV, drinking alcohol, engaging with energy-sucking-people, scrolling Instagram.)
Then select ONE thing that you can do today that will help you move toward your goals.
If there’s one thing that I want you to take from this e-mail, it’s that I want you to be LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE.
What can you do right NOW to make it happen? Write down a goal. I don’t care how big or small it is. Just write down ONE. And then write down the FIRST step to getting there. Don’t even think about the whole big picture. The pathway doesn’t need to be clear. You just need one step.
If your goal requires MONEY to make it happen (as many do) – perhaps your first step is to set up a bank account with the goal name and amount you’ll need… then set up automatic transfers to that account.
For example… if your goal is to stay at the Jashita Hotel in Tulum Mexico for 10 days next summer (remember, be SPECIFIC with your goals) you will research the destination and activities, budget for time off, figure out how much you need to go… and then you’ll create a bank account that says “MEXICO – JULY 2022 – $4500” Then set up an automatic transfer for $375 per month, or $173 biweekly, or whatever.
(In the Pretty Money Club, we actually use bank account budgeting to automatically transfer our money to the places we want it to go. We’ve got mortgage accounts, grocery accounts, childcare expense accounts… and lifestyle accounts. So we know exactly how much spending money we have at any given time. And if we run out, we actually have to go transfer the money out of another account to spend it. Most people aren’t going to take money out of their “mortgage” account to get their hair done. But if they don’t have a system in place, they might get their hair done and then realise they don’t have enough in the account for when their mortgage comes out.)
If making your money pretty is a goal for you, then your action today is to sign up for the Pretty Money Course. All you gotta do is CLICK HERE for more info.
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