Many of my clients think that budgeting is hard or that it is restrictive. Like me years ago when I was trying to navigate my financial future, they believe that they don’t have enough money. There are times that I still find myself falling into that trap.
How do I go from believing that I don’t have enough to feeling freedom with my money? How do I go from feeling burdened to feeling like my 100 pound pack has been lifted from my back?
The short answer is my thinking.
When I think that I don’t have enough, I have anxiety around my money and the anxiety leads me to act and make decisions from a place of fear. I don’t engage the planning part of my brain that is rational to make my financial decisions on paper on purpose and in advance. So I give in to urges and I don’t question what I’m believing about my life. Therefore, I end up overspending, not spending wisely, not taking the steps to be intentional with my finances, not making the time to plan and strategize for my financial future.
This leads me to perpetuate beliefs like I will never get out of debt, I will never be able to save for a home, I won’t be able to provide for my family, I don’t know how to budget. My brain finds evidence of whatever I’m believing, even though it may not be true. It becomes a cycle of despair, hopelessness and poor decisions with my money. How can I break this cycle?
I manage my mind. I make conscious, intentional choices — in advance, on paper, on purpose. When a decision that comes up needs to be made, you have already made it, so no drama!
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Twenty years ago, Jill Wright was in debt and living paycheck to paycheck. Through focus and hard work, over the years she and her husband built a nest egg that allowed them to retire in 2018 at ages 50 and 53.