Financial Freedom – how to begin your journey with one tiny step . . . then another & another!
“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. The beginning is the most important part of the work.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
For the past 12 months or more, all we’ve been hearing in the media is messages like ‘interest rate rises’, ‘cost of living expenses’, ‘fuel prices are on the increase’ and ‘electricity price hikes’. So, if you’re feeling uncertain and a little anxious about your financial future, you’re not alone.
Don’t feel disheartened though, as there are steps you can take today towards your financial freedom. We understand that at first, it might seem daunting and too big a task to tackle, but you can do it and we’re here to help. I, personally, have been there, living paycheck to paycheck, having the never-ending pile of debt and feeling like there’s no way out! But for me, everything changed a few years ago and now I’d love to encourage you that this can be your story too.
Maybe it’s time for you to draw a line in the sand, say “NO MORE DEBT”, not be intimidated by the abundance of information out there and decide to change the trajectory of your family’s financial future. I guarantee, it WILL be worth it!
I never thought I’d be where I am right now financially and in just a few short years. Getting started is the most difficult step but once you start (and so long as you stick with it), it doesn’t take long to build momentum and you too could be looking down the barrel of financial freedom sooner than you thought possible. So, stick with us and we’ll show you how uncomplicated, tiny steps over a period of time can have a positive lasting effect.
Picture this:
- no longer living week to week, wondering if you’ll make it to the next payday
- having cash in an emergency fund for those little (or big) unexpected expenses that used to go straight on the credit card
- not having your entire pay spent on loans and bills before you’ve even received it
- having a ‘Splurge’ account that allows you to spend money on treats, either for yourself, someone you love or a complete stranger
- or even, having your mortgage paid off
All of these goals can become your reality and what an incredible achievement that will be! It might take some time, like all good things do, but what if you don’t start for another 10 years?! It’s worth starting right now – you don’t have to know all things right now, learn as you go – but just start!
Beating the resistance odds and getting started
We can often struggle to get started on things in our life and this could be for a number of reasons: fear of failure, feeling overwhelmed, perfectionism, lack of motivation, procrastination or even a fear of success. Often starting something that seems so hard and unachievable can raise feelings of discomfort and who would willingly go there? But what if just a little bit of discomfort for a short period of time could lead to a future of financial freedom, not only for you but for your family, your children and any others you choose to bless along the way? Now that sounds worth doing right?!
Let’s rid ourselves of that sense of stress and anxiety associated with finances, take a deep breath and let’s take the first step to change the trajectory of our lives. Actually, because you’re visiting our website, you’ve already taken the first step in reaching out for help, congratulations and now you’re onto step two!
If you’re not yet convinced that now is a great time to start, perhaps contemplating the costs of inaction might tip you into action mode. If you were to continue with the same money habits you currently have for the next 10, 20 or even 30 years, what will your future (emotional, physical, financial) look like then?! Now is the right time to make change!
Let’s look at one of the main deterrents of starting something new
Procrastination – the Oxford Dictionary definition is: “the action of delaying or postponing something.” This is a challenge we have all faced at one point or another. As American author James Clear puts it, ‘for as long as humans have been around, we have been struggling with delaying, avoiding and procrastinating on issues that matter to us.’
But what happens when we procrastinate less and are more productive? We feel pleased, content, have a sense of accomplishment and we often want to continue on that path. So, in order to stop procrastinating, we need to make it as simple as possible to get started and trust that motivation and acceleration will come after we begin. (Motivation often comes after we’ve started and not before).
The second tiny step
We want to introduce tiny steps that move the needle toward the change we are looking for, remembering that small doable steps are more likely to stick.
For example, if you routinely buy a takeaway coffee each workday, your next step could be as simple as making a coffee at home to go, two days a week and putting the money you saved into a separate savings account, like an emergency fund. At $5 per coffee, this tiny action could add up to a saving of $520 over the course of a year. Alternatively, you could pay this off your smallest debt each week and start to feel the momentum building. You might even find that home-made coffee isn’t too bad after all and you may choose to purchase a takeaway coffee once a week instead and therefore save twice as much. Once you get that accelerator moving in the right direction, it’ll be difficult to slow it down!
We understand that old habits die hard but the key to creating new habits is to start. Now you may fall off the wagon every now and then but the important thing is to get back up, dust yourself off and start again. Re-engage your new habits, the tiny steps towards financial freedom and in time you will create new automatic behaviours – out with the old and in with the new! It’ll be amazing what you can get done!
Once you implement one tiny, positive change and you feel you’ve mastered it after a week or two, keep it going and try implementing your second change. Keep doing both consistently and as you continue to improve your financial situation, these changes will become easier and easier. You’ll begin to feel confident, motivated and excited about your accomplishments and wonder why it took you so long to get started!!
Hopefully, you’re feeling motivated to start making positive change in your life, not only for your future but for your children and grandchildren. You could be the turning point to begin a legacy for your family.
If you need help getting your head around what’s next, we recommend you check out our mini-course “Money Mindset” which is geared to walk you through how to form new habits that really stick and get that momentum happening for you. Check it out here.