Staying Motivated
Changing your money habits and becoming more intentional in your spending is hard. You’ll have to get used to saying no to things that don’t align with your goals and values so that in the long run, you’re moving the direction you want to be in.
What I really want you to do is not live your life on autopilot without planning for your future and thinking about what you truly want in life. The things that you want for your future, 99% of the time, are going to require resources and require you to plan ahead.
If you go through life just floating along letting life happen to you, you’ll never have the things you want. You have to MAKE those things happen. And the only way to do that is to evaluate what you want and how you’re going to get here.
And these things can be applied to any kind of goal you may set for yourself, but obviously I’ll provide details and examples relating to money. But really, you can use this is various aspects of your life.
There are 5 things that I think you need to stay on track. Those are:
Determine your why
Plan ahead
Start small
Track your progress
Get an accountability partner
First determine your why. And dig deep... don’t just say oh i want more money.
Okay, but why? So that I can have savings for the things I need.
Okay, why? So I don’t have to use a credit card
Okay, why? So I don’t have to feel stressed about money all the time and don’t feel guilty when I do spend it.
Now we’re getting somewhere!
What’s the feeling you’ll get from reaching your goal? How will it improve your life? Your quality of life? What problems will reaching your goal solve?
Keep asking yourself why until you get to the ROOT reason.
For some people, having a why that is for someone else motivates them more than if it’s for themselves. Maybe your financial goals are focused more on your children or your parents or other family members. Having the means to take care of them. It’s easy to give up on a goal for ourselves, but if we’re doing it for someone else, we’re sometimes more motivated by that.
So #1 -- Determine you why and get to the root of it
The second thing to help you stay motivated is to plan ahead.
You know your goal is to save money but what does that mean? How much do you want to save? For how long? When setting goals, make your goals SMART.
Specific - I want to save $1,000 in a year
Measurable - choosing $1,000 is measurable
Achievable - saving $1,000 in one year means you’ll need to set aside $83/month. Is that doable? Look at your monthly budget and determine if that is a reasonable goal for you
Realistic - Is it realistic for you to save $83 every single month?
Time-Bound - What time frame have you set for this goal? -- 1 year
Now that you have this SMART goal set for yourself, plan ahead to ensure you can reach it. If you know you’ll be in a situation where you’ll be tempted to spend money where you’d rather not, prep yourself for it.
Either avoid the situation, which I don’t really recommend. That will be a real bummer and not very motivating, for sure. You shouldn’t let saving money be a reason to not go and see friends. But go into it being clear that you have a financial goal and spending money going out for drinks doesn’t align with those goals. You can still go and visit and have a great time and you don’t have to spend money on something that doesn’t bring you the value you want.
Having that plan ahead of time ensures you don’t find yourself feeling “pressured” to spend where you don’t actually want to.
So #1, Determine you why and #2 Plan Ahead.
Set your SMART Goal and be ready to say no to things that you don’t actually value.
That brings us to #3 which is smart small. Changing your habits is so hard! You aren’t going to completely change how you spend your money overnight. These habits and routines take time to build.
Take a look at where you spend money that doesn’t bring you value and is easy to skip on.
Only say yes to outings with friends that involve spending money if you ACTUALLY want to go.
If you typically eat out for lunch everyday, try packing a lunch twice a week.
Try shopping store brands when grocery shopping and skip the name brand foods.
#4..Track your progress.
This is a fun one and definitely the thing that helps me the most. When I open up my google spreadsheet where I keep track of our goals and I can see our progress, it’s really motivating and exciting! So find a way to track it that is fun for you. I’ve seen some really fun graphics and you color in your progress until it’s all filled in. You can write it down and keep it on your fridge where you’ll see it everyday. Whatever works for you and makes you excited to track is what you should do
And finally..get yourself an accountability partner!
This doesn’t have to be something formal, but just by telling someone a friend or family member, what your goal is, it will make you feel more obligated to continue working towards that goal. As a financial coach, part of my job is being your accountability partner and reminding you of your why and keeping you on track. Making your goals known to others is a really great way to keep you accountable.
Just to recap all of that… My tips for staying motivated to reach your financial goals is
Determine your Why
What is the root of your why, the core reason
Plan ahead
have your SMART goals laid out
Start small
make small changes and slowly build on those as you go
Track your progress
on paper, with a fun graphic, in excel, with an app -- whatever works for you
To reach goals you’ve never achieved before, you’ll have to do things you’ve never done before.
Don’t let life happen to you. Be intentional with your resources. Whether it’s your money, your time, your abilities. Put those to good use!
It’s going to be a little scary, but I promise it’ll be so worth it! Embrace the uncomfortable, explore outside of your comfort zone to find creative ways to help you reach your goals.
Everyone’s goals are unique to them and how you get there will be unique to you as well.
It’s awesome to get ideas and insights from others, but like I always say...personal finance is personal and not one size fits all. What works for you to get you where you want to be is the right way for you do it. So go out there and do it!
