Do you want to find out what you’re capable of and how much you can save or pay off?
Do you find challenges too much pressure making you scared of failure?
...Experiment instead.
Grab a pen and paper and get planning. Decide what it is you’d like to experiment with and pen your plan of action to change any part of your budget you think you need to.
-You might want to start a household budget by going through your incomes to allocate your money the best way possible. -Your bills and expenses may be getting out of hand and you could tighten up on these to see if you can cut down as much as possible.
-Maybe you’d like to have a ‘no spend’ month by not spending any money other than your bills and living expenses to see how much you can save.
???
Make it your mission to add value to your life, not stuff. Stop buying products and find out how much you could have left over regularly. Trying, even for as little as 1 month, I guarantee you will go fast and you'll be surprised at what you're capable of saving, spending as little as possible and even paying off some debt in that short amount of time.
I tend to avoid challenges as they’re a sure fire way to make you feel like a failure if you can’t show any results. I prefer to use the word and set for myself, an experiment instead. Why? Because:
1. I won’t set myself up to fail,
2. I won’t feel pressure to live up to the strict rules outlined and
3. If something isn’t working I have the ability to tweak it a little in order to try something else …Hence the much nicer word ‘experiment’
The best thing about an experiment, is you are in control. You can start with just 1 part of your budget or give it a complete overhaul from scratch. You're the boss of your money so do what you think you need to in order to make it work. If that means bit by bit, month by month, then do that. Set your own rules.
Hold yourself accountable, but don't beat yourself up too much if something isn't going to plan. We all have a different life and situations.
Some personalities don’t respond well to challenges and rules. They feel forced to do something therefore respond in a way that won't have a good outcome. They may feel it's too much pressure and just give up before completing.
Challenges can create too much pressure. If you have too many rules and restrictions, you might feel it’s too hard to stick to. There may be a list of things someone else has set you to follow, telling you what to do, and who are they to tell you? They’re not you. They’re not earning your income or living the same life as you therefore can’t really set your rules in a challenge. It will stress you out and you’ll more than likely not see the challenge through. Set your own achievable tasks instead:
Do what you can to achieve what you need to. It’s that simple.
We usually avoid setting challenges for ourselves because we know there is a good chance it will be too hard and we don’t want to fail, start again, fail, feel like crap, hate ourselves and throw away any thought of trying again.
You can’t be too hard on yourself when trying something new. Don’t set yourself up for the failure if it all becomes too much. No one else will care if you’ve failed a challenge, just yourself. We are the hardest on ourselves and there is no need to be. No one likes to feel like they’ve failed at anything, so avoid this all together by experimenting with your budget or goals instead.
Constantly revise your budget, savings or debt plans until it works for you then you will never have to be so hard on yourself. No pressure, no challenge to live up to, no rules, just experiment.
Don’t feel bad if anything is too hard. This doesn’t mean you’ve failed yourself or your family, it just means your plan isn’t working for your life and it may need to change slightly. Just look at your budget or goal and find a different approach. Think of a different way to tackle it. If this way also doesn’t seem to be working out for you, your life and your income, simply change it again and try something else. Keep changing it along the way according to your life. I’ve followed a budget for 22 years and I’m constantly changing things as I go. Incomes change, expenses change and life situations change.
Be flexible in your endeavours and you’ll find what fits. Alter small things or just one thing at a time to give yourself more freedom, flexibility and less pressure. By doing it this way you’ll find you will have more chance of budget success.
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How do you respond to challenges?
Would an experiment be easier for you to try? Would there be less pressure?
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