Challenging myself has never been a problem of mine. Seeing those challenges through to completion is my stumbling block. I start out like a ball of fire - ready to take on the world. Since January 1, 2017, I've been struggling once again to stay the course. I often wonder what switch has to be flipped to keep me on track. I get frustrated, knowing that there is an answer but that I just hadn't had the insight to find it.
I've had many successes in my life and probably just as many failures and I spend great amounts of time ruminating on those failures. I ask myself over and over. Why? Why, if this goal is so important to me, haven't I seen it through to the end.
I set goals for this year. I've logged and tracked and planned. And then I don't. And things fall apart and I get angry with myself. But the good news is, I think maybe, just maybe, I've found that switch. And maybe, just maybe, I've flipped it. Let me explain.
At the beginning of the year, I drank the Dave Ramsey kool-aid. I saved a $1000 emergency fund. I listed my debts from smallest to largest. I set a target date for completion. Every day I looked at that spreadsheet. I planned. I tracked. I obsessed. And I was successful. I have one debt left and it's one I took on willingly in January (I purchased a car). And now I'm single-minded in my goal to pay it off. I had several other goals that had nothing to do with my finances. I wrote them down. I tracked them - and then I didn't. One day, just a few days ago, I realized what just might be the reason for my failure.
One of the things Dave teaches, is that you have to concentrate on ONE thing. Save the emergency fund. Pay off ONE debt, and then move on to the next. Pay all of your extra money to the lowest existing debt and then just the minimum to the others. This gives you the 'atta boy' you need as you systematically knock those debts out ONE at a time. As I looked at my goals the other day, I realized....I'm spreading myself too thin. I have TOO MANY GOALS! Gah! It's so simple. It was right there all the time! Yes, there's so much I want to do, but for crying out loud, focus on one. Just one. So I looked at my goals for 2017 and I crossed off everything but the two that meant the most to me. I want to be debt free and I want to reach my goal weight. Just doing this has made my life so much simpler (which is another goal).
So maybe, just maybe, this was my switch. And maybe, just maybe, this time I'll see it through. With gazelle intensity. And maybe, just maybe, I'll reach my goal of being debt free and going to Nashville to do my debt free scream as a thin, healthy person who finally figured this all out. Thank you Dave Ramsey for finally giving me the insight I needed.
As an aside, if you too, are interested in becoming debt free, I highly recommend you start listening daily to the Dave Ramsey podcast. Go on YouTube and watch people stand in his lobby to tell their stories and do their "Debt Free Screams". And most importantly, read his book The Total Money Makeover. The book is the most important because it explains his 'baby steps' so that you understand the concepts being talked about on the podcast. It's doable. It's easy. It's life changing.
