They say ignorance is bliss and what you don’t know, won’t hurt you. But is that true? We know that we SHOULD be checking our accounts and following a budget, but why don’t we? Why is it easier to stick your head in the sand and ignore it? Why do we just avoid the unopened bills? Swipe and pray at the checkout? That sounds EXHAUSTING. Keeping yourself in a constant state of worry, fear, and regret is a recipe for grey hairs. So why do we continue month after month, year after year in the same place?
One big reason is embarrassment and shame. We don’t want to face what we’ve done and ignoring it allows us to avoid taking responsibility. Confronting what we have done, head on, may throw you into a shame spiral. And what do we do when we feel shame? Many times we just continue to dig the hole DEEPER! I am really frustrated about the state of my credit card balances, but you know what will make me feel better? Shopping! Going out for drinks! Booking that next vacation! Opening up that last statement, without a plan to pay it down, makes you throw your hands in the air and give up. How does this make your situation better? News flash, it doesn’t.
Maybe you have already given up? Do you have the mindset that you are going to die with these bills, so what’s the point? What you have is unfixable, so might as well keep the status quo. My question is, how long do you think you are going to live? You could have ten, twenty, or fifty years ahead of you. Doesn’t it make sense to create a better tomorrow while you are still young enough to enjoy the fruits of your labor? It’s a lot harder to fix future problems when you may be too old or sick to work. Now is the time.
How about something a whole lot less extreme… You think ‘I have no time’. Most of us live very busy lives. If you have a job/kids/pets/a spouse, your life is full. You think it is going to take TOO LONG and you just don’t have the bandwidth to dedicate. Maybe you just need mental strength, but at the end of the day, your battery is on E. Now what?
My approach is baby steps. If you already have my book, you know it takes about 30 minutes to read. One bad Taco Bell experience and you can read it on the can in one sitting. You don’t even have to read the whole book. Pick one chapter and do one exercise. If you weighed 1000 lbs it wouldn’t make sense to say ‘I’m going to work out every day for 2 hours and only eat vegetables for a year’. Not very realistic right? But you could just stop drinking soda in favor of water. ONE THING could get the ball rolling for you, the same with your finances.
What is one thing you can do?
You can print out 3 months of statements and highlight how much you spend on food.
You could stop the meal delivery services.
You could delete the shopping apps from your phone and remove your credit card info from Amazon.
You could pack your lunch for work.
What is the easiest for you? Do that.
And if you have finally come to accept that you need help, leave the guilt and shame behind and ASK! I am one Zoom session away from helping you get started for free!
