Excuses, excuses
One of the initial exercises in FPU is getting a snapshot of your finances. For the first time in our marriage, we sat down and laid it all out there. This was very hard for me as this was a very vulnerable place to be. I connected my financial standing as a direct correlation of who I was as a person so I was embarrassed. I really wanted to have it all together, but I did not and I had every excuse in the book for why I was in debt:
- I didn’t have help because I started off as a single mom
- I was sick and missed almost half a year of work while I was a single mom
- No one helped me pay for college
- Other people had help and we didn’t
- All my debt was “good” debt
In my mind, I was in debt because I was a single mom and had no one to help me start off right. That was my main hang up. But the truth of the matter is, I was in debt because I chose to be in debt. At the time, I didn’t know any other way. I did what I saw others doing, I did what I thought I had to do and I thought I was doing well. I wanted to blame everyone else for the situations I created and use it as an excuse for why I could not change my financial life. While these circumstances definitely presented challenges, they did not have to define me or my financial standing. Learning to dissociate the two was the catalyst for freedom.
Free your mind
As I continued learning more and more, my thoughts and mindset began to change. I went from making excuses to accepting full responsibility for my circumstances. I learned new ways of thinking. I had lots of ‘aha’ moments and lots of ‘geeez, how could you not know that’ moments as well. Once I was able to hold myself accountable fully, I was fully able to embrace the possibility of financial freedom. I realized that I had the power within me to change my situation. I was no longer a victim, I became determined to overcome my financial woes. I was empowered to make a change. I no longer worried about what others thought about me, I was just focused on taking care of my own business. This brought me tremendous freedom. All the weight of other people’s opinions fell off and I was able to run my race!
Walking in Freedom
I started the financial freedom journey almost five years ago. It has been revolutionary to my life. I look at things differently now and I have forever been changed. There are times I still struggle with making excuses, but I quickly dismiss them and focus on what I have the power to do. I am purposeful about keeping people in my circle who have been super successful with finances. This helps me keep hope alive, because I know if they can do it, so can I.
Challenge
I challenge you to write out your list of reasons of why you are not where you want to be financially. If they are excuses, you have the power to do something about it. Make your mind up today that you have what it takes to have financial freedom! This is your time to change your financial picture!!!