Perfectionism has plagued me from eating healthy, working productively, and from having financial freedom.
Take eating healthy for example: In my mid-twenties I started to gain weight. I knew I needed to diet, so I joined a weight loss program. The day before my first class I ate my “last supper” will all the forbidden foods I could think of: Snickers as an entre, banana split for the main course, and ketchup chips for dessert. After I finished, I vowed never to eat junk food again.
I’ve always been good at theory. But terrible at taking action. For most of my life, I’d fantasize about what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go in life, but most of the time I never followed through. I was born like that. As far back as I can remember, I always had a huge amount of resistance starting any project of significance (and finishing Super Mario doesn’t count.) Even as a child, I wanted to do my homework but I always pushed it off until last minute and usually didn’t get it done in time. My teachers would tell my parents “he’s a smart kid but he needs to apply himself more.” And this pushing-off-mentality caused a lot of damage in my life — beyond my calculus marks. My finances suffered because I lived in the world of “intention” and not “action.” I used to dream about being wealthy — but always spent my money on stupid stuff and never saved. I read lots of budgeting articles. But didn’t do anything with that knowledge. “An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes like Ralph Waldo Emerson’s would swirl around […]
“I’m not good with numbers.” Sound familiar? When you talk negatively about yourself — like the example of above — what are you really trying to say? Are you giving yourself an excuse — an exit out from dealing with your finances? By telling yourself that you’re not good with numbers are you really saying you’re not responsible? But what if the numbers part isn’t as hard as you think it is? That all you gotta do is read one short book and away you go (free book link on the bottom of this blog.) To some, that can be scary. Why? Because once you know what to do — and realize it’s simple — that makes you responsible to solve your financial problems. So, now, you have a choice: Either you can a) keep on believing that your not good with numbers and will be financially doomed forever, or, b) take twenty minutes, read the book, and take control of your finances. The choice is yours. Free book link: www.yourmagicnumber.com
Your experiences shape your worldview. Your worldview shapes your narrative. Your narrative shapes your actions. —- You can’t change your past experiences. However, you can change your worldview by understanding where it comes from. Is your worldview from your culture? Something that someone said to you? Is it from your mature adult perspective or your child’s perspective? Think about these questions. They’ll get you started. —- What does this have to do with budgeting? Everything. If you want to take control of your finances, you need to take control of your financial worldview.
Being cheap is to buy single-ply toilet paper just because it’s cheaper than double ply. Being smart with money, on the other hand, is to buy double ply toilet paper on sale — even though it’s more expensive than single ply. I’m not saying that all cheap people buy single ply — I’m sure plenty of them buy double ply. What I am saying is that being cheap is a knee-jerk reaction. “That’s too expensive” is an automatic response that’s usually baked in from an early age. On the other hand, being smart with your money is a skill that’s developed. Not a knee-jerk reaction. It’s knowing how much you can spend, and being smart enough to say “no” when you can’t afford it and “yes” when you can. (And saying “yes” is as crucial as saying “no.”) People who are smart with money don’t buy cheap junkie dollar store cutlery that’ll shread your rib eye steak to pieces and make it taste like tin. Instead, they save up and find a good deal on a Wusthof set that’ll perfectly cut their steak into mouth-watering pieces. So the goal when you’re budgeting isn’t to become a knee jerking cheapo — […]
For most of my adult life, I acted like a kid with my money. Kinda like a financial version of Tom Hanks in BIG. Even though I had a beard and a receding hairline, when it came to spending, I hadn’t changed much since first grade. If I wanted it, I bought it. The only difference between the “first grade me,” and the “older me” was that I had a Visa. And because of my financial immaturity, I racked up some serious debt. I hated the feeling of owing the credit card company money — never mind all those interest charges. Grrr. Listen, it wasn’t easy, but today I’m as wise as my grandpa was with money. (FYI: My grandpa was magnificent with money — he was a natural saver and was always after me to stop blowing my money on Upper Deck baseball cards and start investing in “real stuff.” If I had listened to him back then, I’d probably be a kazillionaire today.) Looking back, here are the top five things I’ve done that have changed my finances forever. 1. Stop being impulsive I used to buy things without planning on it. Even when I’d go to “just take a […]
Accountability doesn’t always work. If you’re saying: “I’ll need you to be on top of me or it’s not going to get done.” It won’t work. That means you’re not ready. On the flip side, if you say: “I can do it all on my own — I don’t need you at all.” That won’t work either. That also means you’re not ready. But there’s a sweet spot between those two opposite attitudes. And here’s how it sounds: “I can do this. But I need accountability for the dips and the tough parts.” That means you’re ready. And that’s where accountability works. P.S. This applies to weight loss, getting fit, reaching a business goal, and of course, taking control of your finances.
I love being silly and telling cheesy jokes. To prove it to you, here’s one: What’s Forrest Gump’s Gmail password? 1forrest1 Get it? Run Forest run! 1forest1! Lol! 😆 Contrast to daddy jokes; finances are dull and boring. To most of us, there’s nothing exciting about budgeting or spreadsheets. And to make things worse, most of the financial pro’s our there are as dry as doorknobs. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can find humor and silliness in anything you do — and, yes, that includes balancing your chequebook. That’s what James Cunningham did. His financial literacy program, Funny Money, has gotten thousands of high school kids (hard to get interested in anything that’s not an iPhone) to become totally engaged in learning important money lessons. And that’s a valuable lesson for me and you. Us adults, magically morph into distractable teenagers just thinkin’ about our finances. We’ll answer “important” work emails, do the dishes, and watch paint dry just to avoid dealing with our money. So how can do you infuse fun into your finances? The truth is, we all have different senses of humor, and you’ll have to develop your own way. But to give […]
Superman is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. But he’s not invincible. Kryptonite weakens him. If he gets too close, that little glowing green rock will bring him down to his knees. Let me ask you a question. Does Superman hang around kryptonite or does he try to avoid it? It’s obvious: He avoids it. Just like the Man of Steel, you and I also have our own kryptonite — financially speaking. We all have stores that weaken our financial resolve and make us buy — think Costco, Best Buy, Apple, Zara, and Barnes & Noble. But instead of avoiding our kryptonite stores (like Superman would), we walk or click right into them, and convince ourselves that we’re just going to “look.” But we all know, when we get too close to our kryptonite, we get weakened and buy stuff we didn’t want to get. And the stores know this. They use sneaky Lex Luthor ploys to draw you in and make you buckle. But don’t fall for it. Instead, be like Superman: Know what your financial kryptonite is, recognize the tactics it uses to draw […]
Budgeting is 80% emotional and 20% numerical. In other words, 80% of your success with budgeting is based on your emotions, while only 20% is based on your numbers. Learning how to deal with fear, jealousy, and regret are the main components of budgeting you need to master. Sure, an app can crunch your numbers. But it can’t master your financial emotions for you. That’s your project. Once you nail the 80% — the financial emotions — you’ll look and treat money differently. And when your perspective shifts, something magical happens — you’ll become smarter with money and finally start to feel in control of your finances.
