Ah, the beginning of a new year. It’s the time when so many of us have such “HOPE” for the new year. It’s a time where we can start a new. It’s a time when we can learn from our past and make changes. Just look around, seen any weight loss commercials lately? Have you seen all the workout gear and supplements in between all the Valentine’s Day chocolates. Kind of a contradiction in shelf space – right? Yes, it is indeed the time for change.
So what are you planning on changing this year – financially?
I believe that I can speak for myself and for my family; in that we too have aspirations to make a change this year. However, if my memory is working correctly; I believe my family and I went through this very same exercise last year. Somehow, we did not end up financially where we were wanting to go at the end of 2011. We thought we had a great plan of attack, and the knowhow to implement change. Heck, I even went to the extent of creating a brand new Financial Seminar in 2011 speaking to this subject matter. So I had all the correct plans and answers staring us in the face. I even taught three seminars on the subject matter in early 2011. So, why is it that at the end of 2011 my family and I felt “let down” on our financial performance in 2011. Why did many of you out there feel this same way?
In the end, you either have success, or failure. Some of you may be saying, “Hey, is there not somewhere in between that you can be satisfied?” My answer to that would be, “NO!!!” You either accomplished your financial goals or you did not. Seems a little harsh, but I am just being honest with myself and with you. Ask yourself this question, “Do you simply want to be satisfied with your financial livelihood?” If your answer is “yes” then I can’t argue with you. Your mind is made up to just settle. However, I just don’t want to “settle” for things in this life. I imagine many of you feel the same. If your answer was “no”, then you left things on the table so to speak. It didn’t feel good - did it?
So now it’s down to the million dollar question, how do I change this year? How is this year going to be any different from the year’s past?
You got to take a long hard look at last year – financially. You have to identify what lead you to failure. Yes, you failed if you did not reach your goals. Sounds harsh, but again it is what it is…if that was even a sentence. Hopefully, you get what I am trying to say. We are destined to repeat the past if we simply keep doing the same thing we have always done or insane for thinking things will change. (I think there are two quotes in there somewhere from very smart and famous people…sounds good though so I will leave it.)
Here is what my family and I did last year. I can only share with you of our account, but I imagine our story is the same as many of yours. We tried to fool ourselves and lived in denial. That being said, we did not have a terrible year financially, we just did not accomplish our goals. We had a wonderful time spending money on all sorts of stuff. We spent money on things we needed, things we wanted, things we didn’t need or want. Somehow the stuff just followed us home or came in the mail – mysteriously. We did manage to pay down our debt load – some. Heck, we even gave some of our money away. Which is an important thing to my family. Because of all of those reasons and not “living” our plan; my family did not achieve our financial goals for 2011. In the end, it wasn’t a bad year. However, financially we had a bad taste in our mouth. We could have done so much better. We decided as a family to make a change and hold each other accountable. We are “all” involved in the process now.
So what is different and how is it going?
We already had a good plan in place. All it needed was to be ”tweaked” for 2012. We redefined some goals and made them more realistic and attainable for our lifestyle. We also put into place simple ways to account for our money and to keep track of what’s going on with our money – cash flow. Our main change this year as opposed to last year is that we are all on the same page, committed to reach our goals, and we are all accountable to one another. Even though mommy and daddy make the money, our daughter (age 10) has some say-so on things. (It’s amazing how kids can help keep you “honest”. ) We got together as a family - made our goals and made some hard decisions – as a family. We are already communicating better than we have ever done before. We are all excited and engaged in the process. It is not a chore any longer “talking” about our finances. It is working for us, not to say we don’t have our challenges, we are just a regular family trying to make it happen.
I believe the most important element from this experience is that we have actually executed our plan. Our plan has several financial goals, but we have already taken the most basic step. One that I have taught, spoke, and preached for some time now – about six years. We can look at ourselves in the mirror and say that we are paying ourselves – first. There is no more,”if we got some extra cash left over let’s stick it in savings”. We have already made the first deposit this year. And that’s a great feeling…my family values that “feeling”.
Everyone out there is at a different stage in their financial journey. Figure out where you are at, where you have been, and where you want to go in the future. Then make a plan and start to “live it”. Will it always be easy – heck no. There will be ups and downs in your financial life. Just stay committed, hold yourself or each other accountable, and start thriving. Don’t settle for just surviving another year, make 2012 your best financial year yet!!!
- Phillip
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