Keep Pushing When the Thrill is Gone
Having debt is simply overrated, and I am willing to bet most people never intend to one day find themselves swimming in a butt-load of it. However, this is the reality for the majority of Americans, 78% in fact. People find themselves in debt for many reasons, and from my experience, the number one way to work your way through and out of debt is by being disciplined.
Let’s think about it for a second. How many times have you seen those posts on Instagram that compare January 1st (of any year) to February 1st of the same year? In January, you are waiting to get on a machine, and there are a ton of not-so-in-shape bodies ready to snatch everything together. Sweat is everywhere. Headbands, tights, water bottles, and men as well as women all over the gym getting it in. People are motivated, focused, and confident that this will be the year they finally come face-to-face and conquer the Beast that is body fat. They stay locked in for what seems like hours, dripping from head-to-toe. They leave the sweatbox making plans with their homegirl or homeboy and synchronizing their workouts for the following day.
Discipline is the Secret Sauce
As these same super-motivated, focused individuals get a good smooth two weeks into this health kick, there is something different. Instead of three friends working out together, it’s two. Shirts are a lot less saturated with sweat, and two hours in the gym turns into a quick 30 minutes, followed by the excuse, “girl, at least I made it today.” Now, I am not knocking these well-intentioned folks. Still, I must say, more often than not, motivation, confidence, and even determination are just not enough when you are seeking to make drastic life-altering results. Speaking from experience, I am here to tell you, the secret sauce that rarely gets talked about is DISCIPLINE.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, discipline is “control gained by enforcing obedience or order, orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior, self-control.”
That same secret sauce is required when you are starring debt in the face. At some point, confronting the challenge of freeing yourself will make you throw your hands up and say, “F#$% this”! There will be moments when you are gaining momentum, and an unexpected situation will arise. And to be frank, life will be life and happen screwing up the best-laid plans.
When all the proverbial mess hits the fan along your journey, discipline will clear the path or make it less murky so you can keep pushing. Let me lay it out there. This discipline probably won’t come overnight unless that’s your superpower. If it’s not your superpower, you might discover the need for discipline after being on your financial journey is no longer sexy, and you have a downturn. You will have that dialogue with self to determine whether or not you want to do this thing. If and when you find the courage to say yes, there will be an upturn, and your forge forward will be a product of your discipline.
10 Acts of Discipline to Clear Debt
- Living Below Your Means. If your financial struggles are due to living above your means, once you come to that realization, stick to your guns and deploy every means to live in your sweet spot.
- Tracking Your Spending. Keeping track of your spending can be an all-out bugaboo, but if you create your budget without keeping up with the ebbs and flows of our spending, you will keep yourself in a financial pickle.
- Maintaining a Monthly Budget. Set a reminder for the end of the month to develop your budget. It will become quicker and easier to create as time goes on.
- Saying “No” to Bad Habits. You know, those habits that got you in this predicament in the first place. Keep practicing chunking up the deuces to them while giving warm hugs to your newly established wealth-conscious habits, like maintaining your budget, aka your BFF (Best Financial Friend).
- Meal Prepping and Limiting Restaurant Appearances. Find your inner chef and cook up some mean meals. If you have an urge to go out to eat, make sure it has been included in your budget.
- Reduced Your Spending (download my cheatsheet). Keep more coins in your pocket by reviewing your spending areas. If you ever have an off day, don’t allow it to turn into an off week, month, or year. It is okay not to hit the mark all the time, but don’t punish your goals because of it.
- Family Finance Meeting. Make sure everyone stays in the loop with where the money is going. Establish monthly meetings. No one gets a pass for attending.
- Upping Your Knowledge Game. Read often and consistently. Find yourself low on time? Put on a podcast or an audiobook while driving to and from work.
- Saving Money. You only have $5 left after taking care of all other needs, great! Put it into your savings account. You will eventually be able to make it an automatic transfer. And at some point, you will have different sinking funds for designated money.
- Saying “NO” to Journey Sabotaging Purchase. Practice saying to yourself what your momma once said to you when you were little, “No, put that back.” It’s okay if you picked it up, but if you know you really don’t need it because it is not aligned to your plan, tell yourself, “No, put that back.”
