"Where do I even begin??" I have heard that question so many times and I love hearing it.
Do you know why? Because it means that you are ready to take action. The same cannot be said for a majority of Americans. It means you are aware. And awareness is the first step in transformation. Always. So I love that question.
I've found that way too many people are afraid of money and management of it. They don’t think they could ever understand it or pull themselves from the depths of financial hell. So they bury their heads in the sand and resist taking action to change it. If that’s you, then Rockstar, I need you to hear me:
Financial illiteracy and your commitment to it will hold you back from financial freedom.
Don’t let your lack of understanding hold you back. I am holding you "able". That’s why I am writing these financial health blog posts for you. I want to make it SO clear and easy for you to get your finances in alignment and begin building your future. TODAY. Because I believe in you.
Do YOU believe in you?
SO WHAT IS STEP ONE?
Budgeting is Money Management 101. You need to get (and stay) on a budget and learn to freaking love it. However, before you can get on a budget, you must assess your current financial situation.
You have to get a real, in-vivid-color picture of where you currently stand. That’s the real step one.
Once you have clarity on where you are, then we can take action and make a plan to fill in that gap with financial literacy, wisdom… and wealth.
You ready? Let's go.
But First... DROP THE SHAME
Most Americans are living from paycheck to paycheck, spending all of or even more of what they earn, and racking up crippling debt doing it. If that’s you… I have something I need to say to you first.
Drop your shame right here, right now.
I won’t accept any shame. It will not serve you at all, and it’s totally irrelevant. Shame will completely block you from moving forward. We need to get rid of it at the thought level.
Our thoughts control our feelings - our feelings control our behavior - our behavior controls our habits and....
"people don't decide their futures. They decide their habits & their habits decide their futures." - F.M Alexander
So let’s do some work to clear the negative energy internally (You know I'm your hippie bestie, so just vibe with me for a sec!):
Affirmation/ Meditation Exercise:
Get quiet. Close your eyes, sit cross-legged if you can, put one hand on your chest and one hand on your stomach. Take a deep breath in for 5 seconds - hold for 5 seconds - exhale for 5 seconds. Do that 2 or 3 or 10 times. It calms your parasympathetic nervous system and brings you into the present moment. Now read this, preferably out loud to yourself. Talk directly to your inner self & coach him/her:
“We made financial decisions before we had the information we have today. Those choices (conscious or unconscious) led us here today, and they were necessary for our personal and financial growth. I am grateful for the path we've taken because it is propelling us forward. Today, we know better, and we’re committed to doing better. I’m proud of us for the steps we're taking to achieve financial freedom, so we are NOT going to be ashamed of who we were before. That was the old me. This is the new me. I’m on a path to financial freedom and I can not, WILL NOT be stopped. Not by shame. Not by anything."
ASSESS THE SITCH
In order to get an accurate picture of your finances, I created a financial assessment guide for you from a tool I received through my business coach. This guide is hugely valuable. It will help you get a solid picture of where you are spending your money.
You’ll need to print out 12 months of credit card and bank statements or use Google sheets to organize and color code them all.
Do it for personal and business
Do it for ALL accounts
12 months
Click the button below to access.
Once you see where you are spending, I want you to do some math to give yourself an accurate picture:
Total up the amount of income you make per year
Total up the amount you spent last year
Are you positive or negative? By how much?
Total up the amount of income you make per month (average it out)
Total up the amount you spend each month (average it out)
Are you positive or negative? By how much?
Total up the amount of income you make per week (average it out)
Total up the amount you spend each week (average it out)
Are you positive or negative? By how much?
CONGRATS!
By now, you have a clear picture of your finances, and you just took a major leap toward financial literacy and financial freedom. You’re basically a financial wiz… get it, Rockstar! Yew!
You know your income and your spending, whether you are positive or negative, and by how much per year, per month, and per week.
Most importantly, you now know WHERE you are spending your money, and you can begin to make conscious decisions and tell your money where to go, instead of letting your spending habits tell it where to go. Awareness is always the first step of transformation.
You are now in control.
I can’t think of a better way to end this blog. I can’t help but think of what is ahead for you. I am so proud of you.
If you don’t want to wait for our next blog, where I unpack budgeting, then check out my recent blog, 6 Steps To Financial Freedom, which will get you on the right track!
Until next time, I’m sending you...