Do you ever feel like you just want to start fresh? I guess it’s a new year so it’s not a bad idea really. Do you ever make statements and plans that you don’t follow through on? Well, that’s what this post is about.
I was just reading through some of my older posts. I have made a number of statements about things I had planned to do. I’m really good at making statements and plans! This is a whole blog full of statements and plans.
The part where I’m struggling is following through on the things I say I’m going to do. Why is it that these grand ideas that will potentially help me on the path to Financial Independence always take a back seat to other activities in my life?
Is it because I value those other things over financial freedom? Is it because I have too many commitments in life to spend adequate time on the financial activities? Am I just lazy in that I want to have sufficient leisure time when there isn’t an immediate demanding life-thing? Is it a by-product of my low energy levels, where I can’t seem to make every waking hour count due to brain fog/exhaustion/blahness?
One of my fave new creators, digitallybaffled, has excellently described my life in a nutshell in this brilliant animation. Please do enjoy (sound up!):
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Anyway, I don’t know how to fix this (it’s been 40+ years, after all), but I’ve decided that I’m going to start fresh. Rather than go back and lament all the things I haven’t done yet to improve my path to FI, I’m going to:
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- Review things that I CAN do. Whether it be things written in the blog or ideas I’ve picked up from other credible sources.
- Pick the ONE most impactful thing. I started reading this book, “The One Thing” by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. So far I think it’s having a positive impact on my focus. I’ll try to do a book review/key learnings post later on this.
- Focus on ONLY THAT THING until it’s “done” to my satisfaction, without sacrificing other life things.
Another thing that may help is doing some time tracking and energy tracking. For example, when do I have the lowest energy levels? That’s when I should schedule light tasks or leisure time. When am I higher energy but maybe wasting those hours on busy-work? Find a slot of time each week where I can focus on the “one thing” to get me closer to Financial Independence. Even bigger tasks can easily be broken into smaller chunks!
Part of my issue may also be analysis paralysis. There are different ways to improve your financial footing. Some carry more risk than others. I often find myself thinking, “Well, no one else I know is doing this. Maybe I just shouldn’t”. Or “This carries a lot of risk, maybe I should just stay the course”. On the flipside, I also get analysis paralysis when it comes to spending money. “My family really wants this expensive thing / experience now, and so do I. It would benefit our life now. Is it worth doing to sacrifice a few months of being FI?”
Ok so, I’ve blabbed at you enough already. If you made it this far, congrats! You win the opportunity to comment on my literal stream of conciousness that is this post. Please do let me know your thoughts in the comments. If you have any tips for improvement regarding my statements and plans, I’m all ears.
FI on, FI Friends!
After my own period of not focusing on the plan I’ve decided to make 2023 the year of closely tracking expenses and saving 50% of our income.
I see it’s been a while since there has been a FI/RE Report. Maybe bringing that back would be helpful?
Are you able to project how much your family will make this year and set a savings goal? Then each month when you add to your savings you can show progress towards that goal?
Just my thoughts while I procrastinate from finishing out the work day. 🙂
50% Neal?? That’s amazing!! We can most definitely set a goal for savings…maybe in my next budget meeting with Hubs I will suggest it! FI/RE reports would help but also I don’t trust myself to stick with it these days. Maybe I could make it more simple just by tracking the savings goal metric and go from there. Good luck with your plan!
Yeah, tracking just a yearly savings goal metric/target would be a pretty easy thing to do.
I don’t know if you’re like me, but if I set a savings goal to track I’m a lot more likely to meet it than if I don’t.
What is measured is improved!!
That animation was hilarious!!! 😂
I remember feeling much like you when my kids were little and I was sleep-deprived and time-strapped. It was very hard to find the energy or motivation to get things done.
I don’t necessarily have any suggestions, but just wanted to share my experience and that it sounds like exhaustion/fatigue could be a major part of the issue for you… so don’t blame yourself or feel bad for not doing more!
If you look back on the last year, I bet you got way more done than you’d expected you would. (But you can’t only count the financial stuff. You have to also count the fun stuff, the self-care, and the blah stuff like maintaining the house.)
It all takes mental bandwidth, so you have to give yourself credit for all of it!
Thanks 😊 Right now it’s a total blur. It would be good for us all to be a bit more intentional about remembering the good stuff we did.