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This is the second day of my 28 Days of Spending Zero Challenge.
To read all the posts in order, start with Day One or visit the Overview Page.
Do you ever feel anxious, afraid, scared, angry or uneasy about money and wealth? Each year do you find yourself making yet another resolution that this will be the year you finally get your finances in order? Or maybe you read personal finances books, but never make the time to implement what you learn? Or worse yet, you ignore your financial situation in the hope it will take care of itself? If you find yourself nodding your head in agreement, this is the month all that changes!
Today, we get to work on our money issues from the inside out. Let’s get started!
It’s About More Than NOT Spending Money
I love the idea of not spending money. But it wasn’t always that way. And I know for many of you, not spending money over the next 27 days is going to be challenging.
But this No Spend Challenge is so much more than NOT spending money. It’s about fixing your finances for your FUTURE from the inside out!
That’s what we’re going to focus on today – the future.
I want you to look out into the unknown and figure out what you want out of life. I want you to figure out what your BIG Money goal is and how you’ll know when you have achieved what you desire?
Your Personal Wealth Definition
The key to improving your financial health is to fundamentally change your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors around money and wealth. This process can produce dramatic, life-changing results. But it needs to be tackled from both the emotional and behavioral side of the coin. This is what the next 27 days will be all about.
The basic steps are to uncover your money history, accept it with all it’s good and bad, and from there believe that you have the power to change unhealthy financial behaviors and attitudes so you can create a new money legacy that has you feeling confident about your finances.
Wealth and its definition are personal and unique. What I may deem as wealthy, someone else will not.
For me,
- wealth is being able to live debt free
- having enough resources to not ever to be burdened with worries about money
- to work at my own pace in my own environment
- live close to and regularly interact with my family and friends
- and to be able to do the activities that are important to me.
What does wealth mean to you? Have you ever really thought about the answer to that question? I’m not asking what the world’s definition of wealth is or even what you might find in the dictionary.
Wealth is not just the amount of money you have. It’s about living the life you want to live – being happy in your relationships and the direction of your life.
You are the only person who can create your definition of wealth.
It’s time to complete the first exercise and come up with your own personal definition of wealth.
This exercise is about helping you develop a personalized definition of what it means to be wealthy. When you begin to understand what that means for you and you work at clarifying your end goal, you are in a better position and are more equipped to take small steps toward achieving your vision.
You’ll need about 15-30 minutes of uninterrupted time to complete this exercise. You’ll also need a piece of paper and pen or a notebook to complete the assignment. Don’t forget to bring your imagination too!
Think about what a day in your life as a wealthy person would look like. Who would be part of that life? What would your day look like? How would you know you were wealthy?
Now write about your experience by downloading the accompanying form.
Take Action and Be Accountable
What actions will you take based on the exercise above? List them out. It might be as simple as noticing when your financial habits are not helping you work towards your definition of wealthy.
Now that you’ve completed the first assignment you have a better understanding of what you’re trying to achieve. Sure, you might want to get out of debt or eliminate your student loans, but you have a much bigger plan for your financial future.
Keep your wealth statement handy, maybe even post it somewhere where you can look at it daily and remind yourself of what you’re working towards.
Remember, wealth is more than just the sum of your money. It’s is about living a comfortable life, content in your own skin, experiencing happiness in your relationships and work, and being satisfied with the direction of your life. Wealth is personal and unique and something that you alone must define.
