Every year we hear about the growing rates of obesity in our country. They are in stark contrast to the growing rates of poverty and homelessness, too. But, just as important as health is to longevity, do you know what sustains a legacy? Money.
As a mental wellness provider—in life coaching as well as psychotherapy—I was never trained on how to help people establish wealth habits. Instead, I was trained in mental health to help people connect to resources and relationships that will improve their wellbeing. As a certified life coach, I was trained on how to help people connect to their lives in meaningful ways. However, the difference in the latter is, we did include finances on the Life Wheel. Yet, it wasn’t a major focus of my program, until after I graduated.
However, as I transformed my life, I began to include the work I did on myself to help others to become more financially sound. As Dr. Maya Angelou used to say, “when you learn, teach.” So, here are a few lessons:
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- To start, let’s examine what type of wealth schedule you’re on. I borrowed the word “schedule” from my financial coach. For me, that word is more inspiring than “budget” so I use it instead to reflect my monthly expenses and liabilities. That includes things such things as personal and business costs.
- What this pandemic has reminded me of is similar to what we went through in 2008—the recession. If you were a working person during that time you may remember what it was like to see your company downsize entire departments and lay off employees at the beginning of the holiday season. I always thought that was such a crappy time of year to terminate people from their jobs. Heck! You may have been one of the people who were directly impacted. If so, then you probably remember that time better than anyone. Well, this time is reminiscent of why it matters to always plan for a financial crisis. How do you do that? Plan twice. That means, not only should you save a set amount of cash in savings every pay day, but you should also set aside a percentage of cash per month or per quarter, in an investment account (IRA, dividend account, etc).
- To start, let’s examine what type of wealth schedule you’re on. I borrowed the word “schedule” from my financial coach. For me, that word is more inspiring than “budget” so I use it instead to reflect my monthly expenses and liabilities. That includes things such things as personal and business costs.
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Some of you may be thinking, “that’s impossible!” Really? Well, tell me this—if you eat out, or nowadays, eat in(using home delivery apps) or you still have monthly service fees being removed each month from your account for places you can’t visit because of the pandemic, then believe me, you have extra money sitting somewhere waiting for you to reuse those funds.
I stopped automated payments on so many unnecessary programs I joined pre-COVID that when I added up the costs I could pay my electric bill for the next 3 months.
Remember this, there is always money somewhere especially if you are earning income. It’s about allocating those dollars, even the ones you think don’t count, to other places—places that would benefit you more than it will cost you. So, take a pause, make a schedule and tally where your money is going every month, or if you’re an impulsive spender, do it every week.
This pandemic and its residual effects will be with us for quite a while. It’s not too late to start giving your dollars new duties (feel free to tweet that and tag me)! If you need a push, here’s a book I highly recommend investing in, “You Need A Budget” by Jesse Mecham.
You can thank me when you start seeing the bills dry up and the money grow.
As always, let me know if any of these coaching tips has helped you reach some of your goals. Or, if you started new ones after reading the blog. Then, share the blog with 5 people you know and invite them to subscribe. Remember, when you learn, teach. Or, as I like to say, when you see something you like, tell people! Talk soon…A!
*This blog is about becoming free. It’s a reflection of introspective thoughts and experiences that have crossed miles of self-discovery. I created this blog to inspire others to live life with less self-criticism, judgment and openness to new experiences. May you find that you learn how to live a life by design and on your own terms!*