Today’s secret piggybacks on the secret in my last post -- restructuring your goals. When you are creating your S.M.A.R.T.Y. goals make sure some of the steps are super easy to achieve. Why? It creates a pattern of success.
When I was pregnant with my older daughter I chose not to work my last trimester at all. I could have switched to a less physical position and continued working as I had with her brother, but I had a little money saved up and I chose to spend some extra quality time with my son before he had to share me.
My son was six and I had not planned on having any more children so I had given away all of his baby supplies. Needless to say after my daughter was born I needed all new equipment. I got some of the supplies used but it was still rather expensive. I had used up all of my savings by the time she was born and in addition to baby expenses I had "going back to work" expenses. So I did what we all do in that situation, I charged several expenses until my income could catch up with my spending. Unfortunately I had my automobile accident when she was 6 1/2 months old. My income had not yet caught up with my expenses.
Not only was I unable to continue in my profession as a paralyzed woman, I spent three months in a rehabilitation hospital racking up medical bills. I actually made what I consider to be the responsible decision at this point. I received a $15,000 settlement for the value of the truck that I crashed. I used that money to pay off all of the family credit card debt since we did not know how long it would be before I found employment.
I came home for a few months after rehab, but then I was diagnosed with the flesh eating disease and was hospitalized for 13 more months. When I was finally discharged I was on modified bed rest for approximately two years and unable to work. During that time my husband and I got divorced and he eventually moved out. It took me a while to adjust to my new, very limited income. Three years after my accident I had managed to rack up $6,000 worth of credit card debt.
At that point, I was finally able to try to start working again. I worked in the evening part-time so my children's father could watch them and I could get bus transportation to and from work. I created a three-year payback plan for my credit card debt. I had three different credit cards with various balances. I quit using them and paid cash only from that point forward. I chose to pay at least double the minimum payment on each card and on the card with the highest interest rate I paid at least $200 per month more.
Some debt coaches suggest that you pay your extra on the credit card with the smallest balance and then move on to the card with the next smallest balance. The logic behind that is that the earlier you have success the more likely you will be to continue. I do not disagree with that; however my personality is such that watching the balance on the credit card that I was paying the most interest on drop more quickly than the others each month kept me going.
Now my three-year plan took me four years. There were some months where unexpected expenses prevented me from adding that extra $200 each month. Because I had that pattern of success of watching my balances drop each month, even when I could not pay the extra $200, it enabled me to add that extra $200 as soon as I was able to again and not give up the first time I was unable to complete my plan.
My super easy goal was to double the minimum payment. That was enough to keep my balances dropping and even on the months that I could not pay extra I was still able to pay double the minimum payment and that was a win for me.
Suppose your goal is to write a book. That can be a huge task depending on what you are looking to write. That could be as few as 35,000 words for a 100-page book or 105,000 words for a 300-page book. That sure seems like a lot to me. What if you break it down to writing 500 words each day? That would be 70 days for your 100-page book and 210 days for your 300-page book. Now if even 500 words each day seems a little daunting, try a super easy goal of 100 words each day. It is fewer words than this paragraph you are reading right now.
By creating a goal of 100 words each day and 500 words three days a week, you have created a goal that you know you can do every day. You will be surprised at how many of those 100-word days turn into 500-word days even if those are not the three days that you set aside for 500 words. And if you go through a week or two of writers block, trust me, you can still write one paragraph every day.
Adding super easy wins to your goals creates a pattern of success which will give your confidence a super boost.
Until next time…
Have a great day,
Susanne
Click here to get help developing or implementing your strategic plan.
When I was pregnant with my older daughter I chose not to work my last trimester at all. I could have switched to a less physical position and continued working as I had with her brother, but I had a little money saved up and I chose to spend some extra quality time with my son before he had to share me.
My son was six and I had not planned on having any more children so I had given away all of his baby supplies. Needless to say after my daughter was born I needed all new equipment. I got some of the supplies used but it was still rather expensive. I had used up all of my savings by the time she was born and in addition to baby expenses I had "going back to work" expenses. So I did what we all do in that situation, I charged several expenses until my income could catch up with my spending. Unfortunately I had my automobile accident when she was 6 1/2 months old. My income had not yet caught up with my expenses.
Not only was I unable to continue in my profession as a paralyzed woman, I spent three months in a rehabilitation hospital racking up medical bills. I actually made what I consider to be the responsible decision at this point. I received a $15,000 settlement for the value of the truck that I crashed. I used that money to pay off all of the family credit card debt since we did not know how long it would be before I found employment.
I came home for a few months after rehab, but then I was diagnosed with the flesh eating disease and was hospitalized for 13 more months. When I was finally discharged I was on modified bed rest for approximately two years and unable to work. During that time my husband and I got divorced and he eventually moved out. It took me a while to adjust to my new, very limited income. Three years after my accident I had managed to rack up $6,000 worth of credit card debt.
At that point, I was finally able to try to start working again. I worked in the evening part-time so my children's father could watch them and I could get bus transportation to and from work. I created a three-year payback plan for my credit card debt. I had three different credit cards with various balances. I quit using them and paid cash only from that point forward. I chose to pay at least double the minimum payment on each card and on the card with the highest interest rate I paid at least $200 per month more.
Some debt coaches suggest that you pay your extra on the credit card with the smallest balance and then move on to the card with the next smallest balance. The logic behind that is that the earlier you have success the more likely you will be to continue. I do not disagree with that; however my personality is such that watching the balance on the credit card that I was paying the most interest on drop more quickly than the others each month kept me going.
Now my three-year plan took me four years. There were some months where unexpected expenses prevented me from adding that extra $200 each month. Because I had that pattern of success of watching my balances drop each month, even when I could not pay the extra $200, it enabled me to add that extra $200 as soon as I was able to again and not give up the first time I was unable to complete my plan.
My super easy goal was to double the minimum payment. That was enough to keep my balances dropping and even on the months that I could not pay extra I was still able to pay double the minimum payment and that was a win for me.
Suppose your goal is to write a book. That can be a huge task depending on what you are looking to write. That could be as few as 35,000 words for a 100-page book or 105,000 words for a 300-page book. That sure seems like a lot to me. What if you break it down to writing 500 words each day? That would be 70 days for your 100-page book and 210 days for your 300-page book. Now if even 500 words each day seems a little daunting, try a super easy goal of 100 words each day. It is fewer words than this paragraph you are reading right now.
By creating a goal of 100 words each day and 500 words three days a week, you have created a goal that you know you can do every day. You will be surprised at how many of those 100-word days turn into 500-word days even if those are not the three days that you set aside for 500 words. And if you go through a week or two of writers block, trust me, you can still write one paragraph every day.
Adding super easy wins to your goals creates a pattern of success which will give your confidence a super boost.
Until next time…
Have a great day,
Susanne
Click here to get help developing or implementing your strategic plan.
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