These past few days are dark and gloomy due to the very bad
weather. These days are those kinds when mosquitoes thrive and when your body
malaise just won’t go away.
Days like these are almost all present in this journey to
financial freedom.
When someone asks me how I’m doing, I would always say I’m a
work in progress (WIP) but is in a much better state compared to where I was
last year and a few years ago. I’m a WIP because I have days, very bad days
when I feel like I’m getting nowhere (well hello! most of our plans are
medium–and long–term plans) and when I feel like I should do something more.
Thinking about it, gloomy days come to me when pangs of guilt
and regret for not starting early with this journey bite me. There would be
times when I find myself saying, “if only I had started these 5 years ago, then
we would’ve already been enjoying some of the plans.” And I can’t stop these
gloomy days from coming. They will come and come and it’s really up to me if I want
to get eaten up. And it all depends on how I’m going to react.
Let me share a few tips below how to get you going despite
not-so-happy days:
·
Recite the
Serenity Prayer again and again, again and again.
God, give me grace to
accept with serenity
the things that cannot
be changed,
Courage to change the
things
which should be
changed,
and the Wisdom to
distinguish
the one from the
other.
Living one day at a
time,
Enjoying one moment at
a time,
Accepting hardship as
a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as
it is,
Not as I would have
it,
Trusting that You will
make all things right,
If I surrender to Your
will,
So that I may be
reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy
with You forever in the next.
Amen.
·
Revisit
your list of financial goals and see how much you’ve progressed. The list
won’t only remind you the reasons why you are doing this journey but it will
also tell you how much you’ve progressed such as how much you’ve saved up in
your emergency account or your retirement fund when few years ago you had
nothing. Also, if you're doing some sharing and talks regarding this journey, you might want to count the number of talks/people you've done it with. You may not have touched them all but you did your part to reach out to them. :)
·
Talk
about it with your partner/family, mentor, or friends who are also in this
journey. Just like what this craze of the 5 Love Languages is telling us,
we all need acts of affirmation. To hear that what you’re doing is right and
that you’re on the right track is like being given a short and comfortable limo
ride. It makes the travel seem fast and light despite the fact that you still
are the driver: stepping on the gas, changing gears, and stepping on the brakes,
etc. except that you have quite a few cheers here and there while doing it.
·
Visit and
read websites and books on personal finance and whatnot. You’ll be
surprised with the amount of inspiration and ideas you can get from the sites below (to name a few) and I am forever thankful that they exist:
·
Always
remember that the personal finance journey is a marathon, not a race. It’s always
about discipline, consistency, and attitude. Most of all, it’s all about you.
It’s your choice, your dreams, and your life you’re running for. It’s all up to
you how to take control of it.
How about you? How do you tackle not-so-sunny days? :)
