An online friend and I were discussing some upcoming changes in her life revolving around her church, and the conversation turned to how one acquires one’s beliefs. We both had experimented in the past, and finally returned to what we grew up with, and tossed around a few concepts, such as that when you have removed all the things you are not, what is left is what you are; and that unexamined belief is a scary thing.
Well, in further thinking about the second concept, it seems to me that a lot of us get into, and stay in, financial difficulties because of unexamined beliefs. Since the beliefs vary according to each person, I’m not going to go into them right now. I am, instead, going to concentrate on how we can make more conscious choices regarding our finances and futures.
It’s very easy (and very comfortable) to just keep on doing what we have always done. The problem with that is that, often, people do what they have always done and wonder why they get the same results they have always gotten. This was driven home to me the other day when a friend was writing out a check to renew a subscription to a magazine. Now, for most of us, this would not be a problem, but: 1) Her account was overdrawn and her paycheck had not dropped. 2) Even if #1 were not the case, she has no clue ever as to how much is in her account at any given time. 3) Further, she has no idea as to which creditors are going to take out how much from her account or when they will do it. I asked her why she was spending money she didn’t really have, and it brought her up short. She had not realized she was doing that. We ended up having a talk about decision-making, and how learning to stop and think and make choices, rather than running on automatic, might affect her finances.
My point is that wanting to get out of debt is useless without examining what you are doing that keeps you in debt. It’s not easy to do, and not pleasant, but it is the way to go. As with unexamined religious belief, it’s easy to just go on in the same manner you always have, but then your efforts are really empty. Even having a real desire to get free from debt is not enough to accomplish that goal. What will get you there are conscious choices.
Now, hopefully you want to know what I mean by that. I mean that getting out of debt is the result of a series of small choices, made at every step of the way. Those small choices eventually build into a major shift of your attitudes, and to more actions which further your goal.
It can be as small a decision as putting the money you might spend on a latte toward one of your bills instead, or paying off one small debt each paycheck. It can be looking to see why you make the decisions you do. It can be making a list of all the debts you owe – even the personal ones that your friends are willing to wait for years for you to get around to. Each small decision – each small, conscious choice – helps build a foundation from which to make the next one. And, each small victory is a step on the way to leading your life – not as an echo of someone else’s life – but the way you want to live it.
What are two small changes you can make in your life (or in your spending) that you think could have big effects further down the road?
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