If saving up for an emergency fund, insurance, education, house and lot and retirement are the goals you want to achieve, putting aside money for these goals would mean changing more of your behaviour so that your budget can adjust.
Some people can take action but this may be a big change for most people. It’s easier to walk away from any opportunities that will make life better because change is inconvenient. It requires a change in mindset and heart-set, most of all taking deliberate action.
However, if you can acknowledge that you’ve got things to work within yourself and you are willing to work on those challenges, you’ll be able to turnaround negative behaviours that hold you back.
How do you start making those changes? We picked 3 from among the strategies suggested by psychologists.
- 1) Unload wealth baggage
- 2) Defy the odds
- 3) Get 1% better each day
Unload Wealth Baggage
- 1) Usually unacknowledged and unprocessed emotion or experience in the past become baggage. How do you unload them?
- 1.1 Begin unpacking them by writing your wealth baggage.
For example:
- No one in my family is wealthy. I cannot be wealthy.
- It’s too late for me. I’ve got no time anymore. It’s for young people only. I’m old already.
- Maxing out a credit card is normal.
- 1.2 Turn them into positive messages
No one in my family is wealthy. I cannot be wealthy.
Positive message: I will be the first in my family to become a successful entrepreneur. From me, I will start a generation of wealthy people.
It’s too late for me. I’ve got no time anymore. It’s for young people only. I’m old already.
Positive message: I will use my experience to start a new project. There are endless possibilities for me to turn around my situation.
Maxing out a credit card is normal.
Positive message: I will start saving up for big item purchases. I will ask myself first if I need it and if I can get cheaper elsewhere?
- 1.3 G
ive yourself an antidote.
Although change is inconvenient and a struggle but you can see these challenges from a place of gratitude for the opportunities to become a better person. Research shows that gratitude modifies behaviour and opens the reward pathways in the brain that helps you appreciate the progress you are making. It would help also if you journal your struggles and progress. These experiences contribute to positive feelings.
- 2) Defy the odds
Tap into the same urges to rebel and compete that you once had as a child and prove to yourself and other people wrong.
If people tell you, it’s hard and you won’t be able to do it. Prove them wrong. It’s easier said than done because sometimes the people close to you are the first to discourage you. It’s not that they are unsupportive but maybe they are driven by fear or not interested in the path that you are taking. It’s not good to rely on external support. Identify your support needs and know where and how you can access them.
- 3) Get 1 % better each day to reach your goal.
Decide the smallest action that you can take.
If you are starting an emergency fund, what is the 1% action that you can do to bring this plan to life? Perhaps, you can open another bank account specifically for a rainy day fund or you can start putting aside a small and sustainable amount that you can do consistently each month. Or maybe cancelling those subscriptions or deleting an app that makes it so easy for you to browse and add to cart. Better yet, automate the savings to your emergency fund so you do not have to transfer manually.
Let us know how we can help you.
