Stay Motivated

It’s important to stay motivated, whether you are trying to get out of debt, or build wealth. For me, it’s very difficult to stay motivated while trying to get out of debt. Being in debt sometimes feel like a bad habit that’s difficult to break. When you’re trying to break a bad habit, you sometimes have relapses. I had a relapse about a week ago.

My friend took me to the casino and I had forgotten how much fun it was to go. I lost $64.75.  But, I wanted to go back and did. I then lost an additional $250. Ouch!!! What made it worse was that I really couldn’t afford to lose all that money.  I could have purchased several shares of Realty Income or Coca Cola with that money.

Living on a frugal budget all day every day is no fun. Blowing money at the casino for a chance to win even more money is fun (until you lose it all of course). In other words, it’s very hard to stay motivated. It’s easier to spend money outside your budget in the name of having fun, hanging out with friends, or justifying to yourself that you deserve it. However, you have to remind yourself that it’s not worth it. I made bad choices that got me into debt. It was easy to make those bad choices, but it is not worth it in the long run. It’s far better to stay motivated.

Having a buddy or partner is one of the best ways to stay motivated. It’s easy if you’re married. Just make sure you and your spouse are on the same page. But If you’re single, then having an accountability partner is useful to helping you stay motivated. However, another thing to remember is that if you mess up, don’t dwell on the failure. Pick yourself back up and keep going. The journey will be tough, but the destination will be sweet and will be worth it.

Financial freedom is worth it. So, stay motivated.