Sometimes just making a goal isn’t enough. To start improving your life and making your dreams a reality, you need to take action. It doesn’t matter how small the steps are, figuring out what you are going to do and then actually executing your plan is where the magic happens.
The process of setting goals can be a wonderful tool. If you aren’t setting goals for yourself, then you are effectively settling in this life. You are accepting that your current status quo is plenty good enough, and that improvement is not worth the effort. But this world in which we live is ever-changing and if you are not constantly improving, you are going to get passed by. We should always be figuring out what we can do to take the next steps in our lives, and then setting goals to help us get there. ..
In exactly two weeks, I’ll have two teenagers in the house. (Se Kid’s 13th birthday comes a built-in promotion to Second Teenager–yay! I know it doesn’t sound like much of an elevation in terms of status, because it’s not. But he’s the middle child. He’s used to the cool shade of his brother’s 6’1″ shadow.
Our oldest is 16 and very aware of the fact that he’s but not yet driving. While that’s not entirely our fault, he will continue to let us know every time one of his peers gets a new car. We do have a car for him! It’s in the driveway and it’s 14 years old. You see, it’s Dad’s car actually, and he fully intends to drive it until the wheels fall off. You are more than welcome to borrow it whenever you want though, assuming we don’t have plans to use it that day. While my son is fine with that setup for now, he has plans to change that ASAP. ..
One of the strategies that we used back when we were paying off debt was trying to find anything and everything that we own and do not use, and make an attempt to sell it on eBay or Craigslist. Getting rid of some of these items requires jumping a few psychological hurdles, but we both accept and embrace the fact that buying things that we couldn’t afford is a big part of how we got into the financial mess that we find ourselves in today. When we get our finances in order, we can re-purchase these items, if we find ourselves missing them. But the reality is, we probably won’t. Perhaps it is just another minimalist kick taking hold, but I truly am starting to believe that I really will be a happier person if I own less material things. ..