When starting on our journey towards financial responsibility, we may yet still be overwhelmed by our current conditions. In fact, I would suspect that most all journeys towards financial self-sufficiency begin when a person is still in financial overload.
We want to get our heads above water because we are currently over our heads.
In The Beginning
So how to begin? In my view, major sweeping changes at the beginning set up a too-high risk situation. It is likely to be difficult to maintain major changes when all we want to do is gain some stability. Therefore, start small.
Small Is Beautiful, Too
The reason to start small is to allow for some easy victories. Small goals are simpler, easier, attainable, and we can show ourselves that things are indeed improving.
Lots of ink has been spilled by pundits railing against the “Starbucks Effect.” Namely, it lambastes people who think that cutting our Stabucks will free up enough money to [eventually] retire.
That’s true of course, cutting out a Starbucks habit will not free up enough money to allow someone to retire. But what it will do is several other things:
— Allows a person to see tangible change in their life, however small. Every week that person will have more cash in their pocket, more money in the bank.
— Small victories free the mind to see other areas where savings can take found.
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Why do large changes at the beginning usually fail? Because they are too large, too all-encompassing, too ambitious. There will be a time for large, ambitious, and radical changes, but the beginning is not the time.
Suppose
Suppose a person in debt and needing to save money decides: I’m selling my car, I’m moving to a cheaper city, I’m quitting my job and finding a new one, and so on. That is all too much all at once! A person in that boat will likely be unhappy very quickly, and probably fail. Not to say change is bad, but incremental change is easier.
So in my view, it is best to start small, and grow from there.
How did you start? What did you find the better way? Comment here.
The decorated jar with rope pattern, 4000-3000 BC, is from Egypt, Predynastic Period, Naqada IId Period. Courtesy Cleveland Museum of Art.
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