Do you wonder about your finances and wonder why it’s in such a mess? Do you wish that you knew what the magic formula was and how you could apply it in your life? Well, let me tell you, it’s not as hard as all that. I’m not saying that it’s easy, but it’s quite simple. Financial discipline isn’t about getting better equipment or some cool software.
It’s about the simple steps that you take in your daily life. It’s about consistency and goals. Let’s keep reading to learn more.
Why Do You Want to Be Financially Disciplined? What Is Your Why?
The most important thing about financial discipline has to be the ‘why’. Why do you wish to be financially disciplined? Most probably, it has to do with your future and wanting to have a staunch financial future.
If you are struggling with money right now, that’s probably dictating your desire to be financially disciplined.
But you need to go deeper than that. You need to realize why you are doing what you do. Because if you don’t have a strong enough why, you might do the financial discipline thing for a few days or weeks and then stop.
What is my why, you ask? I’m inherently lazy and I want to spend a majority of my time on this planet on things that matter to me, even if they don’t make any money. This means I need to have a source of income that allows me to live such a lifestyle.
Thankfully, I’m not that extravagant and am definitely not a big spender. Thus, I only need to have a certain amount of money to live the best life for me. But that’s my why. And that why is strong enough that it drives me quite strongly.
That’s why I implore you to find your why. It will drive you towards your goals faster than you can imagine. And you won’t need such a strong willpower when you have a strong enough why
Consistency Actually Pays off Rather Quick
The problem with consistency or being consistent is that most people think it takes forever and they get bored before the real results show up.
That’s why you need to change your mindset around it by tweaking your perspective a bit.
Think about it this way. A year passes by, and you are either in a better spot financially by saving $100 or $50 a year, or you are in the same spot (or worse) by doing nothing. It’s just a year. Only 12 months. But by putting some money away, you are that much richer! That much better off!
I’m always surprised by how quickly consistency actually pays off, but my concept of time is a bit skewed. I don’t think of 5 years as a very long time. If I need to work hard and sacrifice for 5 years, so I can live my ideal life for the rest of my life after that, it’s so worth it to me!
And that’s how I want you to start thinking of financial discipline and consistency. Time is your friend when it comes to finances – you just need to realize that you need to think in terms of years and decades, rather than weeks or months.
Don’t Forget That Each Penny Adds Up to a Dollar – Financial Discipline 101
One of the things I do with my free time is play Clash of Clans. I started playing it with one of my exes and continued even after we broke up. I play it for a few minutes a day, but I realize that I have learned a huge lesson from it over the past year.
We have to collect gems, gold, and elixir to make repairs and such on the buildings in the game. And the gold accumulates drip by drip over time – so that after a day or week of collection, you have thousands of gold coins or gems.
I apply this to my daily life as well. Every dollar I put towards savings, every dollar that I put into investing, every dollar that I don’t spend – they are all accumulating drip by drip into my early retirement fund.
It will take time, of course. Drop by drop, I will get there. I just have to focus on the drops and the rest will take care of itself. As long as I keep dripping away into my fund, it will grow and sustain itself after a while. That’s the power of compound interest for you.
Bring More Financial Discipline into Your Life in a Fun Way
The main thing you need to do to make financial discipline stick is to make it more fun. How do you do that? Well, it depends on your personality type.
You could make it a sort of competition with yourself to see how much you can save or invest this week or month, compared to last month.
You could make it a sort of game where you see how much better you are doing compared to your peers or friends.
You could make it a sort of goal, where you see how much you can challenge yourself and if you can reach that stretch financial goal you set for yourself.
It depends on what works with your structure. It’s not about forcing yourself to fit into a box that doesn’t feel good. It’s about making the financial habit and goal work for your character.
There’s no use in building financial discipline only to see it fall away because you weren’t consistent with it for long enough.
Enjoyed this article? Let me know in the comments your thoughts on financial discipline.
