There is a problem with fixing personal finances. You decide once and for all to get out of debt and get in control of your budget. Then you follow all the tried and true personal finance tips. You download the best budgeting software, consult with finance experts and even make a habit of paying cash for most of your purchases in order to spend less.
You decide once and for all to get out of debt and get in control of your budget. Then you follow all the tried and true personal finance tips. You download the best budgeting software, consult with finance experts and even make a habit of paying cash for most of your purchases in order to spend less.
Over time, your efforts pay off. Debts gradually dwindle and you feel more secure having an emergency fund, along with growing savings.But despite gaining much-needed control of your personal finances, the process is drudgery. Yes, you remain motivated because you want a life of freedom with less stress. But there is a nagging feeling that your dreams must remain deferred as long as your finances still need fixing. But what if by focusing on your dreams first you could fix your personal finances for good?
Manage Your Personal Finances by Managing Your Dreams First
Leading finance experts and life coaches believe it is your life priorities and goals, which drive your ability to prosper. While saving money and paying off debts are always high priorities, where you decide to spend your available time and cash impacts the bottom line of your life.
Not knowing your life priorities is like a siphon on your precious time, energy and cash—draining you of fuel for navigating in the directions you most desire.
Just because you budget your life does not mean you cannot invest in your personal priorities and passions. Your deepest priorities might be family or refurbishing cars to sell. But as long as fast food joints and happy hours take up your time and wallet, then budgeting remains a burden—while your dreams and profits remain out of reach.
Make a List of Your Life Priorities
Successful business people and household managers know time equals money. They know each minute is a decision in managing and spending their resources.
If you love gardening, then a bushel of carrots probably holds more value and satisfaction than hours of overtime at the office. While your boss might not understand your lifestyle, the tradeoff of having fresh vegetables and time in your garden could more than offset your budget. You might even go into a lucrative business selling carrot cake.
Before you defer your dreams to do what the boss thinks you should, make a list of what matters most to you in your life. While you always want to pay down debt, you must first account for the main priorities in your life—or the wrong priorities will drain you even more.
The momentum you gain from living out your deepest desires sustains you to budget accordingly, without getting burnt out.
A list of your life priorities can be anything. It might look like this:
1. Family/mate
2. Health
3. Spirituality/community
4. Close friends
5. Home improvements
6. Home business
7. Study/improving skills and knowledge
8. Favorite hobbies
9. Investing
10. Cooking
Remember this is your personal list of what moves you and matters most in your life. Your list is a map for where you spend your time, money and energy. It guides you to plot out your dreams and values. It provides clues for areas in which you are excited to create profit and abundance.
Set Goals from Your Priorities
Your list of life priorities gives you perspective for setting small and large goals. When you realize what’s important to you, it becomes instantly easier to give up spending time and money on otherwise superfluous things. If a home business is high on your list, then you might be better off skipping a trip to Las Vegas until next year.
Hold On To Your List of Dreams
Sometimes, or even often, your list of priorities runs into conflicts. Your child’s soccer game means missing an important business conference. But your list keeps you on track with the key areas in your life.
The real conflicts arise when you lose sight of what is on your list of life priorities.
Whether your debts and assets are a few dollars or a few million dollars, make it a rule to invest your resources in what matters most to you. The bottom line of your financial and personal life will balance out more naturally—and profitably.
QUICK TIPS
- There is a myth that you can’t follow your dreams as long as you are in debt.
- Your life priorities drive your personal finances and your ability to profit.
- Investing your time and money in what is most important to you motivates you to responsibly manage your overall personal finances.
- Look for potential for profit in your life passions and priorities.
- Try not to edit yourself as you make a list of your most important life priorities—allow yourself to discover what are truly your best investments.
- Associate with like-minded people who keep you on track with your life priorities.
- Successful business people and household managers know time equals money.
- You always want to pay down debt, but if you account first for the main priorities in your life you will ultimately be more profitable.
