A huge key to success

    Both in my work as an advocate and when I listen to friends, family, and the Dave Ramsey show I see/hear a lot of people getting in their own way when it comes to success. They may have the solution handed to them on a silver platter, but they are saying that it's not good enough for them and immediately point out the faults in the plan. 

      This is not to say that the way that I'm choosing to do things is THE way and if you have problems with it that you're running yourself into the ground. But some parts of what I'm saying are pretty simple and universal. People tell me they have trouble having enough money to pay their bills each month, to which I clearly respond "well, have you made a budget?" and their like "Well it's hard because I have so little money" which it may be emotionally difficult but it's even more important because there's little to no cushion to make a mistake.

      Whatever your goal is, it's probably not easy. If running a marathon were easy, everyone would do it. If being debt free were easy, then the idea of bankruptcy would not exist. For each goal you have lookup what people are doing succeed at that goal and pick the path that works best for you. For example, I want to do a triathlon next fall. I know one weak spot is going to be running. So I'm running a little bit more than my average run in Nike+ every day so that my run is just a little bit longer every day. When I reach a 5k then I'll run a little bit faster pace than my average pace everyday. This way works for me because I tend to talk myself out of running for much longer so going out and saying "I'm going to run 3.2 miles every day" is not going to happen.
     You may have to work a crummy job, you may have to work 100 hours a week (not suggested), you may have to avoid eating out, or cancel your cable to meet your financial goals, but it's all worth it in the end when you can go from month to month without the stress of "am I going to be able to pay all my bills?" However, you have to get the reasons why you can't do something out of your head and try something new. What you've always done isn't working, so how do you know that something else won't work?