6 Ways To Stay Motivated and Crush Your Goals...On a Budget
Have you ever told yourself "when I have the money for it, I'll..." insert goal here. Get a house. Travel more. Quit your day job and pursue your passion. These goals can be great motivators if you're able to save and climb towards those goals. On the other hand, they can leave you feeling stuck...and worried that it might never happen.
But worry not! There are a number of ways you can stay motivated, even when cash is tight, and Motivation Depot is here to help. We're not going to recommend some expensive course or retreat to boost your motivation. Instead, here are a few ways to stay motivated while on a budget and start crushing your goals now.
#1 - Find Your Inspiration
At the start of her career, Jewel lived of her car and driving from small gig to small gig. Today, several of the singer-songwriters albums have gone platinum. Daveed Diggs couch-surfed with his friends before he auditioned for Hamilton and was cast as both the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson.
These stories might not happen every day, but they happen more often than you think. Look up your favorite author and find out how many rejections they received before their first book was published. Watch interviews from Fortune 500 CEOs on how they got their start. You may be surprised by how many had to begin on a tight budget or worse. These stories can serve as inspiration to help you find your own success.
#2 - Prioritize
Rather than dreaming of all the things you can't afford to do and becoming overwhelmed, narrow your focus. Make a list of your goals, and then decide which goals are the things you want most urgently or are most achievable. These are the goals you can begin working towards - whether that's saving your money to reach them or making a well-placed investment into something that could pay off in the future. When you cross one off the list, you can work towards the next.
This will keep you steadily growing without overextending yourself or breaking the bank. As you cross your goals off the list, too, you may find that your finances have a little more padding than they had before.
#3 - Avoid Window Shopping
Window shopping can feel like a balm, especially when you're on a tight budget and can't do the shopping that you want to do. It's aspirational, and it allows you to dream...and if you occasionally splurge where you maybe shouldn't, no big deal, right? But over time, those little splurges can get in the way of the goals that are actually important to you.
To avoid this, unsubscribe from those promotional emails from your favorite shops. If you have to, unfollow your favorite companies on social media for a bit. When you have the money to treat yourself, you'll know where to find them. In the meantime, you won't get distracted.
#4 - Track Your Feelings and Habits
If you have a problem with impulse spending when you should be saving, consider tracking your feelings and habits. Write down how you feel when you make a purchase, and when you have the thing you purchase. Compare this to how you feel when you don't have enough money to save for your goals.
Often, impulse shopping is a soothing strategy when money is tight, but it can also be emotional avoidance. And if you notice that it's coming up too much on your tracked habits, it could be detrimental to your goals. Habit and emotion tracking can give you daily insights and help you to keep the big picture in mind.
#5 - Reward Yourself
Rewards are a great way to stay motivated! But often we reward ourselves with purchases - a new gadget or pair of shoes, your favorite food for takeout, etc. Instead, try to set rewards that don't require money...or don't require much money, at least. Instead of takeout, maybe getting ice cream from the store can serve as a reward that will last you for days. Or maybe your reward is taking a break to play a favorite video game or watch a movie. Ask your friends and family to help you come up with ideas, too.
#6 - Forgive Yourself...And Keep Going!
Sometimes you're going to slip up. You might have to pull from your savings because your bank account went into the red or you might have to put off some of your financial goals for a while. Sometimes, it won't even be your slip up. It could be a change in jobs or something completely out of your control. These moments can be demoralizing and frustrating, but it's important to forgive yourself and understand that it happens sometimes.
What happens next, though, is up to you. When you forgive yourself, you're less likely to stay in a funk. You can get back up and try again, refreshed and ready to work towards your goals.
