thejennypincher.com

Where smart women go to defeat debt

  • Home
  • Blog
    • Budgeting
    • Build Wealth
    • Career
    • Credit
    • Credit Cards
    • Debt
    • Lifestyle Design
    • Personal Finance
    • Real Estate
    • Saving
    • Travel
  • Lifestyle Design Coaching
  • Get out of Debt
  • Build Wealth
  • Tame Your Finances
  • About
    • Money Saving Resources
    • Newsletter
    • As Seen On
    • Testimonials
    • Radio Show Archives
      • Episodes
    • Policy
      • Website Privacy
  • Contact Me
    • Sponsorship
You are here: Home / Archives for Goals

How to Finally Take Control of Your Life in 2017

January 3, 2017 By The Jenny Pincher 1 Comment

How to Finally Take Control of Your Life in 2017Are you sick and tired of feeling sick and tired? If you are reading this article, chances are you are saying “yes!” and nodding your head as you read this. You’re in the right place, we are going to talk about how to finally take control of your life in 2017!

Everyone wants a better life, but few are willing to take charge and make it happen. Why? I personally feel it’s the accumulation of fears and a lack of personal responsibility that are to blame. Anyone can take charge of their life, choose to be happy and transform it into something exciting and fulfilling!

It’s never too late. Let’s discuss how you can finally take control of your life and put yourself in the driver’s seat.

Take Responsibility

It all starts here. I talk about this in the workbook for my Tame Your Finances (& Save $5,000 in the Process) course. You are the only person responsible for your life. And you are the only one who can control your life. If you believe anything else, you are living in a fantasy and your situation will never change. That doesn’t mean that everything is your fault, but it is your responsibility to deal with your life.

Are you waiting for a partner, a spouse, a friend or a co-worker to change into something different so you can approve of them or the situation? If you are, you will be waiting for a long time. If you want a situation to change, the change has to start with you. Taking responsibility is powerful because it moves you from the victim into a place of  power to change yourself and/or the situation.

You start to see solutions that may have never occurred to you before. You realize what needs to change within you and then the people around you begin to change. It’s an amazing thing once this process starts!

Raise Your Standards

I could scream this one from the rooftops ladies! Why are you settling for less in your relationships, your career or your bank balance? Why are you putting up with being treated in a way that makes you feel poorly, accepting not being acknowledged for the good you do or anything else in your life that is less than what you actually want?  It’s time to raise your standards and the only way to do this is by deciding what you want in all areas of your life & letting others know how you feel. You have a voice, use it!

You do not have to settle for less. You CAN have what you want and you ARE worthy of it. You really are. You are worthy of every dream and desire you have in your heart & your life does not have to be a struggle. No one will get to the end of their life and wish they had struggled more, beat themselves up more or continued to focus on all their human flaws more. Start to see the good in yourself & focus on what it is you DO want, not what you DON’T want.

When you think negatively about yourself & have low standards for the people, your finances and the experiences in your life, you lower your expectations. You even begin to look for reasons to support those thoughts. This is the ultimate in self-defeating behaviors! Your feelings of self-worth influence your ability to be happy and successful. Be proud of who you are as a person & own it. Raise your standards and don’t accept less than what you want. You are worthy of having what you want.

The willingness to accept your current circumstances is a decision to maintain your current life. Set your standards accordingly.

Avoid Being Afraid of Failure

It’s going to happen and guess what? IT’S FINE. Failure is fine, don’t let anyone tell you any different. It means you got out there, you tried to make it happen. Now you know what didn’t work so the next time you can make improvements and try again.

None of this is bad! It’s all part of the process, the breadcrumbs in your life that are leading you along your path and you never know what you may find along the way. This is the primary obstacle for most people and why they don’t get what they want in life. They’re afraid of failing.

I have an example of this in my own life. For nearly 2 years I was a Rodan + Fields Skincare consultant. I loved the products & the business and wanted to share it with other women. I worked really hard at my business but the whole time something just wasn’t clicking with me and the business. I talked to a lot of people about the company & the products and I was able to help people and that made me really happy. But it still wasn’t clicking.

After I signed up another consultant, I was so happy. I remember standing in my kitchen and thinking to myself “Now I get to coach other women in their businesses!”.  I stopped and thought “wait a minute, that’s actually what I really want to do. I want to be a coach not an R&F consultant.” The reason it wasn’t clicking for me is because the business just wasn’t for me, but what was for me was coaching other woman! After that moment, I realized something huge. What I thought was a failure actually led me along the path to exactly where I needed to be. Had I not been an R&F consultant, who knows how long it would have taken me to realize what I really wanted to be doing was coaching!

Shortly after that, I enrolled in a coaching program and 4 months later I had my first paying client for my lifestyle design coaching program! How amazing is that? I can’t stress the importance of just getting out there and going after and doing what interests you. Failure is not always a bad thing and I can almost guarantee you if you try and fail, it will lead you right into the next steps of where you want to go.

The more you fail, the more successful you will be, as long as you learn from your failures and keep trying. How boring would it be to only do the things you know you can do?

Nothing is Predestined. The obstacles of your past become the gateways that lead to new beginnings

Stop Caring What Others Think

One of my mentors use to say “what you think of me is none of my business.” The first time I heard this I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Of course it’s my business, how could it not be? But if you think about it, it’s the perfect statement because you can do everything right and someone still isn’t going to like you, agree with you or understand where you are coming from. We weren’t put on this planet to agree with each other, contrast isn’t a bad thing! But you’ve got to let go of what other people think of you.

I will admit, this one is not easy for me. I mean, why wouldn’t I care what others think?! It can be hurtful when someone thinks negatively of us, doesn’t agree with us or gossips behind our back. But you do not have control over what others think of you. It’s a waste of your time and energy to worry about it too.

No matter what you do, you’re being judged by others & there’s nothing you can do about it. So let go of it focus on the good, not the bad.

The willingness to accept your current circumstances is a decision to maintain your current life. Set your standards accordingly.Click To Tweet

Embrace Discomfort

I’ve been doing consulting work for 7 years now and one of my old managers use to say “get comfortable with being uncomfortable”. He said this to us because as consultants, we were often put on new projects with very little knowledge or understanding of what was going on, but expected to hit the ground running and begin solving and fixing problems right away.

At first I resisted this. It scared me, it was uncomfortable and I was afraid of failure. But now I’ve come to love it. It excites me and motivates me! I love being put on a project I have no idea about because I also bring a fresh perspective to what has been going on & I’m able to help solve problems.

If you think about it, life is the same way. We are often in situations that we don’t know anything about or have never experienced before. If you want to change any aspect of your life, it will feel uncomfortable at first. But get comfortable with being uncomfortable, don’t resist it. You’ll be amazed at the experiences you have and how much personal growth & development you experience from making this one change in your life.

Be Proactive

Taking control of your life also involves avoiding unnecessary challenges by anticipating issues that might come up. There’s no better way to do this than being proactive in every area of your life.

What do I mean by being proactive?  Look ahead for potential challenges and avoid them. For example, do you have an outstanding bill that you want to challenge but haven’t made the time to call and straighten it out? Being proactive means you make these types of smaller issues a priority to get resolved so they don’t turn into bigger things that could have been prevented. If you don’t make the time to call about the bill, you could end up having your account turned over to a collection agency and damage your credit rating.

Another example of being proactive is making sure you maintain things that are important in your life. Does the check engine light keep coming on in your car or do you know you have an issue with a leak at your home but you keep avoiding them? Take the time to address these small issues before they turn into more costly things for you to deal with.

Most negative experiences can be predicted and avoided. Avoid being reactive in your life because by then it’s too late!

Decide What You Want

To finally take control of your life, you need to decide what you want. The reason this is so important is for the decision-making aspect. You have to make decisions get what you want and take control of your life. This gets you out of waiting around for something to happen & staying in a place of “maybe” all the time.

Make a few decisions and decide what you want this year. Are finally ready to take charge of your life? Are you tired of pretending that you’re a victim? You can choose the direction of your life. Take responsibility and work through your fears, a little discomfort for a short amount of time is a small price to pay for a life that you enjoy!

What tips do you have to take control of your life in 2017? If you are looking for help taking control of your finances, check out my course Tame Your Finances & Save $5,000 in the Process to learn more.

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Bar, Featured Main, Lifestyle Design Tagged With: discomfort, failure, Goals, raise your standards, success, take charge of your life

Tip Yourself: Little Wins for a Big Victory

November 18, 2015 By The Jenny Pincher Leave a Comment

TipYourself_logo_tagline

Little wins add up to big victories. Whether your goals relate to finance, fitness, or anything in between, celebrating those small successes is important. Until recently, you might have had to settle for a tweet on social, a text to friends, a phone call to family. Now, the Tip Yourself app takes those celebrations one step further.

How the App Works

Tip Yourself is an app created by Mike Lenz and Sam Rodriguez that gives you an opportunity to reward yourself and share your successes with other users. When you log on, the app asks if you have earned a tip. If you have, you can select a small denomination of money to move from your bank account to your Tip Jar. The app tracks your tipping history, so you can quickly see the funds in your tip jar accumulate. After you tip yourself, you can leave a message or a photo of your victory. That message is then shared out in a feed to all the other Tip Yourself users, who may give you props or leave encouraging comments.

That feed is where the true magic of Tip Yourself. Scrolling through the feed will give anyone a burst of motivation and positivity. You can’t help but cheer on the mom who navigated the labyrinth of Target with two toddlers in tow, the runner who is training tirelessly for his first marathon, the budgeter who is looking to develop positive personal finance habits. One quick scroll will open your eyes to the abundance of everyday things that are worth celebrating.

What to Celebrate

After using the app for a few days, you will immediately feel a part of the Tip Yourself community. You will start to recognize names and profile photos of other users, as well as see the types of journeys that they are on. Many users are working to achieve fitness goals related to all types of wellness and personal improvement. Whether you are looking to start a new workout routine, develop better eating habits, or train for a particular event, documenting every step in the right direction on Tip Yourself is a powerful motivator. Plus, you are sure to find like-minded users who will cheer you on along the way.

Tip Yourself Screen Examples
Tip Yourself screen examples show the screen you see after tipping yourself, your tip jar and the community.

Other users are making finance-related changes in their lives, and perhaps you are, too. If you are now committed to shopping sale ads or using coupons, add the savings to your Tip Jar. Perhaps you have decided to dine out less on date nights or brown bag your lunch during the week. Toss yourself a tip. When you balance your monthly budget or achieve your emergency fund goal, tip yourself.

The opportunities to celebrate yourself are endless. Perhaps you’re headed out on a vacation to recharge. Maybe you are committed to decluttering your home. Or maybe you had a terrific day. There is no moment too big or too small, so bust out the party hats and confetti and get to tipping yourself.

When to Cash Out

After you have started to amass some savings in your Tip Jar, start thinking about the purpose for that money. There is no fee to cash out and users can collect their tips at any time. However, just like you tip yourself for a purpose, it makes sense to use your earning for a reason. Your Tip Jar might become your next vacation fund. With the holidays right around the corner, your Tip Jar could be a wonderful way to spread some holiday cheer without dipping into your savings account. Or maybe your Tip Jar is your fun money or a rainy day fund. Whether you use it for a Moms’ Night Out or a new pair of running shoes, you’ll already have the funds set aside. Sounds like yet another reason to tip yourself.

Whatever journey you are on, whatever goals you have set, get started. If you feel your motivation start to wane, remember to celebrate the small moments. Each of those little victories compound your success. Tip yourself. You earned it!

What are some things you would save for with the Tip Yourself app?

Today’s post comes to us from Penny from She Picks Up Pennies. Penny blogs about purposeful living and personal finance at She Picks Up Pennies. She is also a Tip Yourself user and enthusiast.

Filed Under: Blog, Budgeting, Build Wealth, Featured Bar, Personal Finance, Saving Tagged With: dreams, Goals, money, saving, tip yourself

Getting Motivation For Your Goals Halfway Through The Year

August 1, 2014 By Michelle Leave a Comment

Getting Motivation For Your Goals Halfway Through The YearIt’s finally August 1st, which means that there are five more months left in the year. Around 7 months ago, you probably created some 2014 goals for yourself. If you are like me, you probably completely forgot what those were.

But don’t worry! Today, we are going to try to get you back on track. Below are my tips to get back on track with your 2014 goals and finish out the year strong:

Look over your goals.

If you are like me, then you probably don’t even know what your goals are anymore. I don’t even remember the last time I looked at mine, and that is my very first problem that I need to address. I’m sure when I actually do look these over that I will have quite a laugh.
[wp_ad_camp_2]

See what doesn’t apply anymore.

After you look over your goals and remember what exactly it is that you wanted to achieve in 2014, you need to see if any of your goals don’t apply anymore. Maybe you accidentally already reached it, maybe the goal isn’t possible anymore, or maybe you are just not interested.

Whatever it may be, take those goals out because you obviously shouldn’t waste time that doesn’t need to be spent. A lot can change in seven months!

Track how you’re doing so far.

If you still have a few goals left, then you should see what your progress is. Try to see what you’ve done, how you’ve done it, and what has and hasn’t worked for you in the past.

Set yourself a plan.

With a goal, you almost always need some sort of plan. You should try to brainstorm different ways for you to reach your goal, and also how long it will take you to reach your goal. You might even want to set yourself mini goals so that you can slowly work towards your goal and have some extra motivation along the way.

Find a partner.

For me, having a partner can really help me reach a goal. It’s a fun way to stay competitive and get a little bit extra motivation. It’s nice to have someone to talk to, share your progress, and stories so that you can stay motivated.

How are you doing with your 2014 goals?

 

Image via Flickr by Scott Akerman

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Bar, Personal Finance Tagged With: Goals

Hi, I'm Jenny, owner and creator of The Jenny Pincher. My goal is to educate and empower single women on how to get out of debt, build wealth & design a life you love. How can I help you? Read More

Let’s Connect

Follow me on FacebookFollow me on TwitterFollow me on PinterestFollow me on YouTubeFollow me on RSSFollow me on Instagram

Search

Popular Posts

Sitemap Copyright © 2018 The Jenny Pincher

7ads6x98y