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It feels like you’re riding a never-ending financial roller coaster.
On payday, you feel on top of the world, but by the end weekend, you’re feeling defeated. You went over your budget, your credit card balance grew, and you’re now waiting for your next paycheck. If only you were lucky to have good financial habits, right?
So how do you stop stressing about money?
By taking action on the root of your problems.
These strategies have worked for me, and I hope they’ll have the same effect on you. If you’re tired of sleepless nights, listen up–here’s how you can finally stop stressing about money.
How Loving Yourself Leads To Better Financial Decisions
The truth isn’t always pleasant, but it may be the thing you need to accept to start heading in the right direction.
Do you currently have large debt? Are you not earning enough to live your desired lifestyle? Or are you worried that if you lose your job today, you’ll be a financial mess?
A vital step to stop worrying about money is to stop being a victim of your current situation. Accept your current situation, and have compassion for yourself.
Don’t beat yourself up for why you’re currently a financial mess. Instead, put things in perspective and realize that everyone has setbacks. Tell yourself, “I know this is a challenging time for me. But what can I do to feel better?”
Your brain can give and receive care so you can support yourself during hard times. Start small by changing the stories you play in your mind after each failure. Eventually, you’ll handle setbacks better, allowing you to live a happier life.
The Truth On Why You’re Terrible With Your Finances
How well do you understand yourself?
Do you like to wear nice clothes, or are you trying to impress others? Do you enjoy going to the bars each weekend, or are you trying to fit in?
Ask yourself these questions if you haven’t already. Many will go on with their lives, making bad financial decisions and trying to impress others. Instead, worry more about your opinion and forget about the Joneses.
You’ll face the stress of making bad financial decisions, so why not value your opinion more? Here’s where having self-compassion pays off.
Since you’ll be less influenced by external factors, you’ll make less impulsive decisions. For example, you wouldn’t buy a car to impress others as I did.
Still not convinced?
Take this case study, for example, where participants watched a sad and neutral video. The participants who watched a sad video offered to pay four times more for bottled water. Imagine how much money you’d spend if you were feeling sad.
Self-compassion involves more than loving yourself. It’s about accepting your flaws, being kind to yourself, and being mindful. Use self-compassion to live happier and spend less money.
How Investing In Yourself Will Allow You To Maximize Mistakes
Start investing in yourself if you’re not satisfied with your current financial situation.
Learning is a lifelong journey, not something you only do while in school. Focus on investing in yourself by setting a time each day to learn. For example, read books, listen to Podcasts, take courses, or find a mentor.
Learning beyond the basics of different financial topics is necessary. You’ll put yourself in a position to handle your money better and make better decisions. But don’t limit yourself to only learning.
Set financial goals.
Sample goals:
- I want to increase my income by $20K in the next 12 months.
- I want to start a side hustle earning $500 per month.
There’s no excuse for not having enough time to learn. Everyone’s situation is different, so you’ll have to work around your schedule. This may mean waking up at 5 am to have a few hours of uninterrupted learning time.
I was never a morning person, but I became one once I started accomplishing more. Investing in yourself daily will make you feel more purposeful and productive.
Do This If You Want To Keep Stressing About Your Finances
If there’s one thing you should get from this guide, it’s this–stop dwelling over the past.
This is an issue that I’ve experienced and one that you need to avoid. Stop replaying the story of how you wish you didn’t have debt and embrace your current situation. Bringing the past won’t fix your financial issues and will only rob you of your present.
Your thoughts are more powerful than you think. Instead, fill your mind with positive thoughts through affirmation. Grab a notebook and write down positive statements.
Sample statements:
- “I’ll become debt free in 12 months. I don’t sweat the small stuff.”
- “I can and will get out of debt to stop stressing about my money.”
Of course, don’t expect these statements to work if you aren’t taking action. So do affirmations work? They can.
From my experience, they have helped me build a positive mindset. Affirmations feed your subconscious mind.
Your subconscious will work magic from here to make these thoughts a reality. It won’t be enough to read your affirmation each morning. You’ll need to put emotion and desire into them.
Set Meaningful Goals To Foolproof Your Financial Success
A meaningful goal will help you stay committed despite your challenges.
For example, if you’d like to run your own business five years from now, set a goal to save a year or two’s worth of your salary. This would help you take a break from work to experiment with your idea if you’d decided to do so. You’ll focus on saving and improving your finances by setting intentional goals.
Start by asking what you hope to achieve 5–10 years from now. Don’t give a vague answer such as “I want to be a millionaire five years from now.” This is not only vague but unrealistic.
Instead, set goals like saving $20K in 3 years to buy a rental property. In this scenario, your main goal is reaching financial independence. Use a journal to write down your goals, even if you hate writing things down.
Why?
Because writing down your goals works. Studies have shown that people who set goals are ten times more likely to achieve them.
Become Too Busy To Make Financial Mistakes
Being busy isn’t always a bad thing.
Of course, too much of anything is. For example, don’t become too busy to sacrifice your meaningful relationships. And, don’t become busy working on the wrong tasks because this will be time wasted.
The trick is to become busy long enough to keep your mind from thinking negatively. It’s hard, maybe impossible, for you to feel mad and happy simultaneously. The same concept works with your thoughts.
You can’t be productive and worry at the same time. That’s why it’s essential to set goals. Having financial goals is great, but you can also create personal goals.
For example, you may want to build schools in third-world countries. This big goal will need a lot of work and will keep you busy. After all, you’d be building a business to fund this dream.
Being busy won’t cure your stress about money. But you’ll spend less time worrying and more time being productive instead.
Stop Feeling Defeated With Your Finances & Stop Stressing About Money
The truth is stressful moments can rip you apart only if you let them. Stress will always be there, but you’ll have to become better at managing it. Your finances are currently stressing you because you’re not in the position you’d like to be in.
Imagine how different your life would be if you’d handled finances better.
It might seem like this scenario is near impossible, but believe me, it’s not. You have what it takes to be successful. Use this guide as your stepping stone to start heading in the right direction.
Life is too short, so stop stressing about money. Love yourself more and get your finances straight. Happiness is waiting on the other side.
