Perhaps this is obvious from the lack of posting, but every once in a while, it gets a little bit harder to keep my motivation up as we make our journey to FI.  Purchases go on auto pilot and sometimes it’s not worth the brain power to think “Do I really need to eat out or is there a better way to do this?”  This is particularly true when I have felt so drained from work lately. At this time, I am a lame duck in my current role so not only have I been lacking the motivation for FI, but I’ve been lacking motivation at work as well.

Kick Yourself In the Ass

How do I get myself back in the groove to make progress in FI, on this blog, with my health and at work? A swift kick in the ass is a good way to start. I say that as though I have actually done something. Really what gave me a swift kick was meeting one of my best friends’ new baby girl. She is just the best, but it reminded me of all of the plans that Kayla and I have coming down the pike. We have just about 1 more year before we want to try for our kids. In that time, we have A LOT that we want to get accomplished. Just to give you a flavor of all that’s on our list before then:

  • Pay off Debt- One student loan left!!
  • Hit $250K net worth for 2019
  • Max out Personal Emergency Fund (3 months of expenses)
  • Max out Rental Property Emergency Fund (6 months of gross rent)
  • Trip to France for Women’s World Cup!
  • Train for and climb Mt Kilimanjaro
  • Start seeing Financial Coaching clients- Emily
  • Go part time or quit entirely (depending on factors at the time)- Kayla
  • Save up for a down payment on our next home.

So, as you can tell, there is a LOT that we want to get done before our personal responsibilities grow exponentially. If you are feeling down about having to keep up the diligence to check prices or work your tail off at work or your side hustle, here is what I recommend:

Stop. Take a Break and reset. It could be 5 minutes or 2 days. Reset your mindset and refocus on what you really want in the long term. Taking the time to refocus is more important than the time you will lose by taking a break. If your heart isn’t in it, don’t do it. Remind yourself of why you’re moving down this path and where you want to be at the end of it.

To wrap this quick post up, I will leave you with one of my all-time favorite quotes:

Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.

Earl Nightingale

Get up. Get out and get to it!

What do you do to motivate yourself? Let me know in the comments below!