As I was lying on my yoga mat in Bikram Hot Yoga and completing a 30-day personal challenge (which meant 90 minutes of hot yoga for 30 days straight) I felt immense personal satisfaction and a quiet calm.
With the world around me running fast and furious I did something for me that I could take control of. It was tough initially, but as I got more into it I found myself getting excited about going to class. If I'm honest, however, there were days the hardest part wasn't the class itself, it was the act of going to the class. And yet once there I was focused and ready to go. Trust me, it wasn't always pretty and there were times when it took every ounce of willpower to complete the class, and yet I did it. As I was finishing up yesterday I thought, wouldn't it be fun to do a personal finance 30-day challenge. At the end of 30 days it would be a different form of personal satisfaction and quiet calm. Imagine going into this holiday season feeling in control of your money, not having to deal with a financial hangover in January and having a sense of personal wealth.
So I've decided to throw it out there and hope that you will join me on this journey and in the end share what you've done and how you are feeling about it. Not the details -- that's personal and money is personal -- but your journey. I know that would help others.
Here is how it would work: Your goal is to be in a better financial situation 30 days from now. To help you to do that I will be tweeting a daily tip. It may or may not apply to you but over the course of 30 days there will be some that do. As you become more aware of your money habits, how you spend, save, invest etc., you start to see areas where you can improve on those habits. In yoga, I may have thought I was doing a pose correctly until the instructor gently nudged me in a different direction. That is the purpose of the tweets -- to nudge you in a direction and to get the conversation started. There isn't a step-by-step process it is a day-by-day opportunity to take control of your financial situation. I hope you will share tips and tweet me what is working for you.
Here is how you can take part: Begin by asking yourself, what is really important to you financially, or where do you feel out of control? Are you worried about these markets etc. and then day by day start to address the issues head on. Confront your financial facts, make some decisions and then have the discipline to carry through on the actions. Honestly, this can be empowering and even a little liberating.
Here is the deal though - you don't have to say anything to anyone about it, because it's about you. This is your goal and your challenge. No one but you is going to care whether you complete this challenge or not. The only person you will disappoint in the end is you if you don't give it your best shot. In yoga, if you missed a class one day as long as you did two classes the next day you were still on track. You may miss a day and that isn't a big deal, you can get back on track too. Remember, small changes will bring you big results over time.
At one point my yoga instructor said to me, "Pattie you are 90 per cent effort and 10 per cent talent." Clearly, I'm not very good at yoga but I believe you don't have to be the best, you just have to do your best and I did see small changes in my strength and flexibility throughout the month. Our challenge isn't about how much money you make it is more about what you do with the money you make.
If you join us I promise to try and help you feel wealthier in a month. This challenge is about saving, spending and giving according to your standards -- the only standards that really matter. If we get our finances in order it will free us up to do the things in life that will give us more balance and meaning.
I've started to tweet at @askpattiectv a tip a day and hope that you will share your tweets with us as well. At the end of 30 days we'll recap and go into this holiday spending season in strong financial shape. They say it takes 21 days to create a habit - well I'm giving us 30 days just to reinforce the habit. By the way you can start your challenge at anytime you like or join us.
Come on it will be fun…..are you in?
