It happens to the best of us. Many people have asked what makes me so motivated. There are many reasons – like recovering my health and achieving a new level of fitness. I want to plan for my financial life, and take steps to make progress on my career along with some major transitions in the next decade. I want to buy a house paying mostly, if not all, in cash. I’ve taken this motivation to such an extreme that I’m hopefully adding an additional income starting in the fall – but that’s for another post.
What happens when something goes wrong? What happens when there is a roadblock. A speed bump happened today that really killed my spirit. In the grand scheme of things, it was quite a small issue but it still was a little crippling to my mood. I took my car in for a routine oil change and state inspection renewal. The mechanic called and informed me that I needed new rear brakes. My first question was, “how much it was going to cost me?” In my head all I could think was, “I can’t win. Why is it when I try to get ahead and change things do I suffer these setbacks?” Turns out the total ‘damage’ was just $345. I have the money, and it isn’t going to set me back much, but in the long term I’m wondering how many of these couple hundred dollar set backs are going to happen.
I have done the math and for every $58 I spend, that adds one day to my first major financial goal – paying off all of my debt including my student loans. So basically I just added 5 days to my timeline. I’ve only started measuring this for about a week and due to random expenses I have added a week to my timeline. This is an extreme case because car repairs don’t happen often, but still it hurts one’s motivation.
The thing that calmed me down was remember that I, unlike most I’ve spoken to, have a plan with a long term goal. I remembered that this is a marathon and not a race. Most importantly I have to keep a positive attitude regardless of the situation. Attitude is everything, and in a world full of variables it’s the one thing I have full control over.
I’m going to do my best to make sure it remains positive and constant.
Until next time,
D
Be a Manager of Life 