Just Start Already!!!

As the saying goes “The first step is always the hardest.” I had not been as keenly aware of how true that was until we began this process, so I want to share some of the things that got us to “Just Start Already!!!”

The truth is we have discussed the future for the 9 years of our marriage, but we had never been very clear and specific in those talks. In order to really get started we needed to correct that by fixing in our minds a destination for our lives. When I say a destination, I don’t mean a vague idea that we would like to settle somewhere and stop moving around.

No, I am referring to a specific somewhere (Southern Florida) with a specific timeline (8 years) and specific requirements (a 5 to 10-acre homestead farm). The first thing to get you started is to get very clear and specific on your life’s destination. Doing so created a positive shift in our focus from the circumstances pushing us, to our goals that are pulling us where we want to go. This makes it easier for us to have energy to do the adulting needed to get there, make smarter decisions, and generally get out of bed in the morning.

What has also helped us to get started is attacking the most important task as soon as we finish our morning routines. Whether you are a morning person, or like me a night owl, until we are financially independent, rising early will often be necessary. For instance, by getting up 30 minutes early on paydays I have time and mental energy to make the best budgetary decisions possible for our family. I can say confidently, previously waiting till after work to pay them cost us a lot of extra money and missed opportunities. Since making this switch, in reviewing our budget I noticed we had excess outputs going to things that providing us no benefit. Then I moved those outputs to paying off debts and to date have been able to pay off three of our debts in the last five months. I doubt I would have noticed those had I been doing them after a full day at work and hitting the gym. The lesson for me has been tired minds make people poor.

This idea that making the most important decisions soon after waking is the best practice for success has anecdotal evidence in the behaviors of people like Dwayne (the Rock) Johnson, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffet just to name a few. Each rises early and attends to the one task that they believe has the highest importance for their day (Exercise, Reading, the News, etc...). It is also supported scientifically according to a study published in Cognition, to summarize it states that a person makes the most accurate decisions soon after waking and as the day progresses decision making speed increases and accuracy decreases. Interestingly whether the person was a lark (Morning person) or owl (Night Person) the time of day was less important to accuracy than the proximity to when the person woke up. Which leads us to our next concept.

The very first task that should be attacked soon after rising is to breakdown the vision you defined in step one into smaller more manageable steps. For us we worked backwards from the destination, identifying the major milestones, or the “Big Three” as I think of them, that would need to be accomplished to make the vision possible. As with the larger vision these needed to be clearly defined and bound to a deadline. The big three look like this for us:

1. Have $0 in debt by the end of 3 years.
2. Build lifelong sustainable side income of $1000/month and 6 months of emergency savings by the end of 7 years.
3. Locate, purchase, and begin construction on the property by no later than 7½ years.

With these steps identified and prioritized in the order listed we have chosen to focus on breaking them down the next step as we achieve the last. So now instead of trying to do all three steps at once we can plan our escape from debt without being distracted by the others. That plan has its own milestones identified, then those are even further broken down, and so on until we arrive at task that can be performed each day. It’s when we feel overwhelmed that we most want to stop so to avoid that I recommend that once you have identified the milestones you only break down the most important further. Once it has been accomplished focus on the next. It is likely you will surprise yourself how much you accomplish by doing so.

Thus, by getting truly clear about the destination, planning the route and landmarks to set daily goals, and hitting the road early we will eventually reach our GOAL. Where do you want to be one, five, and even 10 years from now? What is the most important thing you can do now to get there? When are you going to start your journey? The earlier the better so get started now and remember Frugal Up.