Flip Flops

Originally uploaded by dustpuppy

I love reading the 4 hour work week. Every time I do I save time.

The week after the first reading, I found myself drumming my fingers and wondering what to do, because of course, the first time, I caught the low-lying fruit and saved a whole bunch of time at once. I was rich with time, and didn’t know what to do with it so you can guess what happened. Yup, I slipped back into my old ways pretty quickly.

The next time around, I was ready, though. I recognized what happened and prepared a list of things to do that were in line with what I wanted to accomplish. I used the time I saved to become more effective.

The same thing can happen with money.

If you aren’t ready to receive it and have clear ideas what you will do with it, you’ll slip back into your old ways if you manage to get yourself a big pot of cash.

They say everyone has a money/income set point – a place where they feel very comfortable. When they start getting out of that comfort zone, they find ways to get back into it. Usually that means lowering their net income to that spot again.

You can make that change when you have a goal. If you knew you needed $5000 for your child, you would find it.

The way around it is to do what I did with time. I prepared by having clear ideas about what I would do with the new-found time, so that I was ready to accept it.

The added benefit is that I had further incentive to make it work. Knowing what I wanted to do with the time, made it easier for me to do what I had to do to get it.

Try this for an experiment:
Decide on something relatively modest: a special dinner, say, and decide that you want to have the money for it by next Friday so you can go out over the weekend. Figure out how much you will need. Starting right now, hold that thought in your mind. As things happen and ideas come your way, think about that dinner and how much money you need for it. Follow through, make things happen. You have a reason and a goal.

I have in mind to buy some Havaianas flip flops for V and I – a mother/daughter treat. Not a big thing, but a fun thing.

What’s your treat and tell us your story about getting it.