Before my knees gave out on me last year, I was training to run a half marathon. If you have never trained for a marathon before, it’s fairly simple.
You have three runs a week, two short and one long. The short runs are for maintenance. The purpose of the long run is for you to increase your endurance. You do this by going one or two miles farther then you did on the previous week’s long run.
The thing to remember about this progressive training style is that the benefits don’t come until the last few miles on the long run. There is no growth if you stop at the same distance you ran last week
Weight lifting is another example of the benefits of making yourself uncomfortable. What would happen if you continue to lift the same amount week in and week out? Eventually, your muscles will stop growing. Muscle growth occurs when you push yourself just a little bit more then you thought you could. If you’re doing 3 sets of 12 reps, the growth doesn’t occur until your body is shaking and you’re struggling to get off the last few reps on the third set. The first two reps are just to maintain your muscles.
So what does this have to do with financial planning?
We use 100% of our energy and resources for maintaining our current situation. We work an entire day to pay off our mortgage, bills, and cars. We might save 10% of our income, which will allow us to retire someday, but not necessarily live an abundant life.
It’s like we’re going to the gym five days a week and doing the same exact workout. Yes, we’re “staying in shape” but the real benefits occur when we push ourselves to a new level.
The benefits occur when we save 5% more of our income then we ever thought was possible. The real benefits occur when we invest that 5% and retire five to ten years earlier.
The same thing can be said with our time. We maintain the status-quo by working 9-5 and come home and do nothing. However, the real benefits come when we go home and take an hour or two a night and learn about our field or build our own business.
Those who don’t succeed financially are unwilling to make themselves uncomfortable. They are unwilling to start a budget because it’s a lot of work (it’s not). They are unwilling to learn about investing because they think it’s very complicated (it’s not). They are fine with accepting the status-quo of credit card debt and car payments their entire life.
Actions
In what areas of your finances and your life can you go beyond your current limits? Also, if you were to make yourself uncomfortable just for a brief period, what are the benefits?
Good luck!
One more thing, one of the best parts of having a blog is you can write to sort out your thoughts. I hope this post was just as beneficial to you as it was to me.
If you enjoyed this article, the easiest way you can help me out is to take a second and retweet or share this post on Facebook. Thank you for your help!
Comments on this entry are closed.