Working on living the life that we want!

[lisalyn04]

I was tired of just going through the motions of life and not living the life I wanted and I hope that you realize that you can live the life you want if you just decide to!

No, my life wasn't awful but it was far from the life that I imagined in my dreams.  I was just going through the motions and  there really wasn't a real plan on how I was going to change things. I turned 40 and started to realize that my life is almost half over and I am not living the life I want. I can't wait any longer, if it is going to change I have to start now. I don't want to be on my death bed and wish that my life was different.

For 15 years I worked two jobs 5 days a week. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep. I would see my kids in the morning before school then I would go to work till they got out of school,then I had a little over an hour to get to my next job. I wouldn't get home till after eleven o'clock at night. Then I would either get groceries or straighen up the house. I really felt like a robot. Looking back now I can't believe that I every did that.

I finally decided this is it! I can't do this anymore, I am missing out on my life. We were over $25,000 in credit card debt. I couldn't afford to quit with all that debt. So I knew that I had to get serious and get rid of it. I stayed working two jobs for one more year. I took a Dave Ramsey course at our church and cut anything that I could out of our budget. I made a plan to started paying those bills off one by one.

It was working! Small changes do add up. You really can change your situation if you put your mind to it. That year I did get out of debt and quite my second job.

What a great feeling!

That was a great start but I'm not done yet, but know I realize it is possible.

Here are a few tips for you to start living the life you want.

1. Do you have a vision on how you want your life? What am I doing now everyday? Are you taking any steps at all toward your vision?

2.Set your direction and goal:

If you don't have a goal in your life, you should set a goal or some goals immediately. If a boat does not have a destination, it will never get there. Once the goal is set, you will know the direction to get there

3.Set a goal by writing it down:

It is difficult to have an abstract goal in your mind. It is much better if you can write down what you want in your life Write down what kind of person you want to be and what achievements you want to accomplish during your life time.

4. What steps do you have to  take to reach your goal? It is OK to take baby steps toward your goal and long as you are the steps to get there everyday.

5. Don't try, DO! I have talked to so many people that want to change their life or situation and they say " I'll Try"   You are giving yourself an excuse to fail! It is your way out. " I'll try to quit smoking"  If it doesn't work you can say I tried.

Don't try to live the life you want  "Do it!"

 

 

[tiger123]

Feb. 1, 2010 at 12:06 PM

I'm glad you turned your life around. This was a nice post.  Makes me think of all the things everyone could really do without and replace them with things we actually want. It does take hard work but it can be done.A lot of life is made up of things we don't want to do, and not all of them are necessary.Of course it's important to take care of a family and have an income but beyond that, life should be where you have choices about what you want to do.After all its your life.

[3kidmama]

Feb. 2, 2010 at 11:33 PM

Congratulations on taking charge of your financial freedom.  I too am starting to work on Dave Ramsey's program.  I love watching his show and hearing all the success stories and Debt Free Fridays!  I can't wait to be debt free and have my emergency savings.  Little steps now will pay off big.  WAY TO GO!

[lisalyn04]

Mar. 5, 2010 at 1:54 AM

Sometime people won't take any action because the task seems to large. That is why it is important to break it down into small steps or changes. I don't want to grow old and wish I my life was different. I want to create it!

(Original Poster)