The power of showing up

“80% of success is showing up” - Woody Allen

I try to run 3 miles a couple times a week. Some days I’m really excited about it while other days it’s the absolute last thing I want to do.

I want to focus on the days where I’m not motivated to get out there.

Those days when I’m tired, it’s too hot, it’s too cold, raining, or I just don’t feel like it, it can be really easy to say “well I’ll just do it tomorrow or this weekend”. For me, this can create a snowball effect and before I know it, it’s been 3 weeks and I haven’t run once.

Instead of pushing it off to another day I try my absolute best to just get started. If I end up walking the entire time, so be it. At least I pushed myself to get started and did something. Honestly, most times when this happens I actually end up running the entire time and feel great when I’m done. We set these limiting beliefs in our minds before we even get started. If we push past that initial hurdle we can make a lot more progress than we think.

So how does this relate to money? I think the easiest thing to compare this to is budgeting. Budgeting is like running: we know it’s good for us and it has tremendous benefits long term; however, in the moment it may be the last thing we want to do…or “feels like torture”, as one of my clients described it.

On those days when the last thing you want to do is look at your budget, push yourself to at least open it (notepad, Excel, app) and review your spending. Who knows, you may surprise yourself and that small action may lead to massive progress. When you make a habit of tracking your spending two things happen; 1) You will prioritize your goals and naturally cut things out that don’t add value to your life. 2) It will become easier and easier to track your spending…it becomes a habit. This will help get you to a point where going over your budget doesn’t feel like torture, because you now have a better handle on your spending. You can focus on your long term goals of paying off debt, savings for retirement, etc.

We aren’t looking for perfection, we are looking for progress. Keep showing up - you’ll start seeing progress.