Set Backs
Does anyone remember the song in 2000, Try Again by Aaliyah, that says, “If at first you don’t succeeeeed, dust yourself off and try again. You can dust it off and try again (try again.)” This will be the theme as you go through this program. (My apologizes if that song gets stuck in your head.) Sometimes, the numbers that you put on paper don’t always work in real life. Keep trying.
Emergencies will happen. Set-backs will take place. There is no way to sugar coat this. Your key to success will be how well you stick with it. My high school basketball coach always reminded us that 10% of life is what happens to us and 90% is how we deal with it. Learn from your mistakes, lick your wounds, cry it out, or eat a gallon of ice cream. Whatever you do, get back up the next day and continue to fight.
I will never forget the day I wrote a check for $1900.00 to AAMCO Transmissions (I have changed their jingle to “Double A, (bleep, bleep) M-C-O”) in the same month that I was about to write off my final credit card balance. I almost cried as I paid the mechanic. Looking back on that day, I can take away two key reminders: first, I did actually have the money to pay for that $1900.00 transmission. Thanks to my buffer and my $1000.00 savings, I was able to write a check without using a credit card. Even more importantly, this set back did not stop my wife and me from accomplishing what we set out to do. Sure it hurt. Sure we sulked for a little while. But we got back up and continued to fight. That was over 3 years ago. I am glad we decided to continue.
This blog is a forum to encourage you through an online community, to continue to battle and to share in the victories and to bounce back from the set-backs (notice how I didn’t use defeat.) Defeat happens when you stop fighting. Everything else that happens is just a set-back.
Victories
Have you completed a step? Smile. Tell us about it. Rework your new monthly numbers and move on to the next step.
Have you completed a phase? Celebrate. Party. Tell everyone. Rework your monthly numbers and begin the new phase.
Sharing and celebrating your victories, large and small, are a vital part of this program. You have no idea how much encouragement and motivation it gives to others around you when you tell them about your wins. We would love to hear from you. Dana and I have seen the power of groups when they come together and are always amazed at the results that it produces. Let’s do this together. Give us an excuse to celebrate. This is what life is all about.
When we wrote off our final debt, we spent around $100.00 for a night on the town. Doesn’t seem like much, but it does when you are living on a tight budget for a while. It felt great and the food was excellent. We are currently a few percentage points shy of completing phase 2. We don’t have any celebration plans, but trust me, we will celebrate.
We work way too hard not to enjoy life. This program is about delaying gratification, not eliminating gratification. What are you going to do to celebrate?
