Are You Stuck in the Past with Your Financial Health?

Have you ever noticed how you can put together an outfit with only a few pieces when you are in a pinch? Have you ever been on a trip and your luggage got lost? You have to go buy just a few things to get by. Maybe you have a pair of jeans, black pants, a couple of tee shirts, a nice top that you can dress up or down, and an accessory or two? It’s amazing what you can build with those few essentials.

You don’t waste time thinking about what you have in your lost suitcase, or even your closet at home. Instead, it becomes something of a fun challenge to make do, and you suddenly feel creative, and even lighter with the simplicity of less.

In the same way, focus on what you have right now regarding your money. Think about what you have, not only with regard to financial assets, but also the skills and abilities that can improve your current financial health. Many families now have one less job, more debt or considerably less in their savings accounts than they previously had.

We have all been conditioned to believe that our savings accounts should grow larger each year, not smaller. And when our life long savings dwindle, we feel that pain deep in our hearts. It feels like an invasive threat when our investment accounts, or even our monthly cash flow, declines; our financial security usually declines right along with it. True financial security, however, comes from knowledge about your money, and also the ability to improve your financial health.

While lessons can be learned from our past actions, dwelling on what’s gone or lost is not the solution. However, thinking about what you can build from what you have now is full of promise and potential. The first step in moving forward is acceptance of your current financial reality, along with an assessment of your skills to make it better.

Are you living in the past financially? Accept where you are, but allow yourself to be proactive and forward in your thinking. What steps can you take today to lay the foundation for greater wealth tomorrow? Focus on where you are now as your starting point, and build from there.

Even if you have navigated smoothly through the financial turmoil of the past decade, a larger nest egg is always a good thing. You can use it to make the world a better place; what a worthy financial goal.

Whatever your situation, here are a few smart steps to take toward greater financial empowerment:

Choose a pretty notebook to designate as your wealth journal. This is where you will claim ownership of your financial situation by brainstorming ideas, and then writing those ideas, along with other insights about your money.

Get very clear about how much money you have right now. Make an organized list of everything you own and owe, either handwritten or on a spreadsheet. Start fresh with today’s numbers, not numbers from the past. If someone else in your family currently does this task, get involved. Accept those amounts with gratitude, and know that there are billions of other people who have much less.

Create a second document for all the money that flowed in and out of your accounts last month. This is your cash flow statement. Plan to track and improve it each month in the first week of the new month. Feel gratitude for what flowed into your accounts, and also what you received from the amounts spent.

Brainstorm ways to increase the money flowing into your accounts for 10 minutes. What is that special talent you have that you could turn into a side business? Is there a new product line you could add to your existing business? Can you outsource your skills? Set up a consulting practice? Technology and the internet make this more doable than ever, even for super busy women.

Now look at the money flowing out each month. By simply by increasing attention to your spending, you’ll likely reduce it. Use the term spending plan, instead of the “b” word, budget; you are blessed with a certain amount of money to spend each month, and you get to choose how you will use it.

Start with peaceful acceptance of your current financial reality. Own your actions and the valuable lessons learned that are a result of that reality. Then accept and embrace your power to have a significant impact on your money, your life and the lives of others with the actions you take.