Real Women. Real Life. Real Finance
Recently, I shared on my Instagram a little insight into my health journey over the last two months.
Over the past 65 days, I took time to examine and reflect on my relationship with food, the unhealthy eating habits I adopted over the past year, and cut out all sugars from my diet. I learned a lot about the unhealthy ingredients I was consuming and focused on eating whole foods that fueled my body. I lost 17 pounds (the amount of weight I gained over the past year), and now I embark on a new journey to rebuild my strength.
When I set out on this journey, my goal was never to lose weight. It was never about restricting or depriving myself. Instead, it was about reflection, examination, and becoming healthier for my son.
I am not going to lie. The first three weeks were hard. My sugar cravings were through the roof, and sometimes I had to focus on one hour at a time. Through it all, I realized how consistency plays a role in my everyday life.
Most people think about consistency as repetition. It's true that repeating something over and over again forms the foundation of any skill we are wanting to learn, like managing our money. But what's not talked about is what repetition and consistency really demands from us as individuals.
I learned that consistency is never just about repetition. It's about evolution.
Think of it this way. When you are trying to establish healthy money habits in your life, it's not just about mindlessly repeating the same action over and over again. It's about learning, growing, and adapting your actions. This is what leads to incremental improvements over an extended period of time.
Being consistent with your intentional actions is all about gaining greater insight, knowledge, and understanding about what it is you are doing, and then making the necessary adjustments to those actions to improve your results over the long haul.
That's what I focused on during my 65 health journey. To be honest, this was the first health goal that I set that I followed through on and actually achieved. I can't tell you how many times I have said, “I'm going to work out five days a week.” I would last two weeks and then give myself excuses why I couldn't do it anymore.
I had to get to a place where I understood that my greatest power lies in the present moment. I had to stay focused, mindful, and committed to what I was really trying to achieve in the moment, and only to that moment without exception.
Just like my health journey was an evolution, so is your financial journey. So many people fail to be consistent because they don't see the immediate results from their actions. You have to commit yourself by taking consistent daily action without the immediate reward. If you don't and only fight to see early success, you end up putting in the work with very little to show for your efforts in the long-term.
So, the next time you work on your finances, remember that you must consistently apply yourself to improving, growing, and learning over an extended period of time to experience long-term rewards.
I will be back next week for another Miko's Moments. Have a great weekend.
