People often feel that they can work extra hard now and be able to take to foot off the gas later.
This is simply not true! (See my article). We need to be brave enough to build the life we want right here, right now.
The same thing is true with finances. I’m all for incorporating saving into your life. But if you’ve created a world in which you save everything now, when is that going to turn into the world in which you are willing to spend on things that are meaningful to you?
Many people are turning down things like vacations or coaching because they think they will save enough to have those things later. They are remaining in jobs that they hate in order to save an unknown amount of money for an unknown future date. The idea is that one day they’ll be rich and they won’t have to do this anymore. But predictably, they won’t stop. They’ve conditioned themselves for however many years to see themselves as savers. How many of you have parents who worked their entire lives to be able to travel, and then never ended up traveling?
Again, I don’t encourage anyone to spend outside their means. I’m just saying that your means may afford you more than you are allowing yourself to spend.
Consider investing in something meaningful to you this week. It could be a nice massage, better ingredients for a delicious recipe, or a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Find something that you’d normally tell yourself you can’t afford because you need to save for later - and buy it!
Originally published on Linked-In