- Hey guys, welcome to another episode
of The Rachel Cruze Show.
And this episode,
we're gonna dive in to an Ask Rachel question,
it's one of my favorite things
is to answer your questions.
So this question comes from Deb who asked,
"How does a person find their why
in regard to managing their money?
I have a budget, but I can't seem to stick with it.
I think it has to do with fear and scarcity from growing up.
I really want to get a handle on my finances."
Well, Deb, number one, you're not alone.
This can be a really hard one
because it kind of is a big question.
And just to know as well
that your "why" can change during your life
and it probably will and that's okay.
So maybe your "why" has to do
with something bigger than yourself.
And this is one thing I challenge people on.
For your "why," if your "why" you wanna win with money
is just to go on a great vacation
or your why is just to buy a brand new car,
like those are not bad things,
trust me, I love a vacation, I love a new car,
but if that's your only motivator is just stuff,
it gets to this point
where that starts to become demotivating
because once you get that thing,
you're gonna want the next thing and the next thing.
And if that's your ultimate, it's not great.
So ask yourself, "Why?"
Maybe a vacation, for example,
why do you want to take a great vacation?
Is it because you want to spend time with your kids
and you're like, "Oh, I just want alone time
and I want them to experience something great."
Okay, so maybe your real "why" is your kids
and spending that time together.
So how can you create that somewhere else?
Or maybe it's you just want time away.
Okay, well, why do you you want time away?
Is it because your life right now is just hectic and crazy,
which amen sister, mine is too, I get it.
But is it because you, like, want to get away from your job
and you just hate your job?
Maybe you want a different job.
Start asking those deeper questions of what you want
because that will get you your why.
Ask what are things in life that you would regret not doing?
That's a big "why".
And again, going back to that material thing,
this is something I've realized throughout my life
as I'm like when I can focus on things that I can't buy,
that is the valuable stuff.
When you can focus on things like, again,
your family, your marriage, your faith, your friendships,
like the things that money can't buy
usually holds some of the greatest value.
So finding your "why" and one of those categories as well
is gonna help you to be motivated.
I mean, it really, really is.
And again, it's a big question, and your "why" could change
but that "why" is almost your reward.
I had Charles Duhigg on the show a few episodes ago
but he talked about that reward.
When you change a habit, you need that reward,
and it can be a small reward
from just maybe you hit your budget goals
and you just text a friend.
You're like, "Oh, I did it."
And they like give you all the emojis
and you're like, okay.
Or maybe the reward
is having a glass of wine with your spouse
when you guys hit that monthly budget.
Having that reward is really, really important.
And so part of that reward too is your why.
So you can start to kind of say, okay,
if I start to stick to my budget,
and I can save X amount
or I can pay off X amount of debt,
'cause my budget is the tool that's helping me
do these things, I'm able to get to that "why"
and those small rewards of knowing
that you're one step closer to your why
is gonna help you stick to the budget as well.
There's another thing I talk about in my new book
"Know Yourself, Know Your Money"
where the question of why do you want money?
And this is a pretty simple one,
but it's that "why" of is it more for security purposes
or is it more for status?
And that security is to feel, okay,
if I budget, if I save,
I'm gonna feel this level of peace in my life
that I've never felt before.
That's a big motivator.
That could be a why, just simply that.
Like you said that you lived
with a scarcity mentality growing up and I'm like, okay,
so maybe it's like to actually have money in surplus
in the bank.
Maybe that's your "why".
I don't know, I'm throwing out all these ideas, Deb,
because it's a complex thing, money really is
because it shows us again what we truly value
and exposes parts of us
that we don't really like always as well.
So I think acknowledging all of that,
sitting down, having a good friend or a spouse
to have these conversations with I think is important
because for the long run, you want that "why".
You want that "why" to be big,
because you're gonna be making sacrifices,
you're gonna have to say no to yourself at times.
But when you have that "why" out there,
something that really means so much to you,
that's your reward,
that's what's gonna help you get through
when the budget doesn't seem to work.
So I hope that helps, Deb.
I hope it motivates you to to get that "why".
And for all you guys, I would love to hear from you.
I love answering your questions
and knowing where you're at on your money journey.
So you can ask any question on any social media
from YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
it doesn't matter,
we're scouring the internet, finding those questions,
and hopefully I'll be answering yours
in the next episode.