Many people believe that their problems are "too unique" for a simple solution.
But I have to disagree.
You see, I've spent several years building habits to solve my problems
on my journey and I've realized that 80% of our problems are the same.
Unfortunately, most people find that hard to believe,
and before you agree with that sentiment, hear me out for a second.
Because in this conversation, I will share three common problems (that I believe make
up 80% of the problems we face) and the three simple habits that can solve them.
Problem #1: Everyday feels the same
I know you know exactly, what I'm talking about when I say this.
Every day feels the same.
Here's an example for you. Think about a time where you've had a conversation with
someone and they've asked you; how's your day going?; how's work going?; how have you been?
And whenever we have conversation life this we usually give a very canned response.
And that response is something along the lines of this:
"Well you know, it's that same work, different day."
Or another example, and to be honest I'm guilty of this. In fact, I said this the other day.
I said that:
"Well you know, things are going good. Things are
going well. But it feels like all of the days are blending together."
Comment below if you've said anything remotely close to any of these sentences or phrases before.
Now, the solution to this problem,
or what I like to call, the habit that I believe can solve this problem is:
We must find joy in the repetition.
I'm going to say that again...
We must find joy in the repetition.
You know, it took me a long,
long, long, long time to realize that the problem wasn't the repetition in my life
Regardless of how much I wanted it to be or regardless of how
often I gave the excuse that it was, it wasn't.
What was…was the fact that I wasn’t chasing anything.
I didn’t have any goals set that made my reps mean something.
I'm going to say that again.
I didn’t have any goals; I wasn't chasing anything that made my reps mean something.
This left me feeling like my life was spinning like a Ferris Wheel.
Every day felt the same, and it frustrated me, it increasingly frustrated me every single day.
But that changed when I changed my perspective.
When I realized that I had to find joy in the repetition.
The reality is that repetition will always be part of our day.
We can’t escape that. We can't change that.
No matter how often we switch up our daily routine.
Repetition will always be part of our day.
So the best thing we can do is to learn how to find joy
in that repetition. And you do that by taking making your reps mean something.
So here’s a question for you, and here's something for you to think about.
Is the repetition of your day moving you towards a desired outcome; towards your goals?
Do you have any goals?
If not, why not?
What are you chasing in your life?
What do you want to accomplish?
Is the repetition in your day helping to move you towards a desired outcome?
Or is the repetition in your day just that,
repetition for the sake of making your days feel the same?
Problem #2: Always feeling stressed
Again, I am very confident that you can count at least five times in your life
where you've felt extremely stressed. An overwhelming amount of stress.
Whether it's stress at home with your family,
or stress at work. You know your work load, you have a lot on your plate.
Whatever it is, you've felt stressed at some point, I can guarantee that.
In fact, studies are showing that 55% of Americans say that they feel stressed every day.
And the global average in terms of people who say they feel stressed
every day is somewhere around 35%, which is crazy to think about.
But it shows that stress is a common problem.
Now, the solution to this problem, or what I like to say,
the habit that I believe can solve this problem is simple.
And all we have to do is embrace less to destress.
What does that look like?
Well we should consider decluttering our home.
We should also consider decluttering our emotions,
which is a really, really big one that is often overlooked.
We should also consider having fewer people in our lives and when I say this, what I really
mean is that we should keep the people in our life that celebrate us, rather than tolerate us.
We should also consume less noise in the media, and on social media.
We should take breaks regularly.
And we should also learn how to say “no” as often as possible.
Stress indicates that we have too much on our plate,
and rather than admitting that we’ve reached our limit and doing something about it.
We instead attempt to ignore it.
And I'll be the first to raise my hand and admit this.
We say things like, “well, this is just a busy season in my life right
now and things will slow down after I complete X.”
But it never does, does it?
There’s only one solution to less stress.
Embrace less.
This is why I swear by the benefits of living a minimalist life.
Above and beyond the obvious benefits of having less stuff in your home.
But don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for a beautifully curated minimalist home,
but minimalism is about more than your home.
Minimalism is about having a clutter-free life.
A simplified life, that includes less stress.
Problem #3: Financial troubles
I want you to think back over the last serval years of your life and think
about a moment where you may have hit a brick wall on your financial journey.
Here was my brick wall moment.
I remember I was playing around with my student loan payments and
when I say that I was playing around, all I mean is that I
was paying the minimum payment that I was required to pay and nothing more.
I was new graduate, I had my first real job, so I was making some money and I wanted to spend
that money and save a little bit, so I was playing around with my student loan payments.
I paid what I was required to pay and nothing more.
And one month when I logged into my account to make my next payment, I noticed something.
I noticed that the amount I owed was more that it was the previous months leading up to that.
And what that told me was that the interest on my student loans was out pacing my payments
and I thought to myself, I said, well at this rate I'm going to be in debt for a very long time.
And that's when I hit that brick wall.
So what was that brick wall moment for you?
And really when you think about this; financial troubles, or financial instability,
financial illiteracy even are all common problems that many of us face.
So the solution to this problem, or again what I like to say,
the habit that I believe can solve this problem is education and implementation.
Educating yourself is a typical solution whenever anyone discusses improving one's finances.
Go out there and learn what you don't know;
learn the information that our school system failed to teach us.
Now, this is fantastic advice; but, it's only 50% of the solution.
The other half that's less glorified,
but in my opinion more important, is implementing what you've learned.
Reading finance books, watching YouTube videos,
listening to podcasts are all wonderful things to do.
But all this does is motivate you and fill you with hope.
What's left is doing and implementing the things you've learned.
Think about it like this:
Education is how you learn and gather the tools needed.
Action is how you get things done.
And to be honest with you,
this simple formula was the habit that led me to pay off $23,000 in 12 months.
Because at some point, I had to implement on the information that I was learning;
on the things that I learned.
I was motivated! I was motivated and inspired
by all of the YouTube videos and the podcast I listened to.
I was filled with hope and again, I was inspired by listening to other people's stories;
and listening to how they paid off their debt and how they changed their financial situation.
But I knew for me that listening and learning was only going to get me half way there.
Motivation was only going to get me half way there.
Taking action and implementing on the things I was listening to,
and implementing on the things I learned, was going to take me the rest of the way.
I hope you enjoyed this conversation my friend,
I hope it inspired you. I hope it gave you something to think about.
And if it did, let me know down in the comments.
Keep growing on your journey, keep learning and always remember to stay true to you.
I'll see you in the next one.
Peace!