So a few months ago, I found myself out to dinner with a mentor of mine. We were comparing a few recent events in each of our lives, and also comparing notes on some productivity hacks. He had recently adopted a new fitness routine, and has quite literally transformed his body. Similar journey I guess you could say.
Well, we moved into how we could help each other out as we were moving into the spring of 2018. We kicked around a couple hacks involving Evernote, OmniFocus, and some other avenues to outsource our time to get even greater throughput. We talked about virtual assistants, mini job shops, Fiverr, and a few productivity online communities that have proven to be true time savers. The conversation was exceptionally practical, no bullshit, and a strong reminder of how much I enjoyed scheming on things with this mentor of mine.
We talked about our summertime vacation plans with our families, and some of the incredible pictures that he had recently taken in his travels. I discovered that he had already lined up some unreal family time for later in the year. It reminded me that I had to wait to line up my time with my sons for the upcoming summer for a couple of reasons that were in play at the time. I learned of some fantastic spots out in the mountains and national parks during this conversation – many of which I intend to visit with my sons down the line.
Then the conversation turned towards financials.
And jobs.
And careers.
And of building businesses as part of a career.
We reminisced on how we had built a business that was multiple tens of millions in revenue with an incredible team.
We discussed how that experience had changed us, and that the seemingly impossible was likely right around the corner for each of us in our own unique circumstances. Clearly, we are guys that have plans, and we have delivered on some audacious things in the past.
Then we turned to a common source of frustration.
Money.
Specifically – spending of money.
We joked about how many online apps and random subscriptions we had for our families.
We joked about how many mobile lines and devices we each had for ourselves, and for our families.
We joked about the stream of spending over on Amazon Prime, damn that is a beautiful thing.
We joked about cash spent in Vegas.
We joked about it all.
Then I’ll admit, I got a little nervous. The mood shifted for both of us.
‘Why the hell do we spend like this?’
‘Good question, Mark. I don’t know.’
What happened next was a severely honest conversation that hit me fairly hard, and I realized that I continued to plow cash out the door for a variety of bullshit reasons. This was a topic that I was unwilling to address over the prior two years, as I was way more focused on handling a variety of other dimensions of life – such as my physical health and energy levels.
Money has historically been a largely avoided topic for me in my personal life, and here I was opposite a guy that continues to be an inspiration – yet we both have a similar hangup when it comes to our finances.
For me, it is a topic I enjoy talking about at arms length, yet when it comes to my own finances – I have historically outsourced the management of it. To say that this has caused me all sorts of problems would be a big time understatement. I can honestly say, I do not even know how big of an understatement it truly is. At this point, none of it matters anyway. I have moved into focusing on the hear and now.
So as I left the restaurant that night, my mentor recommended an overly complex app and site that he didn’t like. He suggested that perhaps I could find some value in the service, as I am an analytical guy. He suggested that it was largely based upon David Ramsey’s methodology, and I really enjoy his thinking on financials. I have yet to enact all of the thinking he espouses, and I do truly believe that he is right on much of what he preaches as a framework.
So what did I do back in February after leaving the restaurant on that cold night with this recommendation?
I did nothing with it for another 45 days. I was focused on other priorities back in Q1 in some other areas of my life.
In early April I decided to get serious about my spending habits.
To get serious about directing my money.
To get serious about eliminating my default mindset when it came to my paycheck and cash flow.
I had set a baseline for my cashflow a year prior, and I had loosely – okay very loosely – been following it ever since.
So I sat down on a Thursday night, and began to frame up my Q2 goals. In Q1 – I had set 3 major goals, and I made some incredible progress across 2 of them. The 3rd one was a big time bowl of languish soup…
Any guesses on what that third goal was?
It was to get in control of my financials.
I reset that goal a step or two back for Q2, and I only took in one goal for Q2. I figured I needed to simplify my commitments to myself, and that my personal financials were no longer something I could default to.
I promised myself that I would stop short of getting complete control of my financials in Q2.
I promised myself that I would get a plan established to gain complete control of my financials.
I promised myself a sweet vacation and sabbatical if I managed to achieve my goal of enacting my plan to gain complete control.
I promised myself that I would get this goal accomplished by the beginning of June.
By doing so, this would give me a well deserved window for a vacation, and a couple of weeks that would be uncommitted in terms of goals on paper. It would also free me up to truly stand up and examine my second half vision for the year.
Well I took that vacation and sabbatical.
I came back completely renewed, and in many ways blown away by what I had witnessed during my time away at the beach and rainforest.
I came back ready to rock at work, and ready to re-examine a slew of things fundamentally.
I promised myself to not pressure myself on the second half plan, and instead let the renewal of spirt, energy, and body continue to guide me.
I promised to keep my daily routines, key habits running, to focus on getting more sleep, and to stay focused on my financials execution plan.
The rest of the year’s plan would erupt at some point was the running guidance I had in play.
By the way, this is a new approach that I’m trying out at the moment – it fundamentally is an experiment. In the past, I have bird dogged the hell out of goals, plans, and deliverables – relentlessly. The current approach is what I need to be doing at the moment in a broader sense. By creating some space, the right things would be attracted into my life – that was the working theory.
Well, I think that has just happened in the past week or so. I recently got off a phone call with my financial coach, and she gave me some things to think about as I go forward here in July – not only about my financials.
She has me thinking, just like any good coach should.
I’ll elaborate on the nuggets she gave to me, and also discuss in more detail the app/service in a future post.
