Happy April & What to do to Prepare for the Future

Hope you are off to a good start this month. It’s fair to say it’ll take time before things are back to normal. It’s the reality and i’ve said this before in previous posts, but I’ll say it again, there’s light in all of this. It is up to us to choose how we handle the unprecedented moments.

Typically, on the first of the month, I share top blog posts from the previous month. I am delaying that blog post until tomorrow to share what I am doing for the next 30 days!

For the past two years, I’ve been trying to figure out a posting schedule, and I must admit, it has been a huge challenge for me. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my blog. It’s just a little tough to stick to an actual schedule when my time is divided amongst other things. (Let’s face it, I am just making up excuses, right?) To be quite frank, I am busy doing the doing. You know those personal development tools I share with you? Well, those are the tools I am applying to my life on a daily basis. I am not just sharing those tools and not applying them myself. I am trying to build something here. Ya know?

To help me develop the habit of writing more frequently, I’ve decided to write one blog post every single day for the next 30 days. Imagine that?!? You’ll hear from me (via my blog lol) every single day. (I hope you love my writing strong enough to stick around – haha). All joking aside, I plan on sharing a little piece of my day with you. I’ll be sharing habits, rituals, lessons, projects, sales, outfit ideas, the home, the raw stuff. You can expect the {mostly} unedited, the pretty, and the ugly.

Having said that, I’d like to share what I listened to this morning.

One of the things I do almost every single day is, listen to a podcast episode. There’s a wide range of topics I am interested in this year but one podcast remains at the very top of my list, and that is, the Rise Podcast with Rachel Hollis.

On her latest episode (#140), she had a conversation with David Bach. He is a well-known financial expert and author. (I’ll link more about him here.) David is currently living in Italy so they touched a bit on what’s happening right now. He shared details about what’s going over there and what to expect here (U.S.) in the coming weeks. Rachel brought him on the podcast to share tips on what to do to prepare yourself personally and financially. David shared tips to consider to help prepare you for times of uncertainty.

Below are my notes from the episode:

Find meaning in the mess. Work versus worry. Instead of worrying, take action.
Face your fear(s). Worst advice you can hear right now is “Don’t panic.” It’s easy to say those words, however, the problem with that being said is people tend to do the exact opposite. One thing to try is journaling. David and Rachel agreed journaling can help with overcoming fears. Write everything you’re afraid of. Once everything is on paper, you’ll see how ridiculous those fears are or maybe see an action plan to fix the problem(s). First time journal-ers, give yourself a minimum of 30 minutes to journal. Force yourself to sit and write. After a few minutes, you will eventually unpack more and more.
Build your cash reserves. This is something you should be doing before facing an emergency – much like what we are facing right now. However, it’s not too late to start. Prepare your family now. Always have cash to back you up for at least six months. If you are out of work for six months, do you have cash to survive on?
Find your money. Figure out where every single dollar is going to. Download bank and credit cards statements for the last two months, and do a money makeover on yourself. Look at where the money is going to eliminate expenses. Highlight every single expense on checking and on credit cards that is NOT a critical must-have expense.
Be proactive and cut expenses. Pick up the phone and cancel things. Make a list of top ten things and review them with your family (and/or partner). Another option is to renegotiate. An example of what you’re probably not using right now is a gym membership.
Look for opportunities. These type of harsh realities (aka black swan events) happen every 10 to 20 years. It may be the time to look into fund accounts. Learn how to invest in times like this. Teach your children how to navigate through uncertainty. Lots of humbling moments to learn from right now.
Take a look at your loans…is it time to refinance some or ALL of those loans?!? All of your debt can be renegotiated to a lower rate right now. (Hey, you heard it from the financial expert first. Not me, hahaha!!!)

Final Thoughts:

I went through a very difficult time in 2014 and again in 2017. Through these hard years, the only quote that kept me going was, “This too shall pass.” And I do not believe it was a coincidence that this quote was repeated in today’s episode. Guys, this too shall pass. I love you, stay positive, healthy, calm and take action on at least one of the above tips. I know I am.