3 Brilliant things every Achiever needs to do

MONITORING, TRACKING, BUDGETING

The numbers on the scale kept creeping up, the computer screen insisted I spend too much time with it, and I had no budget.

I ate what I wanted when, spent too freely, and had no time management plan.

I fed myself, chores were accomplished, and everything got paid, but I knew I did not have self-control. I was miserable on all fronts.

Every day for lunch at work

I was growing away from the disciplined “me” that I had always been. In my gloriously disciplined days, my lunch consisted of half a tuna and mustard sandwich and one red apple. Every day. For a year and a half!

Now, I was getting out of control with time, food, and money.

I had to get ahold of myself! Two of my strengths were Achiever and Discipline, for heaven’s sake! (Read this post for more about strengths.)

I had put off getting on a budget because I thought “it won’t work, we’ll be in the red every month.” I explained my thinking to my Edward Jones guy, Matt, and he said do it anyway.

So, I asked my son, Luke, to help me get started because even though he had a very limited income, he was a successful “budgeter.”  🙂

A brand new year

On January 1 (what better time to start?) I started our financial journey. By transferring out of savings, we started with a clean slate.

To make things more interesting, at this time our church had started a 212 Initiative and we had bumped up our giving.

I am excited to report that we have not had to borrow from savings since January 1. Budgeting is working and I love it!

I use an Excel spreadsheet because that is what Luke uses. There are many options for budgeting and some are free, so look around.

Brilliant Thing #1–Get on some form of financial budget, no matter your financial situation

One day I had a brainstorm, an epiphany…a light bulb went on! I realized that self-control (what God wants us to have) (more about this later) is a budget/budgeting! AND that budgeting is not only for money but can be used for what we eat and how we spend our time.

I have always fought my weight. I am short, 5 feet and one-half inch, so there are not many places on me to hide extra weight, and it shows!

I eat mostly healthy, but without tracking my consumption, I was eating too much.

My husband eats a lot just to maintain his weight.  😡  This affected my portion sizes.

So, on March 27 of this year, I started my food “budgeting.”

Vulnerability alert!

I am going to share the dreaded numbers so you can help keep me accountable and share in my success.  🙂 The scale registered 134ish when I knew that I could stand it no longer. As of this post, the scale is getting happier at 128ish.

I weighed 113 when I became Mrs. Rick Jacobsen. I have heard that a good goal is to weigh within 10 pounds of your wedding weight.

I’m making progress! And you can, too, with the right tools.

1. It all starts with your mindset, when you are absolutely fed up with yourself (pun intended!).
2. Read books about healthy eating and weight control. Doing this firms the mindset even more.
3. Start a food journal.
4. If you have an accountability* partner, even better!

Making healthy, smart choices is hard work!

We must choose each day to eat healthy food instead of the foods that ultimately keep us defeated, overweight and unfit. Our job is to do the hard work of choosing healthy foods to eat and putting on our walking shoes to go for a daily walk.

*Speaking of accountability, in 2004, my friend and I did First Place, a Bible study for weight loss. The classes met weekly for learning, support, and weigh-in. I lost 18 pounds in 10 weeks. My friend still follows the plan when she needs to get back on track. Accountability works!

I use the diet journal below. I bought and started using it back in 2012, so I don’t know if it is still available, but there are many good options to choose from.

Start budgeting your food, you’ll be glad you did!

Brilliant Thing #2–Use some form of food journal to track and budget your eating

The third area is my most recently tackled issue: time management. I could easily spend unending hours crafting this blog, but then, of course, I would not accomplish other things that I need and want to do.

I already had a rough schedule in my head, but a couple of weeks ago I improved upon it and typed it out. The first day that I followed it, I got more done–everything on the schedule.  🙂

My daily schedule is quite detailed. I think that is why it works. Feel free to copy and tweak it for your busy life.

Brilliant Thing #3–Monitor your time with a daily schedule

The Bible says in Proverbs 25:28 “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.”

My footnotes say: Even though city walls restricted the inhabitants’ movement, people were happy to have them. Without walls, they would have been vulnerable to attack by any passing group of marauders. Self-control limits us, to be sure, but it is necessary. An out-of-control life is open to all sorts of enemy attack. Think of self-control as a wall for defense and protection.

Because of my strengths and personality I love lists, journals, and tracking things. These tools strengthen my self-control.

My trading mentor once said to me, “What gets measured, gets managed. What gets managed, gets done.” This is me to a “T”, and I believe it is true.

Did you notice the image above with the road and gorgeous blue sky? Monitoring and tracking will take you where you want to go.  🙂

Well, the numbers on the scale are creeping down, I am successfully budgeting, and the computer screen misses me sometimes, but that is good!

In summary, whatever part of your life needs tightening up, use some type of tracking system because “Monitoring what you want to accomplish changes everything!”

It was fun sharing these brilliant things Achievers do. I wish you much success in your tracking journey. I found this article that shares some of these same ideas, as well as other good ones. It is a good quick read.

TTFN (ta ta for now)

Blessings and blooms,

Pam

Beautiful Rhododendrons