Have you ever felt anxious as a busy season approaches? If you’re like me, when you look at the calendar and see the holidays approaching, a busy work season, or maybe a busy summer travel schedule, you start to think about all the things you need to coordinate to make it all happen.
Now, let’s say you’re considering getting serious about your money goals and you know that will require making some changes to your day-to-day. Do you shut it down faster than Laura Winslow shutting down Steve Urkel because there’s too much on your to-do list already? (if you don’t get the reference, congratulations on being much younger than me!)
If you’re in pursuit of the big life you know is on the other side of prioritizing your financial goals, don’t let the changes scare you away! Here are some tips for preparing yourself and your family for a season focused on money goals:
Decide what your purpose is for the work you’ll be doing on your money goals, and how it will benefit everyone
Why are you going “all in” on your goal this time? Are you sick and tired of debt? Are you dreaming of traveling around the world with your family? Is college quickly approaching for your kids and you want to be able to contribute? Whatever your reason, if you’re asking them to get on board they have to know how it benefits them too.
Ask yourself: what’s most important to me in this season? What can I let go of that’s not so important in this season? Ask your family the same questions
When I’m feeling overwhelmed by the busy season that follows a particularly lofty financial goal, I need to narrow it down to the most important things so I can clear out some mental clutter. So I ask myself, “what’s most important to me in this season?” some answers I’ve given have been:
- Early mornings so I can squeeze in an extra hour of work each day
- Daily excercise
- Being done with work by the time the kids are home from school
- Time to binge my shows with my husband every night
- Choosing foods that fuel my body and give me the energy I need for a productive day
Then I ask myself, “what is not important to me in this season?” some answers I have given have been:
- Home cooked meals
- Being at all the events at my kids’ school
- Deep cleaning my home (surface level cleaning will have to do)
- Saying yes to all the opportunities presented to me
Then take it a step further and ask your family the same questions
You will probably be surprised by their answers. I remember heavy mom guilt surrounding being at all my kids’ activities so I asked them what was most important to them and they really didn’t care if I was at all of them, just a few of the big games. I had been stressing over something that didn’t even matter to them.
Hammer down a plan for what this season will look like so you can communicate it clearly to your family
Once you know why you’re doing this and what you and your family’s priorities are you can make a plan. Communicating what to expect of each other in this season is so important. Maybe it means you’re picking up an extra shift at work each week. Your family needs to know that. Or maybe it means you are cutting back on spending for a while. Your family needs to know that too.
Consider yourself the project manager of this season. If you can’t communicate what the plan is to the people involved, how are they supposed to help?
Be mindful of your approach
Sometimes when we get excited about a goal we can unintentionally go a little overboard. Have you ever decided to do an extreme diet to achieve a weight loss goal? How’d that work out for you? My guess is it didn’t work or only worked temporarily.
The same thing can be said for the approach you take with your family in this season. If you go extreme and spend every extra minute trying to make a dollar, and only feed them ramen noodles everyday their level of excitement might not match yours.
This next season of financial growth can look a lot less stressful and be a whole lot more harmonious in your family if you take the time to do these few simple things. Excited to hear how this goes for you!
<3 Krista
If you are a busy mama looking to go from just getting by, to thriving when it comes to your money, follow Krista on instagram @moneymindfulmoms for more