Ready... Set... Action Plan!

Hello, how are you?

Truly I would love to hear from you, and know how you are doing during this chaotic time.  I wish everyone good health, and tranquility.

During a time of crisis, our patterns are magnified.  If we had patterns that were not helpful, but things were good enough, BAM! they hit us in the face during a crisis.  If we had habits that were not serving us, and were aware of them.  Now that is going to be really tough to confront.  And if you had habits that were working for you, and now you see just how grateful you are for those habits good for you!

Personally I believe the BEST habit, is the habit of re-evaluating, or eagerness to learn a better way.  Even if things are going good, there is still something to learn.

For those of you that are confronted with the habits that we not serving you.  Are you able to recognize them?  Or are you simply in a panic and don't know what to do?

If you are able to recognize some habits that were not serving you; or maybe could simply be better, write them down!  I'm going to provide an excellent practice.

First write down the habits that you now recognize don't work for you.  If you are not sure where to start, start by writing down how you wish things were right now.

Now that you have a couple habits written down,
do you notice any patterns?  Is it associated with feeling stressed?  Associated with a certain person?  When you are feeling hungry?  Or a certain emotional state? Maybe you recognize this pattern shows up at a certain time of day?  Maybe there is a specific thought that always shows up?

Jot down anything that is associated with the habit.

Now that you have your habit and the things associated with it, you should be able to see your pattern even more clearly.  I call these triggers.  

Now that you have your triggers in plain sight, create an action plan for each trigger.  This will require increased awareness.  Your action plan could range from a simple question, a couple deep breaths, or maybe something much more elaborate.  Maybe recognizing that you need help from a friend or a professional?  The solutions are endless, and will be very unique to each person, but I'll list some ideas below.

Some Ideas:
When you get paid set aside some money for things you know you will need as well as a curve ball.

If you invest, but sometimes make impulsive decisions.  Dedicate a certain amount of money, have a plan for when you reach certain markers.  Recognize what makes you impulsive?  Is it excitement or fear?  Dedicate a particular time of day that is more calming to handle investments.

Do grocery shopping after you ate.  Have a grocery list.  

When going clothes shopping leave your credit cards at home, and only bring cash.  Decide ahead of time what you are looking for AND how much you will pay for each item.

Do a 2 minute meditation before making any money decisions.

Do more research before making any decisions.

If you purchased an item, place it at the front door, for three days before using it.  Doing this will be annoying, and if you recognize that you don't actually need it after the three days, return it.

Create a budget for each category of spending.

Eliminate sugar.  It will be very hard for about a month.  But after a month you'll have no cravings.  You will be shocked how much cravings drive unnecessary money decisions.  Especially if you have a tendency to make impulsive decisions.  Eating a high fat, no sugar, LOTS of vegetables diet will balance out emotions and help you make more clear calm decisions.

Create a list of simple & free things that make you happy.  And do things from this list often.  Re-aligning to happiness also helps us to make more clear & calm decisions.

Change your language.  Specifically remove the word "need" from your vocabulary.  You do not "need" most things.  You might REALLY want something, but more than likely you do not need it.

If you created a list of your habits, and the patterns that relate to it, but are finding it hard to create an action plan, it could be the case that the habit runs much deeper than simply deciding to change.  That is where a money coach will come in handy!  Please reach out to me, I would love to come up with a personalize action plan that you are happy with during this stressful time.
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Sending peace,
Jessica
[email protected]

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