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Debt Elimination: The Inestimable Importance Of Your "Why"

debt elimination

We all know that getting out of debt can be REALLY difficult. I know, "captain obvious" statement of the week, right?

We can all acknowledge that the journey is going to be tough, but there's something unique that happens when the "switch" gets flipped.

When that moment arrives, you know that something's got to change and you're willing to do just about anything to make this debt go away. There's a deep deep sense of change in your orientation and it's profound.

It's like in a moment you transition from being "hunted" TO being a "hunter". You go from being hunted by your debt, poor money decisions, financial irresponsibility, by your "cravings", and by the people and entities that you "owe".

Instead, you transition into being a hunger: an intensely active, insatiably hungry, internally motivated hunter. Contrast this to your recently former self: a perhaps passive, frightened and hapless victim of circumstance, society, employer, the marketing industrial complex, the government, your family, friends and colleagues.

This switch is deep and profound and the energy you receive from it can be long lasting and even permanent and I certainly hope that it is.

But I would be remiss if I didn't prepare you for the potential trolls that may forcibly attack you while you're forging down the debt-elimination road. And, without proper defenses in place, these trolls will either temporarily derail you or cause you to walk away from the process altogether.

The most effective way to deal with these is to do it by preemptively being able to articulate your strong, passionate, emotional "why".

I'm dedicating a whole post to defining and refining your "why" because, after coaching students through debt-elimination for over a decade, I've seen at a very personal level that the ones who are most intimately in touch with their "why" are the ones who: 1) finish eliminating their debt and 2) finish faster than people who don't have that pervasive, defined, all-encompassing "why".

So, let's talk about "why".

The "Why" Switch

Time to get to "why" and get this thing going!

That "switch" may be triggered by an event or even an ongoing situation like:

You're just sick and tired of being sick and tired of your money situation.
You're incredibly fed up with always being behind on bills and buried in debt.
An unexpected emergency arose that awakened you to the fact that you're broke AND deeply in debt AND you're now totally "over it".
Your money situation is preventing you from doing something that you REALLY want to do like:
- Take an extended vacation or "sabbatical" from your work.
- Preventing you from engaging with your friends, family, social network the way you'd like to.
- Bless someone else who's deeply in need.
- Give to a cause you deeply believe in.
You're "DONE" with running from your debt AND you're simultaneously "SWITCHED ON" about running to all the things, people and situations that will secure your freedom from debt.

Do you "get down" with Pinterest? Would you mind sharing this pin on one of your boards?

This "switch" being flipped moment is typically a great catalyst for:

1. Prodding you on to start eliminating your debt AND

2. Providing material for your strong, passionate, emotional "why".

So, the actual decision to get out of debt can be pretty easy, especially when you've got something pressing on you like a financial emergency or series of financial obligations that need tending to.

Again, once that switch is flipped, you will start Googling ways and means, tips and tricks to get out fo debt. You may have searched on Google, YouTube, Facebook and Pinterest and assembled a workable plan.

Awesome! Get after it and be encouraged!

But Don't Skip This Part

Knowing and being able to articulate your "why" is like planting seeds for future success in your debt-elimination process. Storms will come, so we need to get those roots growing.

Once the switch is flipped and you're deep into your new found "tips and tricks", it can be REALLY tempting to overlook addressing some of the underlying issues that have gotten you into the situation you're currently in.

You HAVE TO address these. These issues are going to be the ones that help you to formulate your "why".

Again, here are some ideas for consideration that will help you to formulate your "why".

You're just sick and tired of being sick and tired of your money situation.
You're incredibly fed up with always being behind on bills and buried in debt.
An unexpected emergency arose that awakened you to the fact that you're broke AND deeply in debt AND you're now totally "over it".
Your money situation is preventing you from doing something that you REALLY want to do like:
- Take an extended vacation or "sabbatical" from your work.
- Preventing you from engaging with your friends, family, social network the way you'd like to.
- Bless someone else who's deeply in need.
- Give to a cause you deeply believe in.
You're "DONE" with running from your debt AND you're simultaneously "SWITCHED ON" about running to all the things, people and situations that will secure your freedom from debt.

Action Item: What's Your "Why"?

Take advantage of this awesome free resource to get your process started asap.

If you've hung around my content for any length of time, you know that I'm all about action. So, today's action item is to answer the questions below and leave one or two in the comments section.

In brief, what is your "why"?

Why do you want to get out of debt?

Why do you want to put yourself through the often extreme difficulty of embarking on this debt elimination process?

If you could change one thing you’d like to be able to do or to do differently in a year, what would it be?

Are you tired of having to scramble every month to make sure you have enough money to pay all your obligations?

Where do you want to be in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 years? Can you imagine what waking up everyday would feel like if you were out of debt and well on your way to financial independence?

Are you not just totally fed up with running away from this? Are you ready, I mean REALLY ready to find that place inside of you that will do this "no matter what"?

Now, let's talk about plugging your "why" into a proven system to get you out of debt.

The 8 Steps To Obliterate Your Debt:

This is the blog post that outlines the 8 steps I followed to eliminated $43,000 in debt in 2.5 years.

And whether this is your first or thousandth time on the blog, I want to make sure you have this “8 Steps” framework that ALL of our content is centered around.

These are the steps I personally followed to obliterate $43,000+ of debt in 2.5 years.

Maybe your number is bigger, maybe it’s smaller. Either way the principles are the same and I want you to have them.

0. Stop All Retirement Investing (Until Step 4)

1. Build A Budget

2. Starter Emergency Fund of $1000

3. Eliminate Debts Smallest To Largest (a.k.a The Debt Snowball)

4. Full Emergency Fund of 3-6+ Months’ Expenses

5. Invest A Minimum of 15% Income Into Retirement Accounts (and increase savings rate to 50%+ if possible)

6. College Funding (if applicable)

7. Pay Off The Home Mortgage

8. Build Wealth, Serve, Be Ridiculously Generous And Go FI (Financial Independence)!

I’ve created a simple, easy to follow guide that you can use as your foundation as you navigate the absolute annihilation of your debt forever.

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When You Need More Help

And again, if you’re looking for some resources to get started, you can download our free budgeting forms. Also, if you’re in a place where you’re ready to kick your debt in the teeth, here's the link to our free “8 Steps To Erase Debt” guide for you to use as your foundation.

To your freedom,

Brad

[email protected]

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We're Brad & Angelica Long.

We're on a mission to help 10,000, 5 and 6 figure corporate employees and entrepreneurs: 1) organize their finances, 2) obliterate debt and 3) accelerate toward financial independence by starting and growing online businesses.

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