Self motivation and financial freedom

In my most recent posting I showed how the self motivation model has been applied to weight loss. In today’s posting I will show you how it can be applied to financial matters as well.

Recall, once again, the model for self motivation:

SELF MOTIVATION = ƒ (VISION, SUCCESSABILITY, ENVIRONMENT).

I find financial matters to be of especial interest because they affect almost all of us, especially in times such as these with the economy in such an uproar. Financial problems cause more domestic problems, more even than sex, which is not surprising since so many of us have so much baggage when it comes to money.

So let’s see how one intentional man, I’ll refer to him as Rod, applied the model for self motivation to his finances.

Rod was living pay check to pay check, had no savings, and had credit card debt that was slowly creeping up higher and higher. He hadn’t hit bottom by any means; he was employed and was able to pay the minimum payments on his credit cards every month, with enough left over to pay his bills, but he could see the writing on the wall and it wasn’t black. He knew he had to make some major changes, but he just couldn’t get motivated. He wasn’t able to say no to his wants, be it the newest video game, or going out drinking with his friends. Month after month, his credit card debt grew and it was taking more of his income to pay the minimum. Then he found out about the model for self motivation, and decided to give it a try.

For his vision, Rod decided on me as a fiscally responsible adult. He liked that the vision wasn’t just limited to being out of debt, or just having a savings account, but was instead addressing a fundamental change, from him as an irresponsible child who always satisfied himself, to becoming the responsible grownup he always knew, deep inside, he was.

For the second factor, successability, his confidence in his competence, Rod used my favorite strategy, the three step process for successability. This strategy helps the user achieve clarity, which in turn increases his successability. The three steps in this strategy are:

vision >> goal >> task.

Rod wrote down his three goals. He knew that when he had accomplished them, he would be well on his way to being that fiscally responsible adult he wanted to be.

1. Live within a budget
2. Stop using my credit cards
3. Have a savings account

Rod next figured out what tasks completing each of the goals would require, and wrote them down.

For goal #1, live within my budget, these are the tasks Rod wrote down:
1. Find out how to make a budget
2. Create the budget
3. Live within the budget.
4. Revise the budget as needed

Rod saw that task 1, find out how to make a budget, was a complex task, so he broke it down into its subtasks:
1. go to library and take out books on budgeting
2. read the books
3. go to a credit counselor for assistance on how to make a budget

Environment is the third factor of self motivation. It involves both your physical environment and your social environment.

Rod saw how one part of his social environment had played a large part in his lack of motivation to change his fiscal irresponsibility, namely his drinking buddies. This is a good example of how the three factors can impact your motivation either in a positive way or in a negative way. Rod saw he would need to change his social environment so it positively, instead of negatively, impacted his motivation to change. The first step was making the credit counselor part of his social environment. (Note, social environment includes your friends, but all people in your social environment need not be your friends. If this is confusing, read my posting on December 21st.)

But then he needed to figure out what to do about his drinking buddies. He knew he had to make a choice, either convert one or more of them to non-drinking buddies, maybe even making one of them a partner in his mission, or get new friends. Warning: it’s not always easy to make changes.

I could go on and on posting solely about how the model for self motivation applies to so many of the different circumstances and situations we as people face, but I think the point has been made. It doesn’t matter what your challenge is; it doesn’t matter what your vision is; without motivation you aren’t going anywhere. On the other hand, by taking charge of your motivation, and creating a plan for your motivation, you can overcome those challenges, and become your vision.