On January 1st you looked into the mirror and said “my goal for 2011 is to be DEBT FREE!” So why is it now February and you are deeper in debt? Does this sound like you? Maybe your goal wasn’t to be debt-free, maybe it was to stop living paycheck to paycheck or to stop using your credit cards. Whatever your goal was, are you closer to achieving it”?

I recently attended a class at Lushin and Associates, www.lushin.com. The topic for the class was “My Attitude Sucks”. Until I attended the class, I didn’t even realize that I had an attitude problem. But my attitude was preventing me from accomplishing some of my goals. My attitude was preventing me from doing the behaviors (actions) that were needed to be completed. David Sandler says, “Our attitude drives our behavior and our behavior drives our attitude”.

We are going to use four lists to help us review our progress thus far in 2011 and to develop a game plan for the coming months.

List #1: List all that you accomplished during the month of January.
Did you do a written budget? Did you discuss it with your spouse? Did you stop using your credit cards? Did you start an Emergency Fund? Did you pay extra on a credit card? What victories did you have that you can build on?

List #2: List when and why you failed, stopped or gave up on your various goals.
Did you ever get started? Was it too hard or too inconvenient? Was there not enough money? Maybe you received a bonus and didn’t feel it was necessary to budget since you had extra money. Maybe you and your spouse had an argument and you then said forget it? This is the time to look in the mirror and figure out what the big issue is that held you back.

List #3: List what you are going to do about it in February.
Start listing the possible steps you could take to jumpstart your goals. Do you know what needs to be done? Do you have the proper tools and knowledge to complete the task? Does your pride stand in your way? Do you need professional help? Commit to completing several of these action steps.

List #4: List the one thing you want to avoid.
Write down the one thing that you don’t want to do, but if you did it, you know you would be closer to accomplishing your goal. This item should be your number one priority this month.

Don’t give up on 2011. You can still make this your most successful year. But you must take action. Don’t waste another month. If this overwhelms you or if you are not sure what steps are necessary to achieve your financial victory give us a call at 317-858-7270. We offer a free initial consultation.