Monday, December 3, 2007

Blog link: The 10 Key Actions That Finally Got Me Out of Debt; or, Why Living Frugally is Only Part of the Solution | Zen Habits

OK, here's a great one from Leo @ Zen Habits:

The 10 Key Actions That Finally Got Me Out of Debt; or, Why Living Frugally is Only Part of the Solution Zen Habits

In particular, here's a great quote:
"And one of the most important steps, as mentioned above, was increasing my income in multiple ways, in a series of steps designed to get my finances in better shape and to pay off debt faster."

When you're overweight and trying to fix your problems you can't just eat to get level, you have to eat less. You can't just fix the "overeating habit", you actually have to starve yourself to counteract the overeating. It's like creating a bad habit to fix the other habit. Usually a good weight loss plan involves exercise too though... it's not just "eating less".

And I think this is what Leo's really talking about and it's not something that many people mention. The journey out of debt/weight problems (same thing BTW) is fraught with perils and setbacks, but it's also something that needs to be fixed from two directions.

When you talk about overcoming challenges there are always two things that you can do:
1. Remove obstacles
2. Increase forward momentum

Living frugally is equivalent to doing #1. But finding a way to make more money is equivalent to #2. What I really like is the way he talks about making more money:
The key is to find something you’re passionate about, and pursue that with all of your heart. That might mean educating yourself, and learning new skills. That might mean finding mentors, and starting at the bottom. But when you’re passionate about something, you’re more motivated to learn and to succeed. Really pour yourself into it, and you’ll find a way.

And here's where he's nailed it, this is where you do #2. Work both sides of the problem. This is what I tell everybody b/c we just don't hear it enough. Don't just lose weight, work out too, it makes the problem much easier to resolve.

Of course, as always, YMMV.

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