It’s a new week. You made it through the Super Bowl, but more importantly, you actually went to work instead of calling in for bereavement leave for Jack Pearson after lasts nights’ episode of This Is Us. Congrats, that is a mini win by itself. As we all begin a new week full of promise and progress, I want to urge you to take a deep look at things we unconsciously do as a form of self-sabotage. If we can self-correct these things that we are all guilty of, from time to time, we will be better with how we handle our money, careers, relationships, and lifestyle goals. In order to do better, we must know better and to know better, we must make self-reflection something that we do often. The smart, beautiful, diverse and encouraging financial accountability community affectionately known as the SMC Money Tribe inspired this post and I hope that it inspires a bit of self-love to some really dope women.

Every week, tribe members are encouraged to take part in financial check-ins where they share their weekly wins and progress on the She Makes Cents 52 Week BINGO Money Challenge. In that space, women are not afraid to toot their own horns by celebrating their big and small wins. I’ve noticed though that many of the tribe members have been a little hard on themselves lately and embarrassed by their smaller strides. Maybe you are not as far in your debt free journey as you thought you would be. Or maybe, you haven’t actually started yet. Either way, it is time for a mindset shift toward positivity and abundance. One day or day one? Are you ready? Let’s get started.

Stay in Your Lane

We all remember this moment when the swimmer, Chad le Clos, took his eyes off the prize to see what Michael Phelps was doing. If only he stayed in his lane and stayed focus. How often do we get caught up in what other people are doing? We focus on other people’s money, their careers, their relationships, and whatever else they are doing for the Gram.  Instead, we should invest that energy in our own money, career, and relationships.  When you take your eyes off the prize to see what other people are doing, you are wasting time that can be spent cultivating better habits for yourself.  Le Clos wasted his time and lost. Let that be a lesson to you. What other people do is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!!!!  When you stay in your lane, there is nothing to distract you from the target in sight.

Evaluate How You Measure Your Own Progress

I have noticed lately that members of the SMC Money Tribe get embarrassed when they are crossing off a lower number on the 52 Week BINGO Money Challenge, especially when other members of the community are crossing off higher numbers for the week. That is because they are measuring their progress against the progress of someone else. I spoke a little about this on the She Makes Cents Instagram page, but I want to go a little deeper here. Instead of measuring your progress by how far you have left to go, instead, celebrate how much progress you have already made. Think about to your starting point and know that you are in a better place than where you first began. I created the BINGO version of the 52 Week Money Challenge was because I knew that there would be weeks where I could not afford to save a lot of money and in those weeks I could select a lower amount to cross off of the money card.  I would rather save a small amount than nothing at all and that fact that the SMC Money Tribe and I save money EVERY WEEK and put it toward our money goals is something worth celebrating by itself.  Also, if you wait until you have saved a significant amount of money or are in a place to make a lump sum payment

For this week and moving forward, I charge you to check how you measure your own progress and how you focus you are on your goals at hand.  Write your top money, career, and lifestyle goals on a piece of paper and put it up somewhere where you will see it all the time.  Stay focus on your goals.  Create a strategy to reach your goals and don’t’ be afraid to celebrate your wins, big or small.  Have a great week!