It’s time to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Training is all about finding your edge and then carefully, intentionally pushing it towards improvement. You can get the best shoes on the market, snag all the supplements and purchase premium training plans, but, at some point, you’re going to have to dig in on discomfort.
On some level, we all know this. Trust me, I’d be all about secret sauce to magically get faster while training at the same pace, but we both know that’s not how this works.
To get faster, we will need to push the pace for short intervals. As we chip away at it, we’ll find we can hold this higher pace for longer periods of time - one minute becomes one mile, and so on.
At that point, guess what? We challenge that edge again to slowly but surely increase our speed and stamina.
When it comes to your savings strategy and retirement race, the approach is much the same. Increasing your savings isn’t as simple as saving what you don’t spend - to get traction, you must set your intention and then build your expenses around your savings goals.
Spoiler alert, it’s going to get a bit uncomfortable for a while because you’re likely making some life adjustments to accommodate your new savings strategy. And that’s ok. With a little time and practice, much like building your pace, you’ll find ease and comfort in what was uncomfortable.
More so, much like race training, trying to make big leaps quickly is not a recipe for success. For example if you want to get to a place where you’re saving 20% of your monthly income, but are currently only saving 5%, jumping to squirreling away 15% of your next paycheck will feel pretty painful.
Instead, shoot for stowing away 7% into your savings. Do this for a couple months or so until you feel grounded and steady. Then, tack on 1% and so on.
Not only will this approach help you get to your goal, but you’ll feel sufficiently trained to hold that pace for the long-haul once you get there.
Ready for a shift in perspective when it comes to your retirement race? At Compass Financial, our philosophy is based in beginning with the end in mind. Get in touch with us today to learn more about going the distance on your financial plan.