Success is about your systems
Atomic Habits is one of my favorite self help books. For me it is more of a textbook to study and work through as opposed to a casual read. I use many parts of this book with my year long personal finance class. My main takeaways from this book: it is all about starting small, staying consistent and putting a plan in place that will guarantee your success.
This new school year presents numerous challenges and transitions that have been absent for over a year. Challenges include a new and longer commute, navigating living farther from public transportation, going from teaching 3 classes a day at home to 6 classes a day on campus and having significantly less hours in the day to do my job, hang with my family and exercise. So this summer I got busy and started working on putting systems in place to prioritize what is important and drop or outsource everything else. Here are some of our systems and changes:
We have a chore list! We listed everything that needs to get done and divided things up. For example: Scott cooks dinner Saturday-Tuesday and handles the laundry. I cook Wednesday-Friday and maintain the backyard.
Daily exercise is extremely important to me so I get up early (5:00am) and it is the first thing I do each day. This way it is done and I don't have to find the energy after work.
Safeway grocery delivery.
I make sure I am ready and most of breakfast is prep before Bailey gets up at 7am. This way we can spend our limited time together cuddling and enjoying breakfast before we all leave at 7:50am.
Life is busy and our new systems are saving my rear. I am getting daily exercise, am able to be present with Scott and Bailey and get to show up fully for my students. Things are still exhausting but none of this would have been possible without putting in the work to create the systems in place.
What are your highest priorities and do you have any systems in place that help you achieve your goals?
P.S. If you haven't done so already, I highly recommend reading Atomic Habits by James Clear. Drop the Ball by Tiffany Duff is also an excellent read on managing the home life. I read this book this summer and it had a massive impact on me.
Systems also contribute to your financial success.
Here are some ways how:
Automatic contributions & purchases in your retirement account
Automatic bill pay so you don't have to think about it and are never late (just make sure you don't overdraft your account).
Automatic transfer to savings
Direct deposit
The more we can automate our dreams, the more we can focus on living and enjoying the life and people in front of us.
Need help establishing your financial freedom systems? Sign up for my class Road to Financial Freedom and follow me on Instagram.
Disclaimer: I am an educator, not your personal financial advisor. Please make sure to do your own research before moving forward with any actions discussed in this newsletter.
Know that all investments involve some form of risk and there is no guarantee that you will be successful in making, saving, or investing money; nor is there any guarantee that you won't experience any loss when investing. Always remember to make smart decisions and do your own research!