How many times have you thought about doing something, only you didn't do it because it made you feel uncomfortable? Think about it. Maybe it was asking your high school crush out on a date. Or it was running in that 5k race, and you hadn't run in ages. Or it was starting a blog and sending out content to people you weren't sure were going to read and/or like it.
Okay, guilty. That last example is me. And it's true. When I first started writing these, every time I went to hit send on my latest blog post a tinge of panic would temporarily overcome me. Some feelings of anxiety would take over: Will anyone read it? What if no one does? Will they like it if they read it? Oh my god, what if no one reads it?! Then I'd hit send and it was gone. Off into the interwebs. No turning back. And I'd realize that feeling of unease was gone too.
As time has gone by, I felt that tinge of panic less and less each time. In fact, I probably won't even freak out at all when I send this one out. I hope.
I've also realized that how all of you react to my articles isn't the end of the world. The point of my writing is to help, encourage, and support you on your financial journey. Someone always takes something away from these, and that's what matters. I know. I get comments on my Facebook page where I post these. LinkedIn, same thing. And emails as well. Thank you!
You know what else is uncomfortable? Saving more money. Communicating with a spouse about finances. The stock markets. Even switching to a new financial advisor.
Yup, it's true. These can all make us very uncomfortable. They can even make us panic. Some more than others. What's really causing these feelings of unease? That's what we have to understand.
For most of us, the uncomfortable feelings will subside over time. They will become natural, a part of our everyday life. The extra money we decided to save? Over time, we might feel joy, elation, or at peace about the money we have and where we are, versus the money we spent and where we were. And over time, we won't even miss it in our lifestyle. We'll adapt and the uncomfortable will become comfortable.
Change is scary for a lot of us. Mostly because of the internal dialogues we have with ourselves. I think we like to fool ourselves into how hard it will be, or maybe what we might miss out on, or even that we can't do it. The flip side is what we might be able accomplish, what we might have instead, and what those feelings and emotions will do for us. If we embrace the uncomfortable feelings, how might our life be better for it?
I've gotten much better with these here blog posts. In fact, I like to send the drafts to my wife before you all get to read them. She gets the sneak peek. She also sends me some terrific and positive feedback on them. Maybe she really likes them, or maybe she knows the positive feedback encourages me to write more. Either way, my initial feelings of unease have changed. I went from uncomfortable to comfortable. And you can start to do the same in your financial life.