Whether we are talking about athletes, artists, or academics, the story is the same. If you want to fulfill your potential then you must practice a specific skill for a long time and with steady consistency. Mastery of anything is never an accident. It’s deliberate.
This is how the Beatles became one of the most successful musical acts in human history.
It’s how Greek legend Milo developed incredible strength by picking up a young calf every day.
And it’s how Bill Gates and Warren Buffett achieved their extreme wealth.
In his great book, Outliers, Malcom Gladwell called this phenomenon in which “the rich get richer”, the “accumulative advantage.” Indeed there is a snowball effect at play when it comes to success. Success breeds success.
And it’s because of this fact…
Somehow, top performers in any area find a way to fall in love with what they are doing, put in their time, and simply do the work.
Of course, whenever “experts” share stories about successful people they often leave out a key ingredient of the story. How, exactly, do top performers fall in love with their craft?
Perhaps more important, how can you fall in love with saving money when you’re trying to build a habit that you know you should do, but you don’t really want to do?
Let me share two strategies that work.
How to Fall in Love With Saving Money
First, there is very little hope for falling in love with a habit that you truly hate. I don’t know anyone that legitimately dislikes an activity and somehow falls in love with doing it. It just doesn’t work. It’s very difficult to hate something and be in love with it at the same time.
If you want to fall in love with saving money, then you have two options.
Option 1: Increase your proficiency at saving.
Even tasks that you are good at will feel monotonous some days, so imagine the uphill battle you’re fighting if you are constantly trying to do something that you don’t feel skilled at. This is the number one reason most people quit early when trying to form a new habit. The solution? Learn the basic fundamentals of saving money and celebrate the small wins and improvements you make. Let’s say you purchase some books on saving and investing and you learn how to create a budget and the basics of stock investing. Practicing these new skills can be fun and making tiny improvements each week builds momentum. You see, it’s much easier to fall in love with doing something over and over again if you can look forward to making progress.
Option 2: Fall in love with a result of the task rather than the task itself.
Let’s be real: there are some things that we should do that are always going to be a hassle. Doing sit ups might be an example. Very few people look forward to hurling their body forward over and over while trying to tighten-up the abdominal muscles. But we know in the end it is good for us!
What you will find, is that you will have more success in situations like these when you shift your focus away from the actual task and toward a result. Sometimes this is a direct result of the habit you are trying to perform. Other times, it’s a result that you can invent. For example, you can make a game out of not missing a day of saving a certain amount of money, even if you don’t enjoy the task itself. Let’s say you have saved a certain amount of money every day for two weeks in a row.
Your goal is to fall in love with becoming the type of person who doesn’t miss saving money.
You’re not worried about how fast your wealth is growing. You’re not worried about becoming a millionaire today or any other type of result. For the most part, you’re not even thinking about saving. Instead, you’re simply focused on keeping your savings streak alive.
This is basically the Seinfeld Strategy applied to building wealth. Your only goal is to “not break the chain.” By shifting your focus away from the activity you dislike, you’re giving yourself an opportunity to fall in love with the boredom of sticking to the streak (something you do enjoy).
The Power of Patience
Success is often found by practicing the fundamentals that everyone knows they should be doing, but they find too boring or basic to practice routinely.
It’s like running for 30 minutes a day or doing 100 sit ups per day. There’s nothing sexy about it, but it works.
You don’t need to reinvent the fundamentals. You just need to commit to them. Do more of what already works.
So, fall in love with the momentum you see when you start saving money.
Fall in love with keeping the savings streak alive.
Fall in love with saving money and unlock your hidden millionaire.
Be free. Nothing else is worth it.
Ready for more tips on how to achieve the free life? Check-out more articles from the blog archives below:
Overcoming Financial Myopia: How To Think Long Term, In A Short Term Obsessed World
Having Difficulty Staying Positive After A Setback? Use The “Ledger System” To Bounce Back!
Common Sense Financial Advice That People Tend To Ignore…And Later Regret Ignoring!
