Celebrating Progress: Key Strategies to Lower Financial Stress

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Ep. 186: Celebrating Progress: Key Strategies to Lower Financial Stress

In this episode of Your Money Your Life, I dive into reducing financial stress by sharing two crucial strategies from my guide, “Seven Simple Ways to Reduce Financial Stress.” First, I talk about creating a financial cushion to prevent the anxiety of unexpected expenses and overdrafts. Then, I explore the importance of celebrating progress, whether it’s hitting income goals or appreciating small wins. I also touch on the value of gratitude and positive momentum.

Tune in for these actionable insights that can simplify your financial journey and support a healthier money mindset. Don’t miss out on transformational tips to reduce your financial stress!

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Resources:

Reducing Financial Stress Guide – https://aimeecerka.com/reducestress
Discovery Call – https://aimeecerka.com/discovery
Instagram – https://instagram.com/aimeecerka

Key Points

0:00 – Episode Overview
2:04 – Creating a Financial Cushion
8:33 – Celebrating Income

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Stress-Free Finances: Simple Tips for Financial Stability

Have you hit a goal? Maybe it was an income goal that you had, or maybe it was a weight loss goal. And then you immediately set the next goal to work towards the next thing. We’ve all done that. But there’s a key in there that actually can be increasing your stress.

Talking About Financial Stress

Specifically, we’re talking about financial stress. But this principle kind of applies to all areas of our life. So we’re going to dive into this. This is the third episode where we’re talking about financial stress and reducing it. If you’re listening live, we are in the middle of holidays, but this can be something we experience year-round.

The Reducing Financial Stress Guide

Welcome back to the Your Money, Your Life podcast. I’m your host, Aimee Cerka. Today, we are talking again about financial stress. This is the third episode about financial stress. Today, I am pulling two strategies from my Reducing Financial Stress guide.

Simple Strategies to Reduce Financial Stress

The guide has seven simple ways to reduce financial stress. We are not covering all seven on the podcast. If you want to check that out, the link is amycirca.com/reducestress. Last time, we talked a little more about tactical strategies. Today, we’ve got one tactical strategy and another that is a hybrid, tactical strategy with mindset mixed in.

Create a Cushion

The first strategy is so simple to do but makes a big difference. Let’s get into it. Create a cushion. Remember, if you listened to the last episode, we talked about checking in with your finances. Designating time to sit and look at your finances is important.

Living in a Noisy Society

We live in a society with so many loud notifications all the time. Your phone, your computer, all the things. But there is fear of the unknown. What if you miss something? Especially if you are budgeting on zero-based budgeting.

Fear of Overdrafting

Every dollar is assigned can be stressful. If you forget something, it can overdraft the account. This is probably the biggest fear: missing an expense or overdrafting. Things that need to be taken care of aren’t taken care of. There’s a fear of managing this.

Creating a Cushion Simplifies Everything

A really simple solution is to create a cushion. You start with a number, maybe $250. I’ve done $250, $500, and $1000. It depends on your situation and comfort level. You can make $250 happen now and work towards $500.

Cushion for Personal and Business Accounts

I do this for both personal and business accounts. Most of us here are business owners. You leave a cushion in your bank account. Say it’s $500. You leave $500 in your checking account as a safety net.

Avoid Overdrafting with a Cushion

Your savings have $500 sitting there. When life happens, you have $500 to fall back on. You won’t overdraft the account. There’s a sense of safety there. Personal and business accounts benefit from this.

Celebrating Your Progress

The second strategy is about celebrating your progress. We’ve talked before about gratitude. This is a little different because we need to celebrate our achievements. We often set income goals and hit them, then set the next goal without celebration. We should take a moment to celebrate.

Celebrate Every Achievement

Celebrate subscriptions in your business that process every month. Appreciate and celebrate them. If someone cancels, you’d feel it then. So take a moment to focus and celebrate. I’ve got text notifications that go off on my phone when a sale comes through.

Honoring Every Sale

Whether it’s a subscription or a one-time sale, I celebrate. I have routines to celebrate and honor that. It doesn’t matter if it’s a $9 subscription or a $2,000 project. Money is money, and we should celebrate our progress. You can also celebrate cutting expenses and increasing profit.

Building Positive Momentum

The energy of celebration builds positive momentum. It shifts your focus. Acknowledge every day you’ve received income. It’s not just about money; it’s about receiving in general. Celebrate and acknowledge how far you’ve come.

Powerful Exercise to Track Progress

Look at your income year after year. See the growth from two years ago, five years ago. This is for both business owners and W2 employees. Appreciate how far you’ve come. It’s easy to get caught up in the weeds and not appreciate the progress.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas

That’s a great place to leave it today. If you celebrate, Merry Christmas. I hope you’ve had a wonderful holiday season. I’m excited for next week’s episode. Links will be below in the description.

Check Out the Reducing Financial Stress Guide

Check out the full guide on reducing financial stress at amycirca.com/reducestress. You can also book a call with me if you need financial support. Let’s see what program is right for you. Thank you so much for listening to the Your Money, Your Life podcast. I’ve got a special gift for you for sticking around to the end.

Grab the 14-Day Money Mastery Action Plan

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