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Ep. 184: Navigating Financial Stress – Real Life Techniques For Reducing Stress In The Holiday Season
In this episode of Your Money Your Life, I dive into managing financial stress and share effective strategies and tactics I use and recommend to clients. Starting with a funny story, I discuss my personal experiences with financial stress and the tools I’ve used to navigate through challenging situations. I’ll also introduce a three-part series on reducing financial stress with resources from a recent health and wellness event. Grab the guide, learn practical steps, and discover how to maintain your peace and progress despite life’s pressures. Tune in for actionable insights and support for your financial journey.
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0:00 – Episode Overview
1:33 – Stress is going to show up
4:28 – What tools did I use in that moment
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Navigating Financial Stress
Have you been dealing with financial stress lately? Today we’re going to talk about a couple different things, a couple different ways. Strategies, tactics, whatever we want to call them that I use and recommend to clients when it comes to reducing financial stress. We’ll get started with a quick story or a funny story. And yeah. So let’s get into it.
Talking About Financial Stress
Welcome. I’m so glad you’re here. Welcome back to the Your Money, Your Life podcast. I’m your host, Aimee Cerka. We are talking about financial stress today, but I will tell you, I don’t have any notes. We are going off book because ironically enough, unironically, whatever you want to call it, I have a three-part series planned out talking about financial stress and ways to reduce financial stress.
A Special Resource
It was part of a vendor event recently. They did a little, whatever you want to call it, small business showcase there for some of their clients. It’s a health and wellness chiropractic center. There we go. We’re going to remember words that I’ve attended for years.
So I put together a specific resource on seven different ways. Seven, seven different tactics, strategies, things that I utilize within my coaching and bookkeeping services to make sure that I help clients reduce financial stress. I was like, you know what, it’ll be perfect timing, right? We’ll talk about this in December. We’ll break it up into a three-part series.
End of the Year Stress
We’ll talk about a couple of different ones of these, give you the link so you can grab the guide, download all seven. Because I know as we get to the end of the year, things can be a little crazy. Things can be chaotic. We can feel all of the societal stress pressure. All of those things can show up.
High-Stress Day
Had this planned and here we are again. I had planned to record this on Monday, but even, okay, even after this happened, I still planned on recording this on Monday. It just did not happen. But there were things that showed up for me and it was a very high-stress day. So I don’t want you to feel, and this is part of the Unstoppable Finances framework, right, that this is what we talk about.
Life Isn’t Perfect
We are not going to create this life where stuff doesn’t come up. It’s not going to be butterflies and rainbows, etc., like things are still going to happen. It’s what are we going to do when they do happen. So if I’m kind of honest, there’s been a massive project that I’ve been working on that there was extra pressure and stress that were showing, was showing up there. So like that had been an ongoing thing but Monday, that was just what showed up for me.
Several Different Triggers
There were several different triggers. We’re going to talk through some of the things today that I’ve utilized over the last several days when this shows up and how I navigated it. And then next week we’ll go back to the guide. So before we dive into that, if you want to grab the guide. Oh my goodness, I forgot what I named it. What did I name it?
Reducing Financial Stress Guide
Reducing financial stress. Seven simple ways to take control of your money. So if you want to grab that guide, you can have all seven. Check it out now. Link’s gonna be in the show notes below. aimeecerka.com Reduce stress.
Handling Pressure and Stress
Okay, so when the stress and the. Well yeah, let’s get to the pressure part here. When that showed up for me, real life, right. What did I do? What were the tools? What were the strategy? What were the things that I used in that moment to help move through and be able to still make progress like we needed to when those things show up.
Effective Strategies
Now I’m not deviating from the seven strategies because they don’t work. They’re all very effective. But when I was reading through this before I hit record, I was like, this isn’t, these aren’t the things that we need to talk about today. Okay, so first thing I did, really it’s more about writing.
Identify the Source of Stress
Okay, let’s back up. Nevermind, redo. Right. The first thing that we need to talk about is where the stress is coming from. And a lot of times it’s because there is pressure that’s showing up. We have to figure this out by a certain time, we have to hit this deadline.
Pressure Creates Stress
We have to do this thing by and then or this awful thing might happen, right? Real or fantasized, imagine, doesn’t matter. We feel this pressure showing up. We feel the pressure maybe to make sure that our kids are keeping up with the Joneses mentality that we can feel, especially around the holidays. Maybe, you know, you don’t feel like you have time, or maybe you don’t have time, you don’t want to make the time to choose to go deliver meals to those who are without.
Handling Financial Goals and Pressure
That’s perfectly fine, right? But you’re feeling the pressure because you see so and so do it on Facebook or whatever it might be, or you’re feeling the pressure to make sure your kids have a great Christmas, or you’re feeling the pressure to hit the income goal, or you’re feeling the pressure for whatever it might be, right? You’re feeling the pressure and that makes the stress show. We allow the stress to show up because we’re feeling the pressure.
What’s the Worst Case Scenario?
So one of the strategies that I even utilize in the moment with this big project that I’ve been working on, it’s like, okay, so what happens if I don’t hit the deadline? Talking through the worst-case scenario, and for some people this helps and some people it doesn’t, right? But walk through the worst-case scenario if this awful thing that can’t happen does happen, what are you going to do?
Reality and Planning
What’s the strategy? What’s the next step forward? Is like, okay, can you restart? Can you do this? Whatever, maybe it has to do with income goals. It can have to do with activities that you want to have. If this doesn’t happen, what are you going to do? And even just talking through those steps like, okay, I would do this and then I would do this or I would do this, then there’s the peace that occurs because you realize, like we’ve trained where the stress and the pressure triggers like that.
Instinctual Part of Our Brain
Oh, my goodness, I can’t remember what it’s called. It’s the part of our brain, like the instinctual part, the survival part of our brain. There we go. When we can show reality, show facts where things are at, it helps settle things down.
Writing Down Tasks
Okay. Another thing that I did was writing, writing down the things that we need to do and working better to streamline them. Because I’ve had a time management productivity system for forever. It works great when I use it, right. But I am trying to migrate my project management system on the business side.
Organize Your To-Do List
So it’s like halfway migrated, halfway, not migrated And I don’t have the new system quite figured out. And then I kind of paused because I was in the middle of this big project. So I had to do list everywhere. And like my to do list had to do list for weeks. And it was very overwhelming because you don’t know what do you need to get done and you feel like you’re going to drop something, right?
Stress-Free Productivity
There’s something that you’re going to miss. And even like when I, before I went to record this, I looked down because I sat with the productivity system and actually made my sheet this on Mondays when I kind of like, well, I guess Sunday I ran that part in, worked on writing down, okay, this is what all needs to be accomplished. But I was able to reference that and realize, oh, crap, I have to go make that stop before tonight because this is on a deadline.
Getting Outside Helps
So this is the important. Not just urgent, what’s urgent and important, but there was a list of things. We got it out of my head and into one sheet or a couple of sheets, depending on the system here, of all the things that we needed to get done. And then I’m able to look at it and prioritize, okay, what needs to be done next, what needs to be worked on first and take that step back. And as again, it was just a way to allow myself to take the step back and take a breath and feel like I had the space to move forward and make the decision because we weren’t up to your neck, up to your eyeballs, whatever you want to call it, and just trying to tread water.
Rejuvenating Walks
When you create that space to take the step back, we figured out where the pressure is at, take the step back and then you’re able to kind of breathe. Another thing that I did wasn’t really on Monday. I did this on Tuesday. And this is something that I know for myself. So there might be a little bit of balance and practice and trying a couple of things out to figure out what this thing is for you, but I know, well, okay, hold on, let me explain this part and then we’ll sidetrack.
Finding What Works for You
I know that if I get outside and I go for a walk or if I go for a hike, if I am feeling stressed out, overwhelmed, whatever it might be, all of those emotions are going on, I’m able to settle. It is rejuvenating for me. I’m able to release whatever tension I’m holding. I can sit there and observe things in nature. I can listen to a coaching call.
Relaxing Activities
I can talk with people who are closer to me. We’re going to get to more of that in a minute. Like all of those things, I can still, I can do all of that. And it is so rejuvenating, even if it’s freaking cold. It was really cold yesterday and windy and all of that.
Doing What You Need
But it was like, no, like, I know that I need to do this for me because when I take the time, when I take the space, the hour that it took to walk the three miles, when I took space to do that, it made me so much more productive later on. So my side note here, getting outside, fresh air, vitamin D, all of that, like that nature, we can talk about, grounding, we can talk about all those things. Like that’s scientifically proven that that does that for you, but you might not feel it at first. Maybe you’re not an outside person. Maybe it’s really freaking cold for you and there’s snow on the ground or whatever else and you’re like, no, thank you.
Take Care of Yourself
Find what that is for you. What is the thing that you can do for you in that moment to take the time to rejuvenate to whatever that might be. Okay? And I know, I know that, I know because I was saying this earlier on a coaching call, like in my head, that works for you, but it doesn’t work for me because I have a bunch of little kids running around. I don’t have the space.
Managing Time and Space
So I have more space now in my schedule to be able to walk and hike and do some of those things depending on the day. Obviously with the custody, when my younger kids are with their father, then I have the space to go do that for myself. Hiking, walking is much more enjoyable. We have fun at forest school and we hike and walk, but it’s not as far for sure as it is when I’ve got the eight, six and two year old with me. Right.
Outdoor Breaks
If you are thinking that, like that’s great for you, Aimee, but that doesn’t work for me because I have this specific situation. I have also done it where I just go stand in the backyard outside. You can see out the windows if you’re watching on YouTube, but I can just go be in the backyard. I have also made a list of projects that need to be done outside.
Short Breaks Help
Because I’ve walked away from work. It’s like, okay, I just need a break. I can go outside and knock out a 20-minute task. That was on my to-do list. Maybe it was a quick little area that needed to be cleaned up.
Rejuvenate and Reset
Maybe you don’t have to do anything. I’ve hung the hammock out and went and worked in the backyard for half an hour. And it makes a difference. Or I’ve just sat outside for 15 minutes, whatever it might be. And maybe it’s not being outside because again, I know it’s getting cold for a lot of people.
Finding Your Stress Reliever
It was really cold for us earlier or yesterday, and then colder this morning for forest school. But find something. Find that thing that you can get away, that 10 minutes that helps you settle. Okay. Again, might take some experimenting. You can do that.
Talking Through It
Another strategy that I’ve used this week with all of this is talking through things with someone. And you’ve got to find the right person for this. You’ve got to find the person, whoever it might be in your corner that you can talk through. And sometimes it’s just, you know, verbal processing, right? Like just getting that information out of your head so you can come to the decision yourself.
Getting Support
We can actually talk about human design and like, where, like there’s things that you can see in your design how like you typically work. There’s authorities, like you’re. So I’m an emotional authority, but there’s authorities that like, they just need to talk through that. All right? They have all the answers. They just need to verbal process that.
Talking Helps
But we all have tendencies. Whether you’ve got an undefined throat, defined throat is not going to side tangent on human design, but finding somebody that you can talk through stuff with, like just this part here is frustrating. This is what I’m frustrated with. This is what I’m dealing with. Like, talking through it can definitely help, but we also need to be careful that we’re not.
Processing Emotions
This isn’t just about sitting and complaining in it. It’s like the. You process it to be able to move on. Right? We have all of these things that you’re dealing with. And when you’re able just to release it and let it go, we can move on, we can keep going.
Unstoppable Approach
That’s where the unstoppability comes in, right. It’s not what shows up for you, it’s what you do with it. So it’s not the fact that the financial stress was showing up. It was about the progress that we move forward in spite of the financial stress showing up. Okay, hopefully that was helpful. You know, peek behind the curtain, whatever we want to call it.
Real Ways to Handle Stress
On real tangible things that I do. And this works with all stress because, you know, the stress and pressure that I was feeling. Okay, sure, part of it was financial, but it’s not all financial. Right. When you’re dealing with stress when you’re dealing with the pressure, what are the things that you can do to help make sure that it’s not paralyzing you, it’s not stopping you, you’re not reacting and moving forward and making decisions that you regret later because you were stuck in the mud.
Grab the Guide
Alright, I’m done for today. If you want to grab the guide reducing financial stress seven simple ways to take back control of your money, the link for that is going to be in the show. Notes aimeecerka.com reduce stress. Holiday sale is still live. It’s a little bit different.
Holiday Support
Send me a message on Instagram because essentially what the holiday sale is designed to do is help you be able to hold space. Make the decision now that you’re going to prioritize your finances in 2025 and then you get extra support now because we made the decision now. I know it’s crazy, but make the decision now that this is what you’re going to prioritize and work on and then you’ll have support through the holidays as well. Send me a message on Instagram.
We can chat through those options. Aimee Cerka we’ll throw the link for the holiday sale below as well. That’s it for now. We’ll see you next time. Thank you so much for listening to the Your Money Your Life podcast.
Special Gift for You
I’ve got a special gift for you for sticking around to the end. And if you’re tired of your finances being a mess, this is for you. What if you could take charge of your money without feeling overwhelmed? Even if you’re not a numbers person, even if you just don’t know where to begin, even if you don’t have the time, even if you’ve failed in the past, and even if you don’t want to sacrifice your lifestyle.
Take Action with the 14 Day Plan
Take messy action and finally make progress with your finances without feeling overwhelmed, pinching pennies or staring at a spreadsheet for hours with the 14-day money mastery action plan. And when you use coupon code podcast, I’m going to give you 40% off. Just visit aimeecerka.com action and grab the 14-day action plan for less than $20. All right, talk soon.
