What’s My Secret Weapon Against Losing Financial Motivation?

Speaker A00:00:00

Got a great listener question they emailed the other day. That's what they said. They said, ralph, what's my secret weapon against losing financial motivation? What a great question.Because for so many of us, we're doing the work. We're making better, smarter financial choices. When we're honest with ourselves, that journey can feel slow. That journey can feel long.And that journey can feel exhausting for so many of us. Debt payments seem like they're barely moving the needle. Savings are growing, but not fast enough. Budgets seem like they're this grind.And it's in those moments we're not careful that motivation slips away. Start wondering, will I ever really get there? I'll tell you right now, you're not alone in it.Studies have shown that 80%, 80% of people abandon their financial goals within the first year because motivation fades. But here's the truth I want you to hear today. Motivation doesn't just happen. A lot of people think, oh, I'm just going to be magically motivated.Doesn't work that way. Motivation is fueled and it's fueled by intentional practices, by community. And most of all.And this is what we're going to talk about on today's show, by God's strength. So today I'm going to show you the secret weapon.Yes, there is a secret weapon that's going to keep you moving forward even when the finish line feels far away. So stick with me today because your financial motivation is about to get a serious boost.This is Financially Confident Christian, your daily dose of gospel, grounded insight and faith driven tips for to help you break the cycle of financial shame with confidence. Hey there. Welcome back to Financially Confident Christian. I'm Ralph and I'm here every day helping you answer this question.How can I become a financially confident Christian? And we're continuing our mini series of financial momentum.If you missed yesterday's show, we started a four day miniseries of locking in your wins, turning progress into habits. If you miss it, I encourage you to go check it out.You can find all of our episodes at financiallyconfidentchristian.com but today we're going to talk about motivation. Great listener question today. How do I stay motivated, Ralph? How do I stay alive on this truly long journey? It's a long journey.You didn't get into a bad financial situation overnight. It takes time to get out of it. And for so many of us, and I'm speaking for myself right now, maybe you're listening or watching.You're like, Ralph, yeah, I started off enthusiastic, man. I was so excited to get on board this train. I was ready to go. We were rolling. But over time, that enthusiasm just started to fade a little bit.I saw that mountain of debt before me, man. I was running the race. I was climbing that debt. I was building that savings, man. The progress just got slow and it feels endless.And when you live in that reality, when you live in that level of discouragement, this leads us into apathy. It leads us to lose our motivation.We feel like we're going to slip back, we're going to get back to those bad habits that put us in this place in the first place. And that's the problem. When you live in this emotional drain of persistence, so many people get burned out. Listen to this statistic.Only 19% of people stick with their long term financial goals without external support or accountability. That's from the National Financial Educators Council. 19%. After one year, they give up. And so many of us live in this fear.Listen, I've lived in this fear from time to time. You might be right now living in this fear as well. You're so afraid you're going to lose steam before that finish line.That's what the listener was asking me today. Ralph, how do I maintain this motivation? But here's the thing, and I said this a few minutes ago, motivation isn't random.It's not some magical thing, oh, I'm going to get motivated. It's going to pop. It's going to be good for good. It doesn't work that way. Motivation is cultivated. It's a financial journey. It's a marathon.So many people think it's a sprint. I'm going to sprint. I'm going to get out of debt. I'm going to pay off those credit cards. I'm going to build that emergency fund.I'm going to do whatever those things are to make you feel better financially. It's not random and it's not a sprint. It's a journey. And here's the secret to the whole thing. Secret weapon. You ready for it? I promised it.The true strength comes from Christ. Let's get into the Word. This one comes from Hebrews, chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. I always want to give you some scripture to back up what I'm saying.Hebrews 12, verses 1 and 2. Therefore, whenever you hear therefore better, listen up.Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily tangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes On Jesus, the pioneer and a perfecter of faith.What a reassuring Bible verse this is. When you put on the fridge, when you're starting to feel down, you're starting to feel like that motivation is waning.We're surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Let us throw off everything that hinders us, the sin that easily entangles us.And let's run with perseverance, the race that's marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer, the perfecter of faith. The true answer to today's question is financial journey requires perseverance.The only way you're going to stay in that journey is if you fix your eyes on Jesus.Because if you fix them on the obstacles, you fix them on that mountain of debt, you fix them on that mountain of what you want to save, whatever those things are for your life. You're going to get burdened by those obstacles unless you look past those obstacles and look to Jesus.And when you can do this, your motivation will be maintained and you will build resilience and you will find long term peace and progress. I love what John Maxwell said. And listen, this is another one you might want to put on the fridge today.Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you growing. One more time, I want to say that because it's so very important, it's so impactful. Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you growing.So now you're asking, Ralph, how do I keep that momentum alive? How do I keep that momentum when progress feels slow? It feels slow as death, Ralph. Well, here's the answer.Reconnect with your why celebrate your progress and share your journey? Because once you change that mindset, you have a fresh energy, enjoy and resilience for the long.I like what Tony Robbins is not a big fan of Tony Robbins, but I love what he said here because he reinforced something that I think is so true. People are not lazy. They simply have goals that do not inspire them. Wow, that's a great way to say it, isn't it? They're not lazy.Their goals just don't inspire them. So here's your one action step today to get inspired, to stay motivated, to stay running that race.And I said it a second ago, reconnect with your why. Picture your biggest goal. What does that thing look like for you? Picture it in your mind. Is it being debt free?I don't want to have that burden to death with that mountain of debt. I don't have those credit cards. I want to pay that mortgage off, whatever those things are.Maybe it's building savings, building that emergency fund, building that go to savings account. Or maybe for you, you just want to be free to give more. You want to be able to bless others with what you've been blessed by.Visualize that goal and ask yourself why that's important. Why is that goal important? Because here's what's going to keep you motivated. Is it less stress? Is it you want to be more generous?Is it freedom to serve other people? But write those things down. Keep it visible. I love sticky notes. I love it on your phone wallpaper. Maybe use a budgeting app.But visualize that biggest goal, why it's important to you. And look at that every single day. And here's something you weren't expecting me to tell you. Plan a micro celebration.Pick that next milestone, whatever those things are for you. Maybe it's $500 of debt paid, $100 saved, one week on a budget. Just do something simple.And I'm not saying go blow your budget doing it, but some joyful celebration, a prayer of thanks, a nature walk, a game night, your favorite meal, whatever it is. Do those celebrations because you want to stay motivated. I'm on a diet right now. I shouldn't call it a diet.My doctor keeps telling me, say it's a lifestyle change. You know what keeps me motivated? When I get on that scale and I'm down a little bit, I can be totally honest with you.When I first started this, if I wasn't down a lot, I got demotivated. But you got to do the same thing in your financial life.Pick a milestone, whether it's that next hundred dollars saved or that $500 debt paid off, whatever that is, and celebrate those things. And I'm encouraged to do one more thing. Share the progress. Share the progress. Share the struggles.Tell a friend, a family member, if you've got an accountability partner. Share those wins with other people. Encourage other people. Tell them about your next milestone. Get them to be bought into what you're doing.And at the same time, if you're feeling discouraged, share that with them. Say, listen, I'm really feeling discouraged. I thought I could do this a lot quicker than was.This race is deeper than I ever thought it would be because they can encourage you. And I'll tell you right now, encouragement will fuel that perseverance. And that's what we need to do. We need to fuel this.Like I said, this isn't some magic. You need to fuel this almost daily. There's gonna be times you're gonna need that.But when you do this, you're gonna combat discouragement by focusing on your why. You're gonna keep that vision fresh. It's gonna be compelling. And if you have that accountability person, you can share in the joys.You can share in the low moments, too.You can share in those times when you're really struggling and get some reassurance from that person, because all those things are gonna fuel your momentum. How about we pray together now? Father God, let us thank you for calling us to run with perseverance the race you've set before us.And we confess that financial journeys can feel long and tiring and discouraging, Lord, and we need your strength to keep moving forward. Just ask that you would help keep our eyes fixed on you and truly remember our why and celebrate the progress you've already given us, Lord.Surround us with people who encourage us, Lord. And surrenders are people who fill our hearts with renewed energy and joy. And Lord, we trust that you will carry us through this to the finish line.We ask this in complete confidence. In the name of Jesus, Amen. Your secret weapon is staying connected to your why. I said at the beginning, I'm going to give you the secret weapon.That's really what it is. Staying connected to your why, celebrating those wins and leaning on God and the community. So my challenge for you today, write down your why.What is it that you have that goal? What is it? Why is that important to you? Plan those micro celebrations for your next milestone. And remember, you're not running this race alone.God is with you every single step of the way. I love what Craig Groeschel said. He said successful people do consistently what others do occasionally. Consistency, that's the key to it.If this show has encouraged you, if it's made you feel some hope, I want to encourage you to share it with somebody else who's on a financial journey themselves. Maybe they need a fresh boost of motivation. Your share may very well be the encouragement they need today. Just point them right to our website.That's at financiallyconfidentchristian.com. just send them to our website. Send them a text, send them an email, give them a call. Say, hey, I know you're feeling a bit down lately.I got some encouragement for you. Another thing you can do is go pick up a free copy of my book. I just finished writing my third book.It's called Becoming a Financially Confident Christian. It's a guidebook to how to find this success, how to stay motivated.There's all kinds of stories of people that I've worked with over the past 30 years who have gotten to this point. You can get that free by going to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/becoming I'm going to give you that website one more time so you don't miss it.Send it to your friends. You can share it with anybody who wants to download a free copy of my book. It's at financiallyconfidentchristian.com/becoming now.Don't forget to join me tomorrow. Tomorrow we're going to continue on our four day mini series. We're going to talk about Grace when habits aren't Perfect.How to overcome shame after slips. Because let me tell you something right now. I'm going to give you a little foreshadowing tomorrow.You are going to slip and I don't want you to fall in that level of shame. So join me tomorrow. We'll talk about grace when Habits aren't Perfect. It'll be a great show tomorrow. I just want to encourage you right now.Go out there and be a financially confident Christian. You can do this. I truly believe in you. But more importantly than any of those things, God believes in you.Stay financially savvy, God bless you and you have a great day.