At the introduction to Margin, I explained my journey a bit, and in that explanation, I talked about my college career. Originally I wanted to become an architect, so I began that process in college and realized that the market for that field was terrible. So I pivoted to business. I started to pursue a degree in accounting and found that, like many, I hated accounting. I pursued an undergraduate degree in operational leadership instead. I loved my classes related to international business, behavioral economics, and banking. Once I graduated, I decided to immediately enroll in a graduate degree program and get my MBA in Finance. Most of my student loans came from pursuing this program, but for me, it meant a significant pay raise over just having an undergraduate degree, even in the economic climate I graduated in.
When I ran the numbers, I had between a one and two-year break-even in exchange for that degree, so I decided to pursue it.
I have no regrets about either degree, as the combination of the operations and finance has contributed significantly to my roles and the business I have started. Once I graduated, I allowed for some of the lifestyle creep to set in, whereas I bought a new home, remodeled it, furnished it, and increased my lifestyle before paying off the debt.
That was a mistake–don’t allow lifestyle creep associated with that new job and increased income to derail you from playing a good defense from paying off loans that are a liability to wealth generation.
Now, one evening I was sitting in my bedroom and reviewing all of the payments I had. Mortgage, student loans, cars, home equity line of credit, credit cards, and well, although it was no different than most people–I knew that I didn’t want to be working to pay bills. So I made the tough decision to go ahead and sell my home. I lived there for almost two years and loved it. I had remodeled the whole place and literally listed it the week it was completed. With the proceeds of the sale, I decided to put it all toward debt paydown. This was part of a process that I went through to change my habits, my routines, how I viewed my ideal life, and what needed to change to reshape my reality.
This process was so difficult, but it was transformational. I believe this was one of the pivotal moments in life that set up several other decisions. I made the decision to have all of my debt paid off within two years. I accomplished that goal ahead of schedule as it became what I focused on.
You’ve probably heard it said that you win at what you focus on.
I believe that so many people don’t accomplish what they set out to accomplish mainly because they don’t have clarity around what they are actually trying to accomplish. A lack of clarity is the mother of indecision. So having a goal that you are always working toward will allow you to redirect your focus toward making decisions that support that goal.
This 2-year goal was one of many along my journey. Whether it has been education-focused, debt payoff, funding an emergency fund, promotions, or investment goals, I have used these shorter sprints of sorts in order to accomplish goals that feed into my vision.
In order to accomplish this, though, you and I both need a good why. A good why to get out of debt, to build margin, or to fulfill some other aspect of your ultimate vision.
CTA: My call to action is to look at what goal you can focus on that’s uncomfortable or may seem impossible at the time, to which you can set a specific short-term timeline to achieve. This will create a positive feedback loop and enable you to find another goal to accomplish thereafter!
