“Stagnation is death. If you don’t change, you die. It’s that simple. It’s that scary.” -Leonard Sweet
Stagnation is, by definition, a period of having little to no growth. Sweet is essentially saying that if you don’t grow, learn, or change, you will waste away. When our lives have little to no growth, we die a little bit more every day. We lose the motivation and drive to keep taking those steps to improve ourselves, our circumstances, our lives.
It doesn’t have to be this way!
Is your life feeling stagnant? Stuck in a rut?
I don’t know about you, but I sure don’t want to live in this body doing the same ole, same ole hoping to have a better day tomorrow but continuing to live the status quo doing nothing to change my circumstance. Why live the small life of stagnation when you can live the large life, the supersized life? Tweaking small things on a regular basis add up to big things and when the small things accumulate, they snowball into a life larger than you ever dreamed possible! Leveling up to bigger and better!
I want to explore this idea in your home life, your career, and in the adventures you pursue or perhaps the ones you don’t but should. What is keeping you from leveling up in your life?
Leveling up to your “more”
If you answered “finances”, you are among friends! Finances tends to be the number one answer that people give aside from fear for not pursuing MORE in their lives. More vacations, more joy, more savings, more money (less debt), and more of all the good stuff that gives you happiness and helps you to have peace so you can sleep at night.
Hermione isn’t going to hand you a magic wand to get all your Supersized “Mores” today, but I would love to help motivate you to get started. Make a list of everything that’s holding you back. For most people they’re the same things that keep us up at night: Debt, not being able to pay your bills, not enough quality sleep or perhaps quality time, your mental health, wondering how you’ll ever have enough money to retire, etc…
Taking the steps away from stagnation
I’m sure you, like me, have your own list. What on your list can you focus on starting today so that you can start moving the momentum forward? What can you do to actually get out of your place of stagnation and actually start walking or sprinting in the right direction?
If your stagnation is lack of savings or debt, I want you to do yourself a huge favor and start to track everything that you spend starting today. Put an N (need) or W (want) beside it and after a month of writing everything down, have a look back. How much of what you buy on a day to day basis is actually a NEED? Are all of the NEEDs absolutely essential. Where can you cut back so you can start reallocating money? Freeing yourself of debt and creating more savings is one of the best ways to make your dreams a reality and make your average sized dreams a realistic SUPERSIZED DREAM! It’s time to start leveling up toward financial wellness!
Get Started!!
If your stagnation is in lack of sleep, poor relationships, depression, anxiety, or similar, perhaps today is the day that you call your doctor or find a counselor. Every step is hard when life is hard but taking one step is still moving forward and will lead you forward to avoid stagnation. Reach out to someone you trust if you don’t know where to start. The key is getting started guys, just getting started!! One foot in front of the other is so cliché, but sometimes it’s the best start to level up to a healthier you.
Actively leveling up is key!
When I went through my divorce, I was given $70k in IRAs. At 42 years old roughly 1 year’s income was all I had in an account for my retirement that is quickly knocking on my door. I’m at fault for not saving more, but when I learned how to do better, I wanted to do better. I could have stayed stagnant, but I made a concerted choice to level up. It’s been 2.5 years and my retirement account is now up to $120k. Not great, but it’s growing because I’m actively adding to it and learning how to invest it wisely.
I’m refusing to be stagnant. Refusing to bury my head in the sand and just accept that I’m screwed. NOPE, I won’t do it!!! I want my money supersized and my life to be so much more than what it could have been if I stayed still. I went from paycheck-to-paycheck living to continually finding ways to save and intentionally directing that extra money into savings or retirement. I’m also now almost half way to my 6 month emergency savings goal. Far from where I’m heading, but sure as heck further than I was.
Hi, my name is Deb and I’m leveling up!!
What’s your Next Level look like?
What will your next months and years look like if you take small steps forward today or this week? STOP AGREEING TO ACCEPT THE PUNY, NON-SUPERSIZED ASPECTS OF YOUR LIFE!! There’s more than enough room in Supersized World for all of us. It’s time for you to start leveling up! 💛