Staying motivated is a struggle most people face at one point or another. Need proof? Look no further than the gym in January. It’s packed with people ready to conquer their weight loss goals. Check back a month later and it’s a ghost town compared to the month prior. Although most people intend to pursue their goals, for one reason or another, they fall short. Many never really start. And who could blame them? Life is full of distractions. Whether it be long hours at work, household responsibilities, or the constant flood of phone notifications, it’s more difficult now than ever to stay on track. But you can’t let that be an excuse. Staying motivated while paying off debt is the key to freeing yourself from the burdens of debt. The following is how I stayed motivated. Hopefully, it will help you on your journey to living a debt-free life.
Sleepless nights
When I was $40,000 deep in credit card debt, I spent nearly every night tossing and turning, wondering what would happen if I lost my job or could no longer put in extra hours at work. I would lay in bed, running through my finances over and over again, looking for a way out of the hole I dug for myself. I was absolutely miserable. Countless scenarios went through my head, but none of them offered me immediate relief. There were times when I thought I’d never escape this nightmare.
Stressing about finances is no way to live. Losing sleep at night because you’re not sure how you’ll make ends meet is no way to live. Continuing the behavior that’s driven you to this point is no way to live. Looking forward to the day when I would no longer have to lose sleep at night because of my finances was a huge motivator for me to change the way I lived. And that’s exactly what I did.
Countless hours at work
When my debt got to a point where I couldn’t handle it anymore, one of the first things I did was put in more hours at work. It started with a handful of extra hours here and there but eventually turned into me working seventy to eighty hours a week for months at a time. I would go to work early, leave late, head home, eat dinner, go to sleep, and repeat, often 7 days a week.
The money I made from the extra hours of work definitely helped with paying down my debt, but boy was I miserable. I was signing up for overtime left and right, rarely having any time for myself. My friends would call me on weekends asking if I wanted to hang out, and time and time again I rejected their offers because I had to work. There was no time for fun because I was walking around with a ball and chain of debt around my ankle. This was no way to live.
I continued working long hours until I had chipped away enough debt to give myself some breathing room. Once I reached this point, I promised myself to never put myself in this position again. The soul-crushing hours were motivation enough for me to keep going. Staying motivated was my only way out.
Diminished career opportunities
Live well below your means. I can’t stress this enough. Lifestyle creep is very real. You make more money, you buy a nicer car, nicer clothes, nicer house, and next thing you know you’re living paycheck to paycheck. Add in some debt to the equation and you’re stuck in your job with no ability to take a lower-paying, albeit more desirable job. You’ve eliminated career opportunities because you’re stuck paying for your lifestyle. Take it from me, this is exactly the situation I found myself in.
Working in sales, I often put in extra hours as that usually meant more sales opportunities and bigger bonuses. Over the years I upgraded my lifestyle and made poor spending decisions, racking up a mountain of debt that essentially forced me to work long hours to maintain the status quo. During this time there were many career opportunities that I found highly desirable but couldn’t pursue because they involved a pay cut. If you haven’t faced this situation yourself, let me tell you. It’s a punch to the gut. You want to pursue other opportunities but are essentially chained to what you’re currently doing in fear of losing control of your finances.
This is no way to live. It makes you a hopeless, angry, and bitter person. Don’t let debt or reckless spending hold you back from opportunities life presents to you. Enough of these opportunities passed me by until I finally promised myself that I would do whatever it took to get out out of the financial nightmare I put myself in. This was my motivation.
Poor quality of life
As you can see, debt puts a lot of stress on you and robs you of opportunities. In 2016 when I started my debt journey, I was stressed, depressed, and almost completely broken. I dug myself a hole I didn’t think I would ever get out of. The situation I was in was completely self-inflicted. All I could think about was my debt. It was all-consuming and there was no escaping the constant worry. This was no way to live. I had to make a change, and I did.
Staying motivated: Take the small wins early on
I cover this briefly in my post on the debt snowball method, but it’s important to tackle the low-hanging fruit first. For example, I had multiple credit cards with balances that all together totaled $40,000. I used the debt snowball method and paid my smallest balances off first. This set me up for early wins. It wasn’t exactly instant gratification, but it sure as heck was as close as I was going to get to it. These early wins showed me that my efforts were paying off and were a huge boost to my motivation. So if you have multiple sources of debt, consider the debt snowball method to front-load early wins and turbocharge your motivation.
Staying motivated will get you past the finish line
I lost countless hours of sleep worrying about my financial situation. What motivated me was getting my peace of mind back.
Nearly every waking hour was spent working to make ends meet and pay down my debt. What motivated me was regaining a normal work-life balance.
I missed several career opportunities because I couldn’t take a pay cut. What motivated me was getting to a place financially where I could take every opportunity that comes my way.
I was stressed, depressed, and nearly broken. What motivated me was to eliminate my source of stress so that I could once again be the happy person I always was.
Finally, I had $40,000 in credit card debt spread across multiple cards. What motivated me was paying off the small cards first as it showed me my efforts were paying off.
If you’re looking for more ways to keep motivated or reasons to pay off your debt, check out 9 Reasons to Payoff Your Debt.