According to National Payroll Week’s 2015 “Getting Paid In America“ survey, 32% of Americans say it would be difficult to meet their current financial obligations if their next paycheck were delayed for a week, meaning the financial ground they’re standing on is incredibly shaky or, as I like to say, many Americans are walking a tightrope that could snap at any time. I realize it can be overwhelming and depressing to live like this, but as difficult as it may seem, you can break the cycle.
Here are six steps to help you recover and get off the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle.
Accept Your Situation
Accepting the reality of your situation and forgiveness are key to building a sustainable stream of income. Although it can be a daunting task, learning to accept your current situation—either good or bad—works better in regulating frustrating situations. You must understand that the quicker you accept the reality of your financial situation, the better you can learn from it and move on quickly. Hence, by accepting your current poor financial situation, you can effectively begin to address it by making deliberate decisions.
Define Your Goals
Having accepted the reality of your situation, you must set deliberate goals for yourself; this helps give your life direction and a sense of purpose. Setting goals are reputed to give you a long time vision and short time motivation. While defining your goals, you must also ensure that those goals motivate you and that they are achievable as well as measurable. Hence, you must start small, set goals you can easily achieve, and learn to increase it as you make progress.
Develop Your Plan
This is one of the most crucial steps you must take to stop living from paycheck to paycheck. It is not enough to accept your situation and set goals for yourself. You must also have a blueprint for how you are going to achieve your set goals. Have it in mind, that your plans are unique to you, what works for others might not necessarily work for you. Consequently, strive to develop plans that will help you achieve your set objective at a given time.
Take Action
A lot of people are in the financial mess they find their selves today because they have refused to take actions on a daily basis. They keep procrastinating and end up never achieving anything concrete. Therefore, if you must stop living from paycheck to paycheck, you must take deliberate actions at addressing your current financial status. Always remember that it is one thing to have a well-written plan and another to execute that plan.
Correct & Adjust
If you must stop living from paycheck to paycheck, you must ensure that you make the necessary correction and adjustment to your action plan, try to identify actions or plans that are not yielding results and replace with a more potent plan.
That’s it—six simple steps that can help anyone turn the corner following a financial setback. The road to financial freedom requires a lot of sacrifices and absolute commitment. Always ensure that you stay resolute and disciplined by implementing every single step mentioned above.
Originally appeared on BlackEnterprise.com.
Words by Cozette White.