For many, the struggle to pay off debt is real. For the majority of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck, or who can’t find $500 for an emergency, getting out of debt may seem like a good enough goal.
While becoming debt free is a worthy goal to strive for, I always encourage people to imagine, and plan for, a life of financial freedom.
“Financial freedom” sounds like a phrase we’ve all heard before. But stop for a moment and really imagine what it would be like: a life after you’ve paid off your debts, where you’ve built your wealth to where you have more options. With that freedom comes the ability to choose a lifestyle that fits your needs and values as opposed to a life where you are forced to work in a job you may not love, simply because you have bills to pay.
When you embrace a goal of true financial freedom, your mindset changes. As you make progress toward paying off debt and building wealth, you should be proud. Every dollar paid down is a step closer to your being able to live the life you really want, free from money worries. And with each step, you gain that much more financial freedom. For instance, once you become debt free, you can control where more of your money goes, and that’s really where the fun begins.
While in the process of paying off debt, keep in mind the other goals you want to accomplish. Write down your complete list of goals. By getting them all down on a piece of paper, or on your phone, your goals immediately become a little bit more real and tangible. From there, you can begin to organize your goals based on how long you think it will take you to accomplish them, and their importance to you.
For instance: What are some goals that can be accomplished simultaneously while paying off debt? Perhaps you can begin saving toward your emergency fund, or start learning more about your retirement investment options, so that you are more knowledgeable and ready to invest when you’ve reached other goals.
When it comes to staying motivated while accomplishing your goals, make sure that you are tracking your progress. Don’t forget to celebrate your wins, no matter how small. This helps keep you motivated, and honors how far you have come. Also, make sure to share your goals and your progress with someone supportive in your life, and maybe find an online community or space where you can stay inspired and accountable as you move forward.
After paying off your debts, you can begin to put all of your efforts into accomplishing other exciting goals, such as increasing your net worth, saving your first $50,000, building a fully funded emergency fund or being financially secure enough to take time off from work to travel or raise a family. These are just some of all the amazing things that you can begin to do as you get closer to financial freedom.
The ability to choose what you want to do and not be controlled by bills and a paycheck brings the chance of vastly increasing the happiness in your life. And it’s why I always tell people to aim higher than just being debt free. Even if you aim for the ultimate goal of financial freedom and miss the mark, you will have accomplished more than you ever thought was possible.
You know the saying, “Shoot for the moon and if you miss, you’ll end up among the stars”? Being debt free is just one of the many targets, or stars, to reach along your way to the ultimate goal of financial freedom, the moon. While making progress toward financial freedom, accomplishing other goals along the way, like getting out of debt, increasing your net worth and creating a life of options is inevitable.
Jamila Souffrant is a blogger, podcaster, wife, mother and the resident financial expert on a weekly segment on News12 in Brooklyn. She teaches others through her website, Journey to Launch, with a focus on helping people eliminate debt, save more money and increase their net worth. BuzzFeed named her podcast one of the “27 Podcasts You Need to Start Listening to in 2018.”
Watch more of Jamila’s story in this video.