298 | Progress Over Perfection

Many lawyers struggle with their personal finances because they can’t get over their perfectionism.

They never make moves to get their finances in order because they don’t know the perfect step to take and end up stuck in the same place.

But rather than waiting for the perfect plan, it’s much better to make progress toward the direction you want to go, even if it’s imperfect.

In this episode, let’s talk about the importance of making progress with your finances and why taking action breeds clarity and confidence.

• • the faulty belief that keeps lawyers stuck with their finances
  • why failure is part of the process
  • taking steps that move you toward your goals
  • why action creates clarity
  • building confidence through progress
  • how progress helps with overcoming your financial fears

• Need help with your finances? Schedule a consultation here

You’re listening to Personal Finance for Lawyers. I’m Rho Thomas, and as a busy wife, mom, and former Biglaw associate, I know all too well the tension between the culture of the legal profession and pretty much everything else you want to do in life. That’s why each week, I’m bringing you the information and tools you need to improve your money mindset and manage your money to create true wealth. Because ultimately, it’s not about the money. It’s about the freedom and flexibility the money affords.

Hey friend. Welcome back.

Today, we are talking about the importance of making progress, rather than waiting for perfection.

So I don’t know if you noticed, but a lot of lawyers are perfectionists, and something that I’ve noticed over the years of talking with lawyers about their personal finances is a lot of times people don’t get started with trying to manage their money better, with creating a plan for how they’re going to spend, with building their savings, with paying off their debt, because they don’t know the right way to do it. They don’t know the right step to take.

And I’m here to tell you that there is no perfect one size fits all plan that everybody should be following. It really is a matter of just getting started.

With most of my clients, when we first start out, they will create their plan, like we create a plan together, and truth be told, they fail. They mess up on the plan. They do not stick to the initial plan that we create. But that’s the nature of personal finance. You are figuring out the right rhythm for you, the system that works for your life, for your family, for your finances, and so when you do that initial plan of how you’re going to spend your money, you might be off base. Or you just aren’t in the practice of spending within these limits that you set for yourself.

There is not going to be this I set a plan, and I execute it perfectly, and nothing ever goes wrong. Inevitably, something is going to go wrong in that plan, but the fact that you got started pushes you closer to the goals that you have. When you are waiting around, not doing it because you don’t know the right thing to do, you don’t know the perfect plan, all of that, then you stay stuck in the same place.

It’s like that saying “You can’t steer a parked car.” You’re a parked car when you’re saying because you don’t know the right thing to do, or you don’t know the perfect step to take, there literally isn’t one. It is all a matter of personal preference.

Something I say a lot is, “Personal finance is personal.” So what I do with my finances might not work for you and your finances, might not work for your colleague or someone else down the hall. Everybody has different circumstances, and everybody needs different things with their finances.

Some of the underlying things are kind of “one size fits all” right, like spend less than you make, make room for your goals, that kind of stuff. But in terms of the specifics of what you’re doing, it’s going to be unique to you. So there isn’t a perfect plan. If you’re waiting for the perfect plan, you’re going to wait in forever.

So rather than sitting around and waiting for the perfect plan for your money to fall out of the sky, I want you to take steps, make some progress. And it can be anything that is moving you forward towards your goals. So think about what it is that you ultimately want to accomplish, and then let’s back it up, and figure out what’s the first step that gets you to that goal?

Maybe it’s something as small as opening a high yield savings account because you don’t have one. Maybe it’s something like actually opening up your bank statements and seeing what’s going on, looking at your credit cards and seeing what the balances are, getting the information for all of your student loans, looking at your spending. Like these smaller things that will ultimately lead to your goal allow you to make progress toward that goal. Sitting on the couch wishing that you knew what to do with your finances does not.

When you take action, you actually create clarity. Because when you’re sitting around not sure what to do, wanting it to be perfect, you don’t get feedback. So I mentioned my clients, we create their plans, they immediately fail, but they get that feedback.

Oh, I thought that I could spend this much on groceries, but that’s too low for me. I actually need to increase that. I thought that I would spend this much going out to eat, but really I’m a foodie. I’m going to increase that. I thought that I needed this much for whatever category, but that was too much, and I can pull that back and put some of that money somewhere else.

There are so many things that you will tweak with your personal finances, but you don’t know until you get started. So that action creates clarity. As you take that first step, whatever it is for you, you get some feedback. You figure out, okay, this is the direction that I want to keep going in. Or, you know what? That didn’t work out how I thought it would let me try something different.

The other thing is, by taking that action, by making some progress, you build confidence. So this is an example outside of money, but I was talking to my sister recently about my podcast. I’m coming up on six years of podcasting, but I can remember back to doing those initial episodes and feeling so nervous to put them out and literally shaking and wondering what people are going to think.

But because I’ve been doing it consistently for almost six years, I’ve been making that progress putting out episodes, putting out information that I think will be helpful for you, putting out ideas that I think are interesting. I no longer feel that fear, that hesitation about putting out the episodes. I have been making that progress, and that progress builds that confidence.

Doing the actions, doing the things that you need to do for your finances, as you do them consistently, it’s going to build confidence. You’re not going to feel that “I’m not sure what to do. I have to wait for the perfect plan” anymore. You take a step, and then you figure out what the next step is, and so on and so forth.

Sometimes I think our perfectionism can be a mask for fear, like we don’t know what’s going on with our finances. And so rather than figuring it out, you’re like, I’m just not gonna look at it because I don’t know how to do the exact right thing.

And I’ve used this analogy before, but I think it’s very similar to a child who is talking about the monster in the closet or the monster in the corner. When you shine a light on it, it’s actually just their toy sitting on the desk or their jacket over the chair. That uncertainty about what’s going on, I think, creates more fear than actually seeing what’s happening.

And so when you can shine that light into your finances, when you identify this is the next step that’s going to take me towards where I want to go and you actually take that step, it takes away some of that fear, and so you don’t have to worry about it being perfect. Allow yourself to take imperfect action.

Allow yourself to just do the next thing that feels like it’s going to lead you towards the thing that you want to do. And as you do that, again, you build the confidence. You create that clarity. You’re shining light on what’s happening with your finances, and that fear starts to dissipate.

Alright so the main thing that I want you to take from this episode is to take action, even if it’s imperfect, even if it’s a little messy, even if you don’t know the exact next thing to do or the perfect step to take. There literally isn’t one.

It’s a matter of getting clear on what it is you want to do, taking those steps that move you toward the goals that you have, and just continuing to move forward. As you take those steps, you’ll get some clarity, you’ll get some feedback. You can decide to course correct, or decide that you’re going to keep going on this path. But you’ve got to take action. You’ve got to make progress that beats perfection any day. And if you need help, you would like a little bit of guidance on the next step to take, reach out to me. Schedule your consultation at rhothomas.com/call.

All right, that is it for this week’s episode. Thank you for being here with me today. If you haven’t done so already, please take a second and subscribe to the show and leave a review. Both of those things help this information to get in the hands of more lawyers. When you leave reviews for podcasts, those podcasts those podcasts are shown more often, and then also think about when you order something online, you’re looking for the reviews. You’re looking to see what other people thought about it. So if you like the show, please leave a review. Let somebody know what you thought about it. If you didn’t like it, share that too, because that is still feedback. But in any event, I appreciate your support.

As we close out, friend, I pray that you take the information you learn here, apply it in your life, and open up to the realization that wealth is available to you. As you do that consistently, week after week, you’ll continue to take steps to take back control of your time, build wealth, and live the life of freedom and choice you deserve. Talk to you later.