185 | Small Steps in the Right Direction

Let’s talk about the best way to achieve your big money goals.

Lawyers often want to go after the biggest goal from the outset, but that’s typically a recipe for failure. A better approach is to identify the small steps that lead to that big goal and go after those instead.

In this episode, let’s talk about the importance of taking those small steps in the right direction and why this approach leads to more success.

• • the way lawyers often think about goals
  • why it’s important to start with attainable goals
  • an example of this concept from my personal training journey
  • an example of this concept from my debt journey
  • the relationship between small steps and building trust and confidence

You’re listening to Wealthyesque. We are a community of lawyers who believe that true wealth is having control of our time. 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 to the show. I hope you’re doing well and having an amazing day so far. Happy New Year to you. In the start of the year it’s often a time that we are looking at or thinking about goals that we want to achieve. And so today we are talking about the compound effect of taking small steps to reach your goals. So taking those small steps that lead to that ultimate goal that you have for yourself think often lawyers are wanting to play full out we want to do above and beyond and all that kind of stuff. And I think sometimes because of that mindset or that desire to do things really big. Sometimes we think it we’re not doing the most amazing, most outrageous over the top thing that it’s not worth getting started at all. But that is just not realistic when you’re thinking about your goals. So if you’re not doing anything to manage your money right now, like you don’t have a plan, you’re not paying attention to where you’re spending your rent if your credit cards not saving all of that your first step is probably not going to be saving $30,000 For example, right want to start with something that’s more doable for where you are, even if it’s not the most amazing thing that you’ve ever heard. So you want to look for that step that gets you moving in the right direction. What’s something that you can do that moves you closer to that $30,000 goal that you have? Think about that $30,000 goal as almost a guiding star or a compass, this is the direction that I’m headed in? Right What step gets me closer to that, because when you set that $30,000 goal, as the only goal that you have, it’s gonna be a lot harder to take action on it because it feels so far from where you are. So what’s the step that’s not that different from where you are now? Not that far from where you’re starting, but it’s incrementally better. Great example of this is when I started working with a trainer, I turned 34 And I was like, Alright, hold up. I’m in my mid 30s I’m on my way to 40 I need to be better about taking care of myself. And so I started working with this trainer and I do three days of weight and two days of cardio and when I started I couldn’t shoulder press with a 10 pound weight, like I couldn’t even lift it up and then we dropped down to the eighth and I still couldn’t do it and then five and we had to drop all the way down to three pound weights so that I could get them up with the proper form. But now I can press with the bar which is 45 pounds. Similarly I started out squatting with a 40 pound dumbbell and now I squat more than my body weight. I didn’t get to either of those overnight. I couldn’t have done it overnight. We had to gradually add a little bit more weight a little bit more weight as our muscles get stronger it’s the same thing here. So if your money muscle is weak, you’re not used to working out you don’t typically lift right, you’re not going to go straight to the 45 pound bar or to squat more than your bodyweight. You’re going to start with the three pound weights. And then let’s just see, you know where you spent your money for example, and then that step is gonna get you closer to where you want to be with your goals. So now you’re doing that let’s add something right let’s create a plan for how you want to use your money this one and then maybe you have $1,000 savings goal and then a $5,000 savings goal and so on. So if you don’t start at the $30,000, that’s like starting at lifting your bodyweight, right, you’re gonna figure out those smaller steps that get you to the $30,000 and you’re going to build on those over time. So all of those other parts that you’re doing the smaller savings goals, you know, figuring out where money’s going, all of that, that’s stuff that you have to do to get to that $30,000 goal anyway, so you look for those small steps that lead you in the direction of the goal that feel more manageable because it’s not such a big difference from what you’re already doing. And as you keep taking those small steps forward, you also build trust with yourself. When you keep setting these really ambitious goals and not hitting them, then you start to believe that you’re not going to do it right, you start to lose trust that you can follow through because you keep creating this track record of not following through. But when you focus on the small step forward, it’s so attainable that you inevitably do it and you set the next goal right take that next small step and you start creating a track record of hitting your goals and winning and that feels so much better and is much more motivating. Plus, you have to hit those smaller steps to get to that bigger goal anyway. So let’s look at what those things are and not bypass them or discount them or whatever. Aim for something that’s achievable, that feels doable for you that you’re actually going to do and you’re actually going to stick to because that’s how you ultimately make progress. So going back to our $30,000 goal example, if you are coming from doing nothing, don’t even open a bank account so I can hope for the best I run out of money sometime. Like if that’s the starting point, saving $30,000 feels a whole lot further away and a whole lot bigger than say saving $1,000 30,000 feels impossible or it feels like maybe I could do it but it will be stretch on your own right. When you set those really big goals like that often you get discouraged because you’re looking at this huge hole and you’re so far away from where you want to be. That was one of the things for my husband and me during our debt journey. And one of the reasons why I really liked the debt snowball method because we started with $670,000 of debt, and it felt like so much and we’re looking at the total amount and it felt like we were never gonna get there. But when we could look at just the smallest little it was only $1,500 And then the next one like $2,000 and in the next one was 3500. Right. So the smaller amounts that made up that huge total, and those felt much more doable. So we just focused on each next loan and we were able to stick with it and ultimately pay off all of our student loans which were almost $500,000 of that total. So look for the small steps that lead you towards your ultimate goal. Because when you’re able to just focus on that next small step, you’re much more likely to stay on track with what you’re trying to do. You can see yourself actually making progress. You see yourself accomplishing the smaller goals and you’re like okay, I’m doing it right, this is gonna work. And you build that trust and that confidence in yourself that you can achieve your goal. And ultimately you end up hitting that bigger goal that you were aiming for anyway. So make sure that as you come into this new year and you’re thinking about your goals, that you think about the smaller goals that will lead you in the right direction and lead to that ultimate goal that you have. Take those small steps and keep yourself moving forward toward your goals this year. And if you’d like help with identifying those small steps and staying on track with them, join us in Money Mastery. You can get started at rho thomas.com/join. Alright, that is it for this week’s episode. Please take a second and think of a friend or two who found this episode helpful and share it with them. That helps the show to grow and it helps us to give us information in the hands of more lawyers. So thank you in advance. As we close out friend, I pray that you take the information you’ve learned 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 regain control of your time, build wealth and live a life of freedom and choice you deserve. Talk to you later.