Single Mom Seeking Financial Peace

If you want to live like no one else can, first you have to live like no one else is willing to. - Dave Ramsey

I may be a little off on my quote, but I'm just too exhausted to open the book and find the exact wording. Really, the book is literally less than an arm's length away. It's not even a bent-arm's length away and still I'm just too tired to reach for it. So, let's just call that opening sentence a paraphrase. 

The point is, I have been living like no one else (or at least very few people) is willing to for the last two months. Working a total of 5 jobs (that really equate to a little more than 2 full time jobs hours-wise), I have had to sacrifice some things during that time. 

• I've had to cut back on time spent with friends. Just when I'd started to actually have a social life, a feat in and of itself for a single mom, I have had to all but eliminate it. 
• Then I had to cut back on running, one of my few escapes from work and stress.
• Now I've had to cancel my plan to run my first marathon. Or delay it. Let's say I'm delaying my first marathon. 

But, for the first time in my life, I am beginning to feel somewhat comfortable with my financial situation. I still have a long way to go before I reach a level where I can feel fully comfortable, but it's progress. I have avoided a zero balance for the last 3 weeks straight. (Really. I have money in my bank account. WHAT?!? Yep.)

Four am wake up calls, 13-15 hour days 6-7 days a week, loss of social and recreational time, and a little extra stress are not things I would normally recommend. But they are temporary. Six months temporary. That is my commitment to this plan. I will continue this schedule through January when I will have the first step of my financial peace strategy completed and then I can start to scale back on work and reclaim the funner parts of my life. (More fun parts? Funnier parts? Whatever. You get what I'm saying.)

So, whether you're a single mom or a struggling couple, I encourage you to consider making some sacrifices in the short-term so you can live better in the long-term. 

Go ahead and live like no one else is willing to so you can live like no one else can...or something like that.

Finding Time For Fitness

90

That's how many hours a week I've been working over the last two months.

Add to that the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and grocery shopping I have to do. All of the animals, both mine and fosters, to care for. Plus football games every Friday and soccer games every Saturday and Sunday. Bills. Research. Friendships to be maintained.

It's all a bit overwhelming. Exhausting. Draining. 

At the end of the day, I just want to sleep. And it would be so easy to do. Just crawl into bed every night without giving a second thought to my health and fitness. Allow myself to fall out of shape and into poor health. So easy.

But the unhealthier you get, the harder it is to keep up with such an overwhelming schedule. So, I make the time. Just 10 minutes at the start of every day (really, 4am burpees suck more than 4pm burpees for some reason). And another 10 minutes at the end of every day. 

But how? HOW do I motivate myself to do this? Because I have to. No, not just for the sake of my health, but for the sake of my business. I have found that the single most amazing benefit from signing up to be a Beachbody Coach is that I HAVE to stay healthy and fit. My business relies on it. 

Interested yet? Find out more by clicking here.

Do You Have A Back Up Plan?

Even when the money stops, the bills keep coming.

Working in higher education, I've learned how fragile employment has become. Gone are the days of retiring from a company after 40 years of service. 

I've watched as school after school has cut back on faculty, reduced faculty course loads, watched student retention drop, and some even close their doors.

Waves of panic may be an understatement. As a single mother, my entire family relies on me to provide for them. I had visions of empty cupboards, broken down cars, foreclosure notices.

What I needed was a back up plan.

Today, we have access to more entrepreneurial opportunities than ever. Whatever your unique interests, there is likely a business that matches it. Jewelry. Home decor. Self-defense. Cooking. Clothing. All of my friends seemed to be finding their way into their own niche and embracing the freedom of a home-based business.

Because I have always had an interest in running and fitness, I found myself drawn to Beachbody. I loved the programs and I simply cannot function without my Shakeology, so I signed up to be a Beachbody Coach. 

Beachbody created and maintains my online office and handles all of my customer orders. In return, I get a 25% discount on all Team Beachbody products (including my must-have Shakeology) and I earn a commission on all orders placed through my store. 

I'm still in the building phase of my business, but I am earning a monthly profit. Knowing that I am creating an alternate income stream to fall back on is a huge comfort for me. 

If you don't already have a back up plan yourself, I encourage you to look into some options. I'm happy to answer any questions, whether related to the Beachbody Coaching opportunity specifically or my experience, in general. Email me today and I'll answer any questions I can. 

It's all about what you can be passionate about. 

Focusing on Body AND Mind

If you follow me regularly, you know I hold free online challenge groups each month. We focus on basic fitness moves or full fitness programs. Sometimes we just focus on defining and reaching our goals. I love running all of these groups, but I am particularly excited about the two groups I'm running this July.

Mind

I am a book junkie. And since becoming a Beachbody Coach, I have become a Personal Development book junkie. I can't even begin to explain all of the powerful ways that reading these books has changed my life. And often the information contained in their pages is not revolutionary. Most of it is really just common sense. But they are lessons and concepts that most of us, despite the very basic common sense behind them, do not apply in our daily lives. These books have a great power to change.

In July, we'll get started on Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Click on the picture below to get started.

Body

I am also a yoga junkie. I LOVE yoga. So, I simply cannot wait for the release of Chalene Johnson's new program, PiYo. PiYo combines Pilates and Yoga and so much more for a phenomenal workout that will help you not only increase your strength, but also your flexibility. With it's low-impact design and modifications built in, it is perfect for all fitness levels. This is also HUGE for someone like me who loves to run and strength train. Even better? This program is low-cost. You can get this 60-day program for less than 2 months at the gym.

Interested? Click on the picture below to get started.

Finding Financial AND Physical Fitness

Are financial and physical fitness on your list of goals? With the launch of PiYO this month, I am looking for 4 people to work with to take on the massive surge in business that will happen starting in a few weeks. Fill out the application below and see if being a coach on our team is right for you.

Summer Vacation. Summer Chaos. Summer Workouts.

With summer here and all of my sons' friends fully mobile with their beat up cars and driver's licenses, my house is never empty.

I love this. I love having a constant flow of kids moving through my house. I love that they want to be here. I do.

BUT, this constant flow also means that I do not get the house to myself...ever. And the very open floor plan means that my workouts are on full display. 

It has taken me some time to get fully comfortable with this concept. I mean, the kids that come and go from my home are athletes. They are in what may be the best shape of their lives. I anticipated ridicule. Laughter. Pointing. Mean tweets. A few smirks, at the very least.

Here's what happens instead. They join me. Maybe not for the whole workout, but they join in. And they see how challenging these programs can be. And, more and more, I hear them doing the workouts even when I'm not. Seriously. There are times when I have a basement filled with teenage football or soccer players doing some Les Mills Combat. 

These are kids that whine and complain about summer two-a-days and suicides and Saturday soccer practices. And here they are spending their down time doing High Intensity Interval Training. By choice. 

It is, in a word, awesome.

So, all you moms and dads out there, don't let the chaos of summer vacation throw you off your game. Keep getting those workouts in, kids or no kids. 

You Want Results? Go Get Them!

You want results? You've got to go get them. True.

And if you want help getting those results, you've got to get signed up with me. (Seriously, it's free and I'm all about commitment, accountability, and motivation, so sign up here.)

Even better than getting me as your coach...for free? Getting Les Mills Combat for next to nothing.

No, really. For less than you would spend on a month's gym membership, you get a 60-day program that you can do from the privacy of your own home, complete with an online support group and ME as your free coach.

This is one of my all-time favorite programs that I go back to over and over to help me continue to build:

strength

stamina

confidence

power

and a lean, toned body (which is really kinda nice this time of year...)

But you have to hurry! This sale ends June 9th and other programs are already selling out. Order here!