The Mindset To Really Pay Off Debt | 5 Tips To REALLY Be Debt Free!
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Paying off debts is genuinely one of the best things to do, but also one of the hardest mountains to climb.
There are a number of debt freedom strategies you can adopt.
From debt avalanche and snowball to debt consolidation and refinancing.
But half the battle with paying off debts is your mindset.
The one thing that empowered us to become debt-free was changing our money mindset.
Your mindset is the fuel to keep you going on your debt freedom journey.
Today we’re sharing five mindset shifts that need to truly reach your debt-free goals.
Specifically, we’re going to dive in on:
- 5 mindsets you need to adopt to be debt free
- 2 ways to can change your money mindset to pay off debt
Table of Contents
Mindset To Pay Off Debt Is Everything!
Your money mindset is the fuel to your journey.
You can’t see it on the debt section of your budgeting spreadsheet, but it’s there.
Mindset is what drives our habits and actions.
One of the reasons the debt-free journey can be tough is because of the impact debt has on your mindset.
Debt can bring shame, guilt and embarrassment.
This negatively impacts your money mindset in general and leaves you feeling powerless.
By making these shifts to your money mindset you’ll shred off the guilt and shame and take on a new mind.
Something much more powerful.
A mindset that will strengthen you to climb out of the financial hole you find yourself in.
Are you ready to make real impactful changes?
Here are the five money mindsets to really become debt-free.
Accept Responsibility (But Don’t Assign Blame)
Responsibility and blame are two different things.
Most people in debt fall into the trap of blame.
Blaming the government, their parents, their spouse or the economy.
Worse, you may be drinking the poison of self-blame.
Blame is a mindset that keeps you focussed on the fact that you’re in debt.
Instead, learn to take responsibility.
Taking responsibility is accepting that life and your past decisions have led you to be in debt.
Blame says “I’m so bad with money” or “it’s their fault why I’m in this debt, they need to fix it”.
Taking responsibility says “I’m in debt but how can I make my financial situation better?”
Accepting responsibility means you’re taking power back into your hands to get rid of your debts.
Be Uncomfortable With Debt
Debt always starts off as a puddle and quickly grows into a flood.
Because of this gradual shift sometimes it’s hard to associate debt and something that’s been normal to you.
For instance, some people are comfortable with their credit card.
They see it as a card for emergencies, which it can be if used right.
But they don’t associate the credit card debt with the physical card because they’re comfortable with the card.
This mindset is about becoming uncomfortable being in debt.
This will lead you to change your habits of living paycheck to paycheck.
Plus it helps to stop relying on any forms of debts to live because you’re uncomfortable with it.
Fall In Love With The Numbers
It can be daunting and scary to look at your debt numbers.
You may see how much your total debt is and feel totally powerless.
But taking emotions out of the equation, your debt is simply a collection of numbers.
You still have the power despite the numbers.
The numbers don’t equate to your character, your personal worth or your value in life.
Instead of: “I can’t believe I’m in so much debt”, see it as a challenge to decrease the numbers.
As you see the total debt owed decrease over time you’ll get more motivated.
Numbers play a key role in the journey, so fall in love with them.
Practice Delayed Gratification
Let’s be honest, one of the main causes of debt is instant gratification.
Buy-now-pay-later instead of save-now-buy-later.
We built a lifestyle that favoured making overpayments to our debts than spending the money.
To be clear, we didn’t join the miserable bunch who starve themselves to be debt-free.
We still enjoyed ourselves, but not as much as we could’ve because of priorities.
Bear in mind that delayed is not denied.
Today we’re enjoying the fruits of our labour much more and it was worth the wait!
Keep Your Eyes On The Prize
Buckle up and strap in for a bumpy ride.
The debt-free journey is not a quick 20-minute drive down the road.
It can take years to get to your desired destination.
There’ll be moments where you may want to give up and throw in the towel.
Other times you’ll be distracted by other things that’ll impact your ability to pay off your debts.
Do what you need to do to keep the debt-free dream alive!
Have a vision board, journal, put up post-it notes around the house or say “I’m debt-free” every day.
Do everything to keep your eyes on the prize so you can win the fight for financial freedom.
How To Change Your Money Mindset
Those are the five mindset shifts that have really propelled our journey towards being debt-free.
But how do you actually change your mindset?
Here are two ways we change our mindset to pay off debt.
Feed Your Mind With Positive Energy
Your mindset is made up of the energy you’ve been feeding it all along.
Your mind is like your stomach, it takes everything you feed it.
To change it, simply feed it with a new kind of energy – Simple, but not easy!
Read money books, follow financial education platforms on social media and read this blog!
Check out our FREEBIES and PRODUCTS to up your money mindset.
Change Your Circle
Surround yourself with people who think how you want to think.
Be around people who have been where you are and have achieved debt freedom.
Pay close attention to how they speak and express their thoughts on money.
Take heed to the advice they give and watch how your mindset will shift after a while.
Take Action
Check out our Ultimate Money Plan to get in control of your money and plan your debt-free journey the right way.
Share this post with others so they can also learn about money too.
Let us know how you’re getting along by getting in touch with us, we’d love to hear from you.
Knowledge is powerless without action.
So take action, and take care.
Thando & Lindie