How To Finally Break Out of the Paycheck-to-Paycheck Cycle, According To Lewis Howes
Written by
Jennifer Taylor
Edited by
Levi Leidy
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The size of your paycheck isn’t necessarily the key to financial stability. Lewis Howes, a personal finance expert and host of The School of Greatness podcast has lived this journey and now he’s sharing it with others.
He recently uploaded a video to his YouTube channel explaining how to stop living paycheck to paycheck. If you’re ready to break this cycle in your own life, keep reading to find out what he had to say.
Overcome ‘Victim Mentality’
“I was scared, and I was scarce emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and I was living from that place of financial brokenness and also emotional brokenness and those two things are not a good place to be in,” Howes said.
Thankfully, he said something inside him changed and he started to shift away from “victim mentality” to do something with his life.
If this sounds familiar, you can also work to overcome a sense of victim mentality. For example you might set personal and career goals to work toward, start saying no to habits that don’t align with your goals, surround yourself with positive people and learn to manage your reactions to situations you can’t control.
Face Your Fears
Howes decided to put his fears in the rearview mirror by tackling them head on.
For him, this included learning to work past his fear of speaking on stage by going to Toastmasters on a weekly basis, learning to salsa dance, writing a book, playing Olympic handball and starting his own business.
This can feel terrifying, but you have the courage to face your fears. Get started by being kind and patient with yourself, concentrating more on the goal itself than your fear, acknowledging your feelings without immersing yourself in them and focusing on the facts, according to advice from Psychology Today.
Expand Your Knowledge
“I started to figure out money eventually,” he said. “It took a few years, but something clicked inside of me after having mentors teaching me and coaching me where I was just willing to obsess over it.”
No one — including Howes — is born with a solid understanding of personal finance. Expanding your knowledge of key concepts like learning to budget, building an emergency fund and eliminating debt can help you build wealth.
Create a Richness of Life
No longer living paycheck to paycheck is about more than just your bank account balance.
Howes said you also need a “richness of life inside of you, so that you can have the health, the relationships, the purpose, the vision, the career — whatever it is you’re working on — and feel abundant, feel peaceful, feel whole, feel like you’re home.”
Believe in Yourself
When you believe you’re capable of doing something, you’re more likely to show up, manifest and achieve your goals, he said.
One of the keys to learning how to believe in yourself is changing your inner voice to a supportive tone. You’ll also need to learn to trust yourself by keeping your word, being honest with yourself and following your gut.
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