“What about the money? How are you supporting yourself?”

It’s one of the first questions people ask me. I can only share with you my experience and tell you how I ended up in this space where I am able to take off the next year and a half to pursue my passions.  Money was my greatest hurdle, as I image it is for most. It has been a hurdle for a long time and it wasn’t until recently I finally said, “If not now, when?”

I am not saying I just quit my job like, “Whelp, I hope this works!” I did what I had to do to get to a place that I was comfortable making that decision.  Then, once I was on that cliff and looking over its edge, I decided it was time to close my eyes and jump.

I have always been a planner and a budgeter. I took some time this past two years to get myself in a position of power, to make my decision. Now, I didn’t know at the time that was what I was doing, I just knew that being in debt and having more than I could afford didn’t feel good. So I made a change.  I made what some would call sacrifices, but I didn’t see it that way.  I’d like to think I was just simply applying the oxygen mask to my face, instead of suffocating.

I was suffocating.  At the time I was working my full-time career and two-part time coaching jobs.  I was commuting 55 miles to work one way and helping to support more than half of my household bills.  We had more going out then coming in and the first of the month was always a nightmare. Just over two years ago my then husband and I separated.  Our divorce was splitting the debt, not the assets.  After we short-saled our home, which was purchased at an all time high in 2006, we walked away with just barely our pride in our back pockets.

When my ex-husband and I went our separate ways I swore that I would never get myself in a situation like that again.  So at the age of 33 I moved into my brother’s basement apartment where I took 4 months to get myself situated.  After that I found a small cheap apartment where I could start whittling away at the debt my husband and I had acquired together.  This was my sacrifice; it was also a breath of fresh air. Instead of renting a beautiful apartment with all the bells and whistles I stayed focused and chose a basement apartment with tiny little windows where my landlord lived upstairs. It was way less desirable than all the other fancy apartments I saw but it was a fraction of the cost. $870 included all my utilities.  I was sold.

My new motto was, “Have less, do more.” I tossed out so much stuff and gave away tons to the good will.  There was something so satisfying about getting rid of all the clutter.  I had moved from a 2800 sq. ft. home with four acres of land to tend to, to a turn-key apartment that could be cleaned in 30 minutes.

Within the first year and two months I paid off my debt while still putting money aside for savings. It was the greatest feeling ever!! No debt! No ball and chain to hold me down. Like the bird that is let loose from it’s cage! I was free. My original goal after paying off my debt was to get a bigger apartment, but when the time came I was like, “Why?” This new apartment allowed me to work fewer hours and be less stressed.  I also was able to take two vacations that year, without using a credit card.

For the first time in my life I was beginning to see a whole new realm of living, and yet still something was missing.  I felt like my career was providing for me financially but not giving me the happiness I desired.  Most would say why ruin a good thing? You are at the peak of your career, you are considered an expert in your field and get paid good money to only work four days.  Isn’t that enough? I will tell you it was not, so in the spring of 2015 I cut my days in half. I re-budgeted, began to work only two days a week and was still saving money. I just kept choosing to live below my means. I was learning that it provided much less stress and worry.

Seven months later here we are again, “Anne, your crazy! You work TWO days a week and it’s still not enough to make you happy?”

“No, it is not.” Those two days of work owned me.  They broke up my week and they made me a slave to the dollar.  They dictated my life.

Anyone who knows me will tell you I am not lazy. This is not about me ‘fighting the man’ or protesting the way of life.  I am just defining my own life now.  I am not living by societies standards of what I should be doing, for once I am doing what Anne wants to do, and that is to write! To inspire! To give back to those who need it most, to remove the blinds from people’s eyes who have forgotten who they are.  I stopped doing things that didn’t make me happy! I stopped buying things I couldn’t afford; they only give me a false sense of happiness so I could be a slave to them. I Freed myself. No one else could do it for me.

I am not saying that having big houses and fancy cars is bad.  By all means go after those things if they bring you joy. What I am saying is, I choose not to buy things I can not afford anymore.  I am not a slave to my bills, so I can always make choices based on what I want to do, not what I have to do. I’d rather have a tiny home and no debt then a big home I can’t afford.  Honestly, I am over having things, I want to do them instead!

I really wanted to chase after my life dreams, like for real… not in a fairytale kind of way.  I’m now finding out it is possible.  I only needed to be determined and focused.  I started following what inspired me, that one thing alone has made everything that I did worth it. Staying in my tiny little apartment instead of renting something bigger, making a conscious effort to stay in my budget by not making impulse buys, knowing where all my pennies were being spent and saving a portion of everything I made for the last two years. All that work and sacrifice paid off because now I am in the space of creating my life.

Now I will tell the Universe, “Show me the money!” I believe if you follow what your passionate about, the money will show up. I have a year and a half to see if I am right.  If nothing else, I will enjoy every bit of this next year and a half. I know I will never have that regret of, “What If?” I can always go back to doing what I did before, but I can never know what would have happened if I never tried.

I have two tools in my life “tool box” that I would like to share with you today. They have been very helpful and have guided me to where I am now. Free.

Book: Secrets of the millionaire mind by T. Harv Eker

http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Millionaire-Mind-Mastering-Wealth/dp/0060763280

You can buy this book used on Amazon, your practically only paying for the shipping.  This book changed my view of money and taught me how to budget. I learned if you make a dollar, you can budget a dollar!

Also, check out this link. http://www.lululemon.com/education/goalsetting

Watch the short video and print out the sheets.  This is what helped me find that writing was my passion.  It is because of these vision and goal sheets that I have made a huge change in my life.  It cost you nothing to do this; if you put in the work, you will get results.

Write back soon, Love Annie

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