Financial Boundaries & The Power of Pleasure: How to Have Both (Read Time: 3 min.)

Latte... or no latte?  That is the question.

I remember watching a guest on Oprah speak at length about the "latte factor" and, at the time, it made a lot of sense.  If you spend $5.00 a day at Starbucks, you spend $35.00 a week and $140.00 a month and over $1,400.00 a year.  And that's money you could save... I get it.  Yup, that's money you could save.

What this guest didn't say was this: For some people, that latte is more than a latte.  It's a gift, a treasure, a moment of pleasure, a half an hour ritual that inspires creativity, ushers in business, and transforms the day.  For that person, a latte isn't just a latte: it's a necessity.

So how do you have both (the savings and the latte)?  

Believe you can...

What is your financial dream?  

If you could change one thing about your finances, 

what would you change?  

Oftentimes, people get so focused on their debt (how much they have, how long it'll take to pay it off) that they lose sight of what they're actually doing: creating MORE debt.

Remember: 

What you focus on grows.

Once you know your debt number (i.e. you know your total amount of debt and you have a spreadsheet or some app that keeps track of who you owe and the arrangements you'll make or have made), then your focus needs to be totally and completely upon building the level of income that is required to create your financial dream.

I love the truth of what Dave Ramsey says to so many of his radio show listeners:

"You don't have a debt problem.  

You have an income problem."

Would you like to have both the latte and the savings?  

Work on increasing your income.  

And here's where boundaries come in.  In order to increase your income, you have to create boundaries around your time, energy and talents so you have enough of each to work your full time day job and create multiple streams of income.  It's not going to happen consistently without solid boundaries in place.

Here are 4 healthy boundaries you MUST put in place if an increase income is what you want:

1) Decide the most value-added tasks to increase your income and do them FIRST in your day.  In other words, outside of your day job, when it's time to sit down and work on creating more.
 income, do not do the "easy" things first.  Tackle the large, value-added, tasks that ONLY you can do.
2) Delegate household chores to other people.  That means cooking, cleaning, lawn care, and any other $5.00/hour task that will not make you $200.00/hour.

3) Get adequate sleep.  There are so many people who argue for burning the  midnight oil and doing whatever it takes.  Whatever it takes leads to exhaustion, overwhelm, and getting a cold or flu that then puts you out of commission for 2 weeks (and doesn't make you any additional money).  Know your sleep limits and make sure (for the most part) you get the right amounts.

4) Clear the space you work in and make it money friendly.  This is the #1 thing.  If your office space or whatever space you create that additional income in is cluttered, dirty, or set up in a way that doesn't feel abundant, money will be hard to come by.  Even if it takes you a weekend to clear space, sage, and do some feng shui, DO IT!  Major corporations bring in feng shui experts to set up their space.  If they do it and spend lots of money doing so, understand the reasoning: clear, open, free space filled with positive energy ushers in abundance... period.

Debt is not the issue.  Lattes are not the problem.  If the financial reality you have is not the one you want, it's time to get more resourceful with both your talents and your boundaries.  Begin today!