I’ve always been a planner. You’ll never find me without a Plan B for my Plan A or a Plan C for my Plan B. Some may call me borderline type “A,” but I honestly like just to be prepared for whatever is going to happen in my life. This type of strategic planning became even more apparent as I begin to set financial goals and we started planning for the unexpected an the expected in the form of opening several Capital One 360 Saving Accounts. To date, we have a least 15-20 between my husband and myself (see what they are here). We have saving accounts for household goals and things we’re personally saving for like trips to our alma mater’s for homecoming or saving up to stock up on favorite skin care products.
I really thought I had this whole planning thing down and it was working well for my life, that is until I spoke at the Black Women Who Plan and Create (BWWPC) National Conference and realized that my life could benefit from me being more intentional and strategic with my planning in other areas beyond finance. If you never heard of the BWWPC group, then you’re seriously missing out on a magical piece of the internet. I’ve been to several conferences in my day, mostly scientific, and I’ve never felt as much love, happiness, and energy as I felt from this group of women. Admittedly, at first, I felt like an outsider looking in. I mean, I was there to speak about finances, but here was I, the one being schooled.
As I reflect on my time at the conference, I realize that I picked up so many perfect gems from the other speakers and just audience interaction that can be applied to my everyday life.
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LESSON ONE
The first lesson I learned was from Stephanie Fleming, creator of the Happy Life Planner. Stephanie taught me that in life we could be so busy that we forget to live in the gray, which is the area between work and home. In forgetting to live in the gray, we forget about ourselves and the things that we need. She went on to share with us how she made a year-long commitment to herself and how she used her Happy Planner to help achieve that goal. This message resonated with me so much because it’s precisely what I’ve been doing this year. I’ve been living in the gray. This year I stopped being so focused on how much debt we could pay off every month and instead shifted some of that focus to me, and the things that made me happy. I permitted myself to do small things like getting my nails done. I permitted myself to pull back on paying down debt so that I could pour into my Roth IRA and invest money. While we’ve paid off less debt this year regarding mental health, it’s been one of my best years.
LESSON TWO
You shouldn’t do life alone. This lesson is especially true when it comes to embarking on a financial journey. Yea you might have friends and family that you’re around, but you need a tribe. The women of the BWWPC were one big tribe! It was as if everybody knew everybody and they were coming together to share their love of planning and crafting. It made me think of the success we could have as an African American community if we came together and shared our passion for financial health and well-being. One of my points during my talk was how each person should find an accountability partner, someone to help keep them on track. When I looked around the room, I realized that it was already full of accountability partners and by using the Classic Happy Planner- Budget Secret (add’l 40% off at Michaels this week) it would make budget planning sessions so much fun. Just add some wine and a charcuterie board! Special shoutout to Wyona from Boston and Briana from Texas for inviting me to eat dinner with them Thursday night! It meant a lot to me. I felt like part of the tribe.
LESSON THREE
It’s okay to spend money on things that make you happy. During my talk, one of my points was that the ladies should plan themselves into the journey. I didn’t do this and I explained to them how I began to regret my living Broke on Purpose®. I asked tem to list out their non-negotiables. As I sat during the conference I realized that for many of these women their non-negotiable was planning and creating. It was a form of self-care. The intricate designs of the planner weren’t just so that they could have an itemized list of things to do, it was also so that they could unleash their creative sides while being lost in their thoughts. It was their outlet. We all need outlets like these in some form or fashion. Something to help us take our mind off the world and focus on ourselves. Planning and crafting can be an expensive hobby if one isn’t careful, however if you make room for this hobby in your budet it’s really a great way to give back to yourself.
LESSON FOUR
The last message that resonated throughout the conference was that to succeed at anything you have to plan. You’re probably thinking well duh, this was a planner/crafting conference, but think about it. Many of us don’t properly plan for the things we want to do in life. Even if the thing you’re planning for, like those audacious dreams you keep having of living best life, scares you, it won’t happen without proper planning. You have to plan time for yourself, you have to plan how much time you want to give to your side hustle, you have to plan time for bible study and talking with God, and you also have to plan out your finances. You can’t just get out of debt, you have to come up with a strategic plan of action. You can’t just create a budget out of thin air you have to sit down and plan it out. Each step in your financial journey is a calculated plan as each action is based upon the success or failure of another.
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.”
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