My name is Belinda and I’m a single parent living in New York City. One of the most expensive cities in the world. A city where a studio apartment in a low-income neighborhood could run you upwards of $2k a month. But I’ve lived here all my life and it’s the only home I’ve ever known.
Before achieving the goal of turning my finances around, I had to power through a series of unfortunate events. As a result, it left me thinking that if I can make it through this, I know others can too.
From Debt to Goal Discovery
After racking up over $15k in credit card debt and over $60k in student loans for my daughter and my late-in-life decision to get a degree, I almost lost hope.
Living paycheck to paycheck and drowning in debt seemed like it would always be a part of my life. I suffered many personal highs and lows and ups and downs. The results all ended up on credit cards I didn’t think would ever be paid off.
After years of listing $0 credit card debt as one of many New Years Resolutions, I had my lightbulb moment. I finally realized that if I didn’t commit to making that a serious goal, I would never achieve it. Since I love games and puzzles, I decided create a challenge. I vowed to erase every single goal on my list except that one. I knew that the only way it would work for me is if I focused on that one thing and nothing else. No distractions. No alternate goals to pivot to. It was One Goal, or none.
I purchased a journal and decorated the cover with the words “Just One Goal – $0 Debt”. I created a daily task checkoff printable in Canva and printed out enough pages to last a month. Every night I journaled about my achievements for the day and listed the tasks I needed to tackle for the next day.
Because I had turned my desire to reach my goal into a daily habit and I approached it with mindful tenacity, I got to champion my wins every day and reflect on and take responsibility for times when I fell short of my goal. Constantly showing up for my goal made it real in my life and lead me to the final results I previously didn’t think was possible.
I had paid every one of the 6 credit cards I had down to $0. It took about 2 months after paying them off to realize just how amazing it really was. At the end of ever month, I sat down with my calculator and a stomach full of knots to strategize how to move money around so that I could pay my bills and still have money for fun things. That 2nd month made me realize that all the money left after my fixed expenses was mine. I didn’t have to shift it anywhere.
No more credit card balances to lose money in interest on. I felt a sense of freedom that was unbelievable.
That experience allowed me to discover that there are real ways and methods of creating the life you want. I learned the keys to goal building and goal setting through foundational goal mindfulness. Moving my mindset into that new space allowed me to see the possibility of turning financial stress around by changing how I move through the world so that I could one day have my dream life.
It was around that time that I found out that I could write and publish a book on Amazon, sharing my experience and my templates so that others could benefit from my journey. I published my first book, “One Goal: 6 Month Journey for Creating Your Dream Life” and began setting the stage for my next One Goal adventure.
I want you to benefit from the things I had to learn the hard way. It’s now my mission to use my words and experiences to help and inspire you to make changes for the sake of your future self, your dreams, and your serenity. Feel free to reach out.
The Words I Live By
Success is attainable for all who walk in self-worth.
Love people for who they are, not for who you want them to be.