LIFE BY DEZYNE

MY BUDDHA BUDGET

This past week I was feeling like I had a 90 year old body and was experiencing head aches, back pain and fatigue. So I visited my chiropractor, who first told me that "age is a state of mind" (shame on me) and then suggested my symptoms were the result of stress overloading my nervous system.  Ah ha! I thought, because at the beginning of each month I 'conscientiously' review my budget and after this months review, I have reason to be stressed!

But when I was completely honest with myself, I realized I did not tell the chiropractor that I just returned from 3 weeks holiday in Bali splurging on jewellery, amazing food and 'important' nick-nacks.  That when I returned home, I spent three consecutive nights staying up late, catching up on the wine we didn't drink in Bali and became a couch potato watching movies with the kids.  That niggly feeling of anxiety around my finances is truthfully, only a small contributor to the toll I'm putting on my nervous system!

How do I design life I want without feeling 90 years old and stressing about how much it costs? Well, my chiropractor answered the first part...I am only as old as I think I am.  And my professional opinion recommends getting more sleep and exercise! Now, how do I find Zen when managing money?

"Gymnast Jen", the old me who was an Elite gymnast throughout her childhood, tried to be perfect at everything and was a tad bit hard on herself when she wasn't.  Gymnast Jen would worry about everything and would wallow in misery while focusing on the problem, rather than on the solution!  Becoming "Zen Jen" means letting go of fear and staying present in order to find clarity!  So today, as ZenJen, I'm applying the Yoga principles of CONSCIOUSNESS AND COMPASSION to how I think about my finances!

"WHERE EVER I PLACE MY CONSCIOUSNESS, CHANGE TAKES PLACE!"

According to a recent article in Yoga Journal, in order to change money habits for the better, we shouldn't force ourselves to stick to a "spartan budget", but instead, they suggest we identify our most important values and understand how money serves them.  Our values will pull us in the right direction!  And a budget will help us observe our spending habits and cultivate an awareness around them.

4 STEPS TO CREATING A HAPPY BUDDHA BUDGET

Here's how I'm creating a no worries budget by using the principals of meditation and Yoga:

1.  IDENTIFY MY VALUES  (Identify what I want in my life, not what I don't want in my life)

• Safety  
• Connection 
• Passion  
• Purpose  
• Balance 
• Freedom  

2.  IDENTIFY MY HABITS (Notice my repetitive thoughts and behaviours around money/budgeting)

• I'm a money hoarder and fear accumulating bad debt.
• My current budget habits are focused primarily on paying down debt as quickly as possible 
• When I spend on play or travel before paying off debt, I feel guilty and worrisome.

3. OBSERVE WITHOUT JUDGEMENT  (Notice, without beating myself up)

• I focus most of my attention on managing debt rather than on income generating activities. 
• When I put money towards splurging on adventures or travel I feel guilty that I didn't put it towards paying down debt.
• I often have buyers remorse when I buy things for myself.
• My current budget is focused on surviving rather than on thriving.
• I hoard my money because i'm afraid of becoming broke and this fear keeps me attached to my J.O.B., where I have a false sense of security.

4.  IDENTIFY ACTION STEPS - (Find clarity and generate transformation - aligning my finances with my values)

• Safety - Create multiple income streams in order to secure my financial future.
• Connection - Feeling connected to the people I work with and having time-freedom away from work to spend with friends and family. 
• Passion - Design a career around what I love to do.  Work because I want to, not because I have to.  
• Purpose - Work because I want to help others, not just to earn money to my pay bills.  
• Balance -  Balancing paying down debt and saving for the things that bring me joy.  Focus on   generating income rather than on working harder to eliminate debt .  
• Freedom - Focus my attention on generating residual and passive income streams so I can leave my J.O.B. and stop trading time for dollars and instead earn money while I sleep.
• In order to attract more of what I want!, when ever I see a penny on the street I will pick it up, put it in my pocket and say "Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you, I am a money magnet!" 

So how do I afford the life I want?  I may have some guilt around splurging on a trip to Bali, but one of the lessons I brought home with me from the Balinese is to always focus on gratitude.  I'm finding that the more I focus on what I do have, rather than what I don't have, the richer I feel.  As I focus on generating money, rather than on my debt, the more abundance I attract into my life.  What I focus on expands, and being clear about what I value and my habits around money, I am choosing to focus less on my debt and more on the money coming in.  

My Happy Buddha Budget will be realistic in order to protect my financial future and will buy my happiness by focusing on gratitude.  And if I have a bad week...I will remember that the past is history, there is no sense worrying about things I can't change!  The only safe place is in the here and now, this moment is where I can make a difference.

WIth gratitude for this new awareness, let the journey continue!

Woo Woo!

Zenjen :)