Do you ever feel like you just need to get a grip on your life? Are you frustrated because you have too much debt, too little time, and just aren’t realizing the dreams that you want to realize? Join the club.

It seems like the majority of people I talk to have something that they want to achieve but feel like they are just too overburdened to accomplish it. Whether it be a trip South, spending more time with friends/family, or just having more personal time, these simple things seem out of reach for most people because they are too busy with their daily lives to do what they want.

In attempt to get a grip on these things and start good habits, Rita and I have started having weekly meetings where we sit down for an hour or so and discuss our goals, finances, agendas, etc. We’re doing this as a way to make sure we are in control of our lives and are able to do the things we want to do. By setting aside some time every week to list our goals and focus on achieving them, we are more likely to carry them out. In the end, by creating a plan of action, we can eliminate a lot of the stress that we’d normally face by knowing exactly what needs to be done. Getting a schedule sorted out at the start of the week means you don’t have to struggle trying to figure out what to do every single day. Here is a short outline I put together of some important points to follow when creating your own weekly meetings:

• Create incentive
  • Let’s face it; unless there is a reason to meet, you’re not going to do it. So, Rita and I bring $20 to each meeting that we put into a “for tomorrow” fund. It’s a great reminder because it means we also get to save up for something! Another great incentive is to do this with a partner. It’s like working out; you’re more likely to do it if you know someone else is committed with you. However, you can still find plenty of incentives while working on your own too–looking at your account balances is a good one for most people :).

• Make goals every week
  • Even if they’re small; any attempt to move forward is a positive one.

• Have consequences
  • Just like needing an incentive to have the meetings, you need an incentive to accomplish your goals. Rita and I have a rule that for every goal that isn’t accomplished, the person who made that goal has to pay an extra $5

• Make a budget
  • Use this time to look over your month’s income and set budgets for things like eating out, entertainment, and shopping. Every week, you can look back on your purchases and see how you’re doing (see Where Did All My Money Go for more information on how to track your expenses)

• Think long-term, too
  • Yes, these are weekly meetings; but you can also use them as a time to review the progress of your long-term goals. How well have you been saving up for that trip to Jamaica? Maybe you need to make weekly goals to ensure you achieve your long-term ones.

• Write it down!
  • There is no better way to sneak out of a commitment than to not write it down. If you make a plan, write it down and stick to it. Once a goal is down on paper, you are less likely to “do it later.”

• Think ahead
  • Keep a notepad with you during the week. Ideas tend to come to us at the strangest times (in the shower, before we sleep, driving in the car) so it is a good idea to write them down so you remember to bring them up at the next meeting. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had great ideas for our next meeting and then forgot about them when the meeting rolled around because I didn’t write them down.

• Reward yourself
  • I’ve talked a lot about negative incentives, but you also need to treat yourself once in a while! Come up with something creative like: “If I accomplish all my weekly goals for 4 straight weeks then I can buy that book/cd/toy I want.” Remember to keep this within reason though or you risk losing sight of the purpose–which is to get a grip.

• Enjoy yourself
  • These meetings shouldn’t be a chore–this isn’t work after all. Look forward to your meetings as a break from everything else that’s on your plate. You can even make the meetings fun by having them over a glass of wine or while relaxing with a partner. Be creative.

 
This is a pretty straight-forward list of some of the key points to staying on top of things. The main idea here is just to take some time away from your busy life and organize your thoughts. Trying to multi task without a plan is the quickest path to destruction–trust me, I know! By setting aside some time to think about what you want to accomplish and then creating a plan on how to get it done, you will be much more successful. As you slowly start accomplishing more of the goals you set for yourself you may start to feel as though you’re getting a grip :).

Have any other tips that could be used during weekly meetings? Leave a comment!

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