While change is one of the few constants in life, most people aren’t terribly big on embracing change, even if it’s a change that we actually want to have happen. We actively resist change, procrastinate on it, and fail to follow through.

This is the case even when the change would turn our good intentions and dreams into a wonderful reality.

So, write down the the one thing you’d most love to change about your finances. Maybe you want to get a better job, buy a house, or just quit living paycheck to paycheck. Whatever it is, write it down.

Now write down what’s stopping you from making that change. This should only take a minute or two, so do it right now. Post it in the comments if you’d like.

….

What did you write as the reason you haven’t made the change yet?

You probably put practical reasons like “No one’s hiring around here”, “I’ve been too busy with ____ to get to it”, or “I’m too old/too young/too whatever.”

But those are almost never the real reasons. They might actually be true — on the surface — but things go deeper than that. You see, if you want to be working at a different job and “No one’s hiring around here”, there are still ways for you to get a different job.

Often fear is the real reason that you haven’t made the change yet.

We’re born to find routine appealing and comforting. We drive the same way to work every day, eat the same type of foods from week to week, and watch the same kinds of films. Everything that’s outside of what we’re used to makes us at least a little bit uncomfortable — and we may not even realize it.

This means that significant changes — like changing an entire aspect of your financial life — take courage.

If you haven’t guessed yet, day 30 of 31 days to a Better Bank Balance is about finding the courage to change and then actually making the change.

So consider these two quotes:

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.
~Ambrose Redmoon

and

Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.
~Mary Anne Radmacher

Courage is a series of decisions that, taken as whole, get you to where you want to be.

Take the first step today.

(And then take the next step tomorrow, and the day after that, and so on until one day you wake up and things are the way you’ve always dreamed.)

Note: This post is a part of the 31 days to a better bank balance series. If you have practical questions on the kinds of steps you can take, send me an email or leave them in the comments and I’ll be glad to give you my ideas.