Motivation Archives - Making Sense Of Cents

Don’t Compare Your Beginning to Someone Else’s Middle

Last Updated: February 28, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 66 Comments

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You know that feeling when you are starting on a new goal and you see someone else in a similar situation having much more success than you? Maybe it causes you to feel hopeless, defeated, or just overall depressed that you’re not on the same level.

In that moment, you are taking your beginning and comparing it to someone else’s middle.

This is something that many of us do, and when you’re beginning a new goal, it can be easy to look at others and compare yourself to them.

People often do it to determine how well they are doing in life and base their personal value on that. However, that usually doesn’t lead to feeling too good about yourself. Plus, who actually wants to judge themselves in a negative way? While it can be good to spot your weaknesses to help you grow, feeling like you are inadequate, unsuccessful, unlucky, and more is the type of negativity that can cause you to lose sight of your goals, lead to depression, and more.

Comparison really is the thief of joy after all.

However, many of us are still falling into the negative mindset of comparing ourselves to others. [Read more…]

Stop Feeling Bad For Yourself: Quit Making Excuses For Why Life Isn’t Better

Last Updated: August 31, 2019 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 35 Comments

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He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else. ― Benjamin Franklin

Excuses are what holds a person back. I know this because I hear excuses nearly every single day, and I have made many of my own as well.

People make excuses all the time, but then claim that it’s not actually an “excuse” that they are making.

But, what exactly is an excuse?

The definition of excuse (from Google) is “a reason or explanation put forward to defend or justify a fault or offense.”

People make excuses for all sorts of things. There are excuses for why a person can’t get the job they want, why debt can’t be paid off, why a person needs a brand new car, why a person can’t improve their lives, and so on.

Now, I’m not saying that life isn’t difficult or that everyone else’s life is perfect. Everyone has experienced difficulties – no matter how great you may perceive a person’s life to be.

Everyone is guilty of making excuses, and I know that people will continue to make them until they realize that excuses are just that- excuses. [Read more…]

Create a Life You Don’t Need To Escape From

Last Updated: April 1, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 30 Comments

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“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” – Seth Godin

I know this quote will stir up some feelings. However, I want you to dig deeper and think about the true meaning of it, which I’ll get to in a second.

First, though, dreaming about vacations isn’t a bad thing – we all do it.

Honestly, I’m always looking forward to the next destination (after all, I do travel full-time). But, if you aren’t traveling full-time, vacations do allow you to explore new places, relax, have fun, and more. And, because of all of that, they really can make life better.

When thinking of the quote, though, I think it’s saying – you should create a life that you don’t hate. Honestly, it’s possible that taking vacations are causing you unhappiness, especially if you are taking on more debt to travel.

However, the life this quote mentions is one where you don’t have to purchase things to make you happy, a life where you don’t dread every single day, a life where you actually look forward to things, and are positive. [Read more…]

15 Habits That Are Hurting Your Happiness

Last Updated: October 21, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 79 Comments

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“Happiness is a habit – cultivate it.” – Elbert Hubbard

Today, I have a great article written about how to reach happiness in life by my good friend Natalie Bacon from NatalieBacon.com. Enjoy!

There are habits that you may be doing that negatively affect your happiness in life – and you may not even realize you’re doing them!

Here’s a list of 15 habits that can sneak up on you and steal your happiness in life.

1. Making negative judgments about someone

When you make a negative judgment about someone, you hurt yourself without even realizing it. The negative comment about the other person may or may not be true, but the negative energy you experience because of your negative thinking is felt all over.

Not only is it bad for you internally, but when you say negative comments out loud, people associate them to you, not to the person you’re talking about.

So, hold your tongue despite what comes to your mind first. The more you say that’s positive, the more you’ll think positively, and the happier you’ll be. [Read more…]

5 Great Benefits Of Being An Early Bird And How You Can Change

Last Updated: November 26, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 50 Comments

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Most people say that they are either a night owl or an early bird. Personally, I go both ways, but I do think that for me, waking up early is better.

Some of the early birds I know may laugh at this because I know many who wake up at 4 a.m., and I’m definitely not one of those people.

You don’t have to wake up at 4 a.m. to be an early bird, unless you really want to. I’m just talking about waking up a little earlier in the morning, instead of waking up in a rush for work or regularly sleeping in until the afternoon.

Now, some of you might think I’m crazy for telling you to wake up an hour or two before you’re supposed to leave for work.

I used to be a night owl and absolutely haaaated waking up early, so I completely understand.

When I had a day job, mornings were the absolute worst. I would wake up right before work and head out the door. Or, I would sleepily type away at my computer trying to get my side hustles done. Side hustling in the morning was enjoyable, but I still had a very rushed morning. [Read more…]

How To Stay Focused, Get Stuff Done, And Be Successful

Last Updated: March 20, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 54 Comments

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Learning how to stay focused can be a difficult task, especially in today’s world where there are distractions from all around us – social media, TV, work, family, relationships, and more. This is why understanding and learning how to stay focused is so important.

There are many situations in which knowing how to stay focused would help you greatly:

When you’re trying to pay off debt.
When you want to save more money, such as for retirement or for a vacation.
If you want to start a business on the side but feel like you aren’t focused enough to do so.
To focus better at work.
When you need to balance multiple things while staying focused on all of them, such as working and managing a family.

I’ve always been a very busy person, and learning how to stay focused on my goals and life has helped me to reach my goals and be happier. By knowing how to stay focused, I was able to successfully build a business on the side of my full-time job, I was able to work full-time and go to school full-time to earn my MBA, and more. [Read more…]

The 7 Money Mistakes That Shaped My Life

Last Updated: February 22, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 48 Comments

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Some say that the best way to learn a money lesson is to learn from your past money mistakes, after all, you live and learn!

Still, no one wants to make money mistakes, but if you’re going to get anything positive out of a money mistake, it might as well be a lesson in becoming a better money manager.

Learning from your money mistakes is extremely important, because no one wants to make the same mistake again.

Sadly, though, that is what seems to happen for some people. It can be easy to fall into the same money mistakes over and over again if you do not stop to reflect and learn from your past money mistakes.

And, I’m not afraid to admit that I’ve made plenty of these mistakes in the past. I’m not perfect, and everyone has made them. Instead of running away from your money mistakes, I believe that it’s best to face them and learn from them, so that the same money mistake or something similar never happens again. [Read more…]