Today is a pretty sweet day in the land of The Happy Homeowner–I got a promotion! Even better is the 9.1% raise that is coming along with it, effective for the 2nd pay period in November. Needless to say, I’m pretty happy and ready to celebrate (don’t worry, Rafiki, my only planned spending is my celebratory pumpkin cheesecake muffin from Starbucks, so my weekly spending report won’t include any alien invasions…haha!).

Considering that I’ve only been with this company for just under four months, I think it’s a great sign to be able to take on additional responsibility and exposure to other divisions. And because I’m an uber nerd and love any way to connect my day-to-day life to personal finance, I can’t help but think about the fact that I probably wouldn’t be where I am today had I not gotten my finances on track.

You already know that I haven’t always been this put together, financially speaking. In fact, I’d go as far to say that I was an absolute financial disaster. But somewhere, somehow, I finally unlocked my resolve and learned how to banish doubts, fears, and anxieties all in the name of pursuing my goals and dreams.

Simply stated, I woke up one day, had my financial epiphany, and banished my self-doubt using these steps:

1. I became aware. In an effort to catch–and beat–my doubts, I forced myself to acknowledge them and became aware of their impact in my life.
2. I squashed my doubts. Doubt became an ugly little bug and I was a lean, mean exterminating machine. I allowed myself to sit with the fears and anxieties doubt welcomes, then I wiped them clean out of my life. I created a plan, and I set goals to help achieve that plan. 
3. I replaced doubt. I became the Queen of the positive. I focused on what I did have and celebrated the small successes. If I felt doubt creeping in, I reminded myself that anything is possible, that I could do whatever it was that I had set my mind on, etc, etc, etc.

Now this isn’t to say that every day is sunshine and roses for me–I have my less than appeasing moments; my days when all I want to do is stay in bed all day with a good book rather than go to work or create financial goals. What’s changed for me, in addition to my net worth, is my focus. I’ve always been driven,  but now I have purpose. In the grand scheme of life, this promotion doesn’t mean that much. But when taking into consideration how far I’ve come, it certainly brings with it a hell of a lot of motivation!  Now I just need that first, bigger paycheck to figure out a new & improved budget.