Happy Friday! It has been a great week in my world, thanks in part to two people: Bethenny Frankel and Ramit Sethi.
No, I am not cool enough to be friends with either of these fabulous people in real life. BUT, I am cool enough to read their blogs and take their advice seriously on two of most peoples biggest stresses: fitness and money.
What I learned from Bethenny Frankel this Week
I got to work on Monday and decided that my sedentary eat-whatever-you-want slump was OVER. I stopped saying, “I need to go to the gym” and said “I am going to the gym today” instead. Getting back on the wagon of healthy eating and going to the gym is the hardest part for me. Once I get back on track, I’m easily hooked (albeit not always for long!).
Thankfully, Katie (roommate and best friend) sent me this great article by Bethenny Frankel on realistic exercise. Bethenny recommends adopting health and fitness as a lifestyle, not as something you “have to do.” Once you feel you “have to” go to the gym or “have to” eat salads, there is a negative association with the task and your motivation isn’t genuine.
In her article, Bethenny also recommended another simple adjustment: do exercise you enjoy. If you hate spinning classes and running, then don’t do it! You will never make it a lifestyle if you hate it.
I shifted my thinking this week and asked what I want my long-term lifestyle to look like. I thought about what I’ve done in the past that doesn’t last long and I decided to go on a different track. So far I’m loving it and craving fruit instead of fries- weird!
What I learned from Ramit Sethi this week
Ramit Sethi-in my opinion- is a true hero. Ramit is another twentysomething Gen Y blogger who has blown it out of the water. His blog (and book) I Will Teach You to be Richis way more than a personal finance blog. Like Bethenny, Ramit focuses his teachings on lifestyle instead of dramatic cuts.
As part of his earn1k class emails this week (that class looks absolutely amazing, by the way) Ramit went on a rant. He encouraged his readers to stop focusing on cutting costs and focus on making more money instead. He says to “go for big wins” and to “stop wasting your time cutting out $3 lattes”. Ramit believes in spending money on what you love- even if that is world travel, $200 jeans or spending $30,000 a year on going out. Ramit’s advice is the opposite of what 99% of personal finance bloggers will tell you, but it is actually the smartest advice.
Like Bethenny said, adapting a lifestyle means creating a system that works for YOU. When you create a lifestyle that you want, your motivation is genuine and it is no longer something you “have to do”. This means you will have a healthy relationship with fitness and finances. It means you don’t beat yourself up if you eat an ice cream cone or splurge on something at Nordstrom once in a while. If you’ve set up a system for yourself that supports your lifestyle, occasional splurges aren’t a huge deal.
Lastly, Ramit makes one of my favorite points of all- people don’t get rich by cutting lattes, they get rich by cutting out what they don’t value and making more money.
I hope this post gives you some food for thought as you end this week and go into next. Hopefully by Monday you will think of one or two things in your own life that you can adjust to fit your lifestyle instead of what you are “supposed to do”.
- How has making “cuts” financially or in your diet affected you? Did it last? Why did you make the cuts initially and why did you stop?
- How do YOU motivate yourself to stay healthy both physically and financially?
- What systems do you put in place to account for “splurges”?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
These are 2 issues that I think twentysomething year olds definitely struggle with. I have to say that I’ve always been frugal, so I’ve always had money saved, but frugal to the point of not having fun. It was only at the age of 26 that I realized it’s only money, I can always make more, let’s have a little fun! My life improved dramatically and I haven’t looked back.
Staying active and eating well has always been at the forefront of my mind. One, because I don’t want to be paying insane medical bills down the road! Two, because I was raised that way and I always remember how I feel after going to the gym. Gym membership was one thing I never skimped on! I do have to say, however, it’s not easy in your early 20s with happy hours and bar nachos! I started forgoing the gym because all my friends were going out AND then feeling pretty bad the next day at work. I realized I could not go on like this, but I didn’t want to miss out on all of the fun. I decided to enlist my friends to join my health kick. Every morning when I’d come into work I’d email a few of my friends with different exercise classes and times we could go. We were all in it together and then we would go out for a bite to eat or 1 drink afterwards.
I just had to comment to say that I LOVE BETHENNY! She is super cool and, quite honestly, she’s my role model. As a nutritionist, I love that she is promoting healthy living to such a wide audience. And she’s realistic. She’s all about moderation and not denying yourself, which is the ONLY way to experience true long-term success.
Both great lessons learnt. I personally love going to the gym. Haven’t always been like that, especially when you’re just getting into the routine, it’s the worst thing in the world. But once you do it often, you can’t live without it. And the second lesson is also great. Why cut things out of your life that you enjoy. Instead try to make more money. I just returned from Europe and noticed they really live by the rule: work as little as possible while getting the most out of life rather than living to work as so many people are used to in N. America. I enjoyed reading your post, thanks Nicole.
Ramit is a genius. I’ve been reading his blog for a long time, and he’s the first personal finance blogger that didn’t make me dread passing by a Starbucks ['cause, you know, if I buy a latte, it makes me a personal finance failure]. He’s got some brilliant advice about earning more – I’m saving up to take his Earn1k course. The Earn1k preview course is free for everyone, and it helped me immensely. Great stuff.
Awesome blog, btw. I’m looking forward to reading more.