Episode 171- Money, Goals & Mindset: Lessons from Taco Shells, Bloating & Running

Jamila Souffrant 0:00

You're listening to The Journey to Launch Podcast. I'm talking taco shells, bloating, and running. What does this have to do with money? Listen to find out.

Recording 0:14

Welcome to the Journey to Launch Podcast with your host Jamila Souffrant. As a money expert who walks her talk, she helps brave journeyers like you get out of debt, save, invest and build real wealth. Join her on the Journey to Launch to financial freedom in five, four, three, two, one.

Jamila Souffrant 0:41

Hey, hey, hey journeyers! It's about that time-time for a solo episode. You know, even after three years of podcasting, I still don't really like doing these but I am committed to doing them. Also, I'm recording this from home in August. So that means my kids are here. You may hear them in the background, they may even interrupt me because yes, just what my life has been like, I'll give some quick updates. And then I will share what I thought could be good topics for this episode. So bear with me. I'm trying to just like speak and go with it. You know, I heard someone say on the podcast, and it inspired me because I feel like this is what I do. I want to show you so if you're listening to this, that you don't have to be perfect. Because I feel like I'm far from perfect when I'm recording these episodes. It's probably one of the reasons I don't like recording the solo episodes. Like if I really want to get raw with you, it's because I'm super conscious of you know, the way I speak and am I saying the right thing? And am I getting everything out the way it's supposed to be? You know, when you listen to other people, like I listen to other podcasts, sometimes I'm just like, "Wow, they delivered that so crisp and eloquent and smart. " And I'm like, I don't think I'd be able to get all those words out in the same way if I was talking, right? And what's crazy is I'm sure some of you look at me like that. I get all the time like do more solo episodes. I love the way you speak. I love the way you formulate thoughts. And it's just crazy how hard we can be on ourselves sometimes. So raising my hand here, I'm included in that. And what I've been pushing through, hence why I'm still doing these solo episodes is just "F it." Also, like not trying to stop and edit and re-record things. So really just showing that you can show up exactly how you are imperfections perfections and all, you have something important to say say it, you have something important to do, do it. You may not think it's important, but someone out there needs it. So just go ahead. Go ahead, stop judging yourself so harshly. And trust me, I'm talking to myself too.

Now, some personal updates. It's so funny last year, this time, I said I was so busy. I think I had did the Money Launch Club open launch. So I did doors open to the Money Launch Club in 2019, I believe and I remember because my Aunt was also off. So my Aunt who usually helps us with the kids, she's amazing. She usually takes off like maybe a month in the summer. And I remember last summer she took off. And then I had all these things planned. And I was so I don't want to say stress, I don't want to say stressed, but it was a lot. And I said to myself, you are slowing down in 2020. In terms of the summer, it'd be great if you don't have anything you have to do. But of course, that is not what's happening. I feel like I'm busier than ever, in this month, particularly August. And so of course, this also is the month of my Aunt is off. So fast forward. Now I'm in the kind of the same situation where I have a lot of things to do a lot of deadlines. And the kids are here, as they should be like, where are they going to go? Now my husband is home too. So it's really helpful. He's a teacher. So it's great that he has a kind of schedule where he's home. Plus, hello, we're still in the pandemic and semi quarantining, I guess, but still, at the end of the day, it's just hard to get things done and I don't have as much time to get things done. So typically, what happens is my new routine has been I've been getting up and running in the mornings. Yay to me, because I, I'll talk about this a little bit later. But I did not foresee myself running at all. I'm not a runner. I don't see myself as a runner. But apparently I'm running in the mornings. So what I've been doing is getting up early early for me, which is about 5:45, 6 o'clock and then getting out and running. And it's been great. So get back home. And then when I get home, around that, say, 8:30, my husband leaves to go run and do his workout. So we kind of switch back and forth. And then I have the kids and then he usually gets back mid day. So I don't really start working or have time to do Journey to Launch stuff until the afternoon, and even so, it's only a few hours if I'm lucky. But it's just a lot to cram in and then if I hear them crying or needing something, it's just staying focused and in the groove can be tough. So here I am, again, with lots of deadlines in August, but I'm getting it done. And I must say that it's been a productive year so far for me. I understand that this pandemic, and COVID has run our world and country crazy. And it's caused a lot of pain and heartache for people and I get it you so much uncertainty now. And I think also what's happening, which includes me in this group, is that it's allowed me time to refocus and recenter. Like, it's almost like the whole world stopped and slowed down. And so with that, I feel like I've gotten actually more opportunities in this season. I feel like my mom said this to me. I think I shared this on the podcast. She was like, "Every two years, something amazing like happens, like it's like a real pivotal point in your life." And so she said that 2020 would be that for me. And I can say that I feel like things are lining up to be that way. I mean, I'm so grateful. That Journey to Launch actually last year, 2019, I believe I shared that gross income for Journey to Launch was about like 80 something thousand dollars. And I'm happy and proud to say that we're not done with the year yet. It's August and we passed that number already. Now I will go more into detail about Journey to Launch and business stuff and money. I definitely I promise I will do a podcast episode on that later on this year. But it's just been eye opening the the opportunities and the experiences and some of them I can't really share because there's no contract signed and it's still up in the air. But trust me, you'll be the first to know. Actually, if you want to be the first to know, you need to sign up to my newsletter list or follow me on social media newsletters. The best way you can go to JourneytoLaunch.com/join. I think that's just like the quickest way to get on my list without getting an opt in-you just like get on it. But as soon as I can share some of the stuff that are bubbling behind the scenes, I will.

Now with that, I do want to share what I want to talk about this episode. There are three topics- now they're going to seem weird, maybe. But here's what I've been kind of playing around with in my head. So what do taco shells, bloating and running all have in common? Money! No, they really don't have money in common but because of the way my brain thinks it's so weird, I can relate everything back to money and personal development. These are three topics that I kind of want to explore more with you. And the first one being taco shells-Trader Joe taco shells to be exact. Now what do I mean? Now, if you are a Trader Joe's fan like me, I'm a big huge fan of Trader Joe's, like legit. If there was a Trader Joe's in my neighborhood, once I reach my financial independence number, and "retire", you may find me working at Trader Joe's, especially if it was in my neighborhood. Unfortunately, it's not so I have to travel. You know a little bit to get there but I love going to Trader Joe's. Now Trader Joe's has these corn, these hard corn taco shells and I would buy them all the time because I love tacos. And I remember the box on the box, the taco shell box had directions on how to heat it up in the oven. And I remember following those directions to heat up the taco shells. And from what I remember the first time that I was like doing this a couple years ago, when I started buying them, I think it was something like, put it in at 425, like, let your oven heat up to 425 and put the taco shells in for like three minutes. And so I would follow the instructions on the taco shell box, and I would put them in the oven. And by the time I followed the directions and took them out in two or three minutes, most of the time they would be burned. And I'd be like, "Well, what the heck." But the direction said that. So I'm like, "Well, maybe it's me. Maybe I'm not timing things properly." Even though I did have the timer on I'm like, "Maybe my oven is just powerful" let me put it on two minutes and I would adjust it and it would work better. But I say all this to say that there were specific instructions on how to heat up these damn taco shells. And when I followed them, they would come out half wrong most of the time. Then what I noticed was I went back, so I can't remember what happened. But maybe I took a break from taco shells, who knows. And I went back, I bought the taco shells more recently. And I noticed something interesting. The directions for the same taco shells, I doubt the ingredients changed at all. They were different on the box. And on the box, I believe it says something like and I have to like get the picture. Maybe I'll post this in the episode show notes. But the new box said something like heat at 300 degrees for a longer time. I think it was like seven minutes. And I followed those directions that time and the taco shells came out perfectly. And I was just like, "Wow, so the first few times I was doing it trying to follow directions on the original box. They were messing up but I said nope, that's the way it says it should be done. This needs to work the way the direction say."Although I wasn't getting the same results, then while I guess I don't know if they were getting complaints, or they also realized that the directions were not correct. And they updated it. And then so when I tried the new way, it worked. And I can't help but think this is the same thing that happens with life and money. Because what you'll hear from people, right are things that work for them, right? I did this. I budgeted this way. I use this budgeting app. I listened to this podcast. I took this course. Or you can maybe look at things that just in their life that happen so maybe, you know, I have a husband, I have kids I have... So there's all these ingredients, right? There's these things and prescriptions or these steps people take. And if you're listening to this podcast, you're probably one of those people that you like hearing that stuff, right? It's inspiration, it gives you ideas, but if you follow someone else’s path to the tee, you most likely won't get the same exact results. Now, that's not saying that there aren't just like frameworks that are just like basic level, you should do this, right? Like you should spend less than you earn, you should invest, right? But in those things, in those specific topics, investing, saving lifestyle, it's going to be different. And so maybe you've tried something, and you're just like, why isn't this working for me? It's works for everyone else, you know, it seems like it works for everyone else. Or maybe internally, you don't feel good about something and I'm not talking about not feeling good about something because it's like, uncomfortable for a little bit because I think being uncomfortable and stretching yourself is important, like not everything is going to feel like a cakewalk. But I'm talking about where you just legit feel like something is off here. Then you need to give yourself permission to make changes as necessary. You don't need someone else to come out and say, "Hey, oh, by the way, do it this way, instead." I want you to develop your own guidance system. And yes, it will take trying things out, right? So in the case of the taco shell box, it did take me trying a couple times to realize this is not working. And then I started to make my own adjustments. But imagine if I said, "Well, the taco box says this, and I have to follow this." And I'm doing it and the tacos keep coming out wrong, the taco shells keep coming out wrong. And if it wasn't for me adjusting on my own, then I'd just be in this constant battle of trying to follow something that's not working. And how crazy is it that sometimes the validation was the validation from me, right? That's why I'm just like, you're probably thinking, "Jamila, why are you remembering about this damn taco shell box?" But I remember following the directions and it coming up wrong and me being like, "What the hell is going on?" So to see the updated directions felt like big validation. And so sometimes, yes, you want to see validation from others that this new plan that you have may work and what I'm trying to tell you right now is don't wait for the validation from anybody else. The validation that it works is in your results. It's not necessarily the results of like feeling good and it being easy, but your results on making progress to your goals. So that was my first topic get yeah, taco shells and money and figuring out your own ingredients and your own path and directions to reaching financial independence and freedom. I'll give you a lot of tips. I'll introduce you to a lot of people that hopefully if you do end up following them or taking their stuff, of course, you also enjoy, right? But I hope what I am doing is allowing you to decipher what works for you, allowing you to decide that or try right? If you're getting introduced to different things, try something and try it to your best ability but if you feel like it's not working, if it's legit not working, you try something else. There is no one size or one way fits all. So that was my thought process on taco shells and money and life.

Okay, the second thing, bloating. Now you're really like, "Jamila, you're taking it too far." What does bloating and I mean bloating like women. I mean, I'm a woman and I have a lot of girls that are friends. So I'm assuming that most women experienced this, especially moms. Again, I'm just like, after having a baby, my whole stomach is just another-it looks totally different and acts totally different. And so bloating. What does bloating have to do with money and financial goals? Well, I'll tell you. So I was finishing- I was about to finish my thought. I was saying I'm maybe men too that you experienced this, but maybe because my husband never bloats and has the same abs that he's had since I met him at 19, I'm like, "Whatever, man, you guys don't count" But bloating and money. What the hell does that have to do with each other? Now, I have been on my fitness journey, which I'm super excited about. I feel like I'm finally getting back into the groove of things of being healthier especially since having my three kids. And one thing that has never gone away, even before I had my kids, like I had a bloating issue meaning like I eat the wrong thing or eat anything and I just bloat. It's like eat a banana I bloat. Eat a cracker I bloat up, like it was just always annoying. And recently as I've been trying to eat healthier and run and do all these things, the bloating is still happening. Now it's not as much as before, because I've cut out some things that I know are triggers, but I'm like, I'm still gonna have pizza, still gonna have this enchilada, so the bloating you just gonna have to happen. But what has been happening this because I've been doing the work outside of the bloating so outside of my body just doing what it wants. I've been putting in work. Now I've been running in the mornings, I've been trying to limit carbs and junk. And so when I'm not bloating, I'm like, "wow." You know that first time, ladies when you get up in the morning and you look at yourself and you're just like, "Okay, Can we keep this body for the whole day?" But then of course, like, you know, life happens, you start eating and then do I thought throughout the day you bloat. And so I thought to myself, if I just looked at myself, at the bloating stage at the biggest bloating stage of the day, it would look like I'm making no progress in terms of physically how I look, or how I want to look. But knowing just knowing that I'm putting the work in knowing that, you know, I've been eating better. I've been running, doing my squats, I know beneath the bloat, that the work is being done. And so part of this how it relates to money and financial goals, is that there are going to be some bloat in your budget, in your life like meaning there are going to be things that throw you off that you can't prevent. Look at the pandemic, look at all the things that are outside of our control, right? Like something happens to your car or house or someone you know that you care about needs money and you want to help them there and you didn't plan for that but you want to be able to pay for it or handle that expense, right? There's going to be things that you, that will throw or seemingly throw you off of track. But you're not off track. It's momentarily it's almost like a it's a mirage is that what I'm trying to say mirage? You know, in the desert, when you see things, it's not real. It's not real. It's part of it, right? Like it is a real thing that's happening. But what I'm trying to say is, what's happening is not the natural state when things go back to normal, what they would be. Your hard work or your focus the 95% of the things that you're doing the work you're putting in, you know, that extra money that you're saving the $5-10 dollars that you're able to squeeze out and put towards debt, even though it doesn't seem like a lot, because you're looking at that damn debt and you're like, "It feels like a big bloat belly." Trust me underneath that bloat, there are changes happening. There are. You have to trust the process. You have to put in the work, whatever work means for you. Again, if you go back to my taco shells example, what I need to do to get to my financial goals are going to be different maybe then you based on my strengths and my interests and what I'm willing to do and give up and all those things. For you, it may be something totally different, right? And so you need to decide that despite all the bloat and things that don't look as nice, that because you're putting the work in, because your input is solid, that it doesn't matter sometimes that the output is not what you want. You got to trust that beneath the bloat, changes are happening. And honestly, that does take a bit of faith. Because it's almost like you have to, you have to see not using your eyes. You have to see using your intuition and trust that the behind the scenes stuff is working. I heard this thing before that you know, why does a farmer plant anything? Because they have to put the seed down and then the seed has to grow and it can take some time but they just know or hope that the plant or vegetable will bloom. And they know that from experience most likely or watching someone else do it. And so, really, but if we only wanted to assure ourselves that the plant, the tree, the vegetable will always bloom like and we had the exact timeframe, then why would anyone plant anything? Because what you're starting with is a seed that you have to bury in the ground. And you don't see any results for a while. And sometimes, I'm sure there are plants, I can't name any right now, if you have plants, you know about this stuff, that it may seem like nothing is happening for a long time. But underneath the soil, magic is happening. And you don't see it right away. And so many of us give up before we see the results we want right? And so I know I was stuck in that kind of pattern, especially after having my kids like in the middle of having them where I would maybe say "Okay, I'm going to like eat healthier." And then I would try to eat healthier or try to be more active and then I'll just like look at myself and I'd be like, "It's been a week like there's nothing happening." And then I kind of go back to my old ways of not caring as much where there was things happening, I just couldn't see it. I was letting my eyes dictate how I felt about myself, I was letting like the external appearance dictate how my progress went. And what I should have been paying attention to and what I am paying attention more to is who I am becoming, how I feel internally. So regardless of the bloat, even though that feels like crap a lot of the times, is that I feel better generally I feel better. It doesn't even matter. Honestly, of course, I want to get back as much as I can. You know, I'm not gonna lie here, some flat abs, God willing, I don't know if that's ever gonna happen. But what I care more about is that I have more energy. I feel better in my clothes. I just feel like I'm getting back to the older me pre- kids where, like, I had that confidence, and I wasn't in my best shape. And so even though right now I'm not technically my best shape, I doesn't matter because I'm so proud of the work I'm putting in. Of getting up early in the morning. So it's like, you know what, I don't care when I do look at myself and it's bloat. I'm just like, "Whatever" that I'm not even paying attention to you right now, because I'm putting that work in and I know it's happening. And that's how I want you to feel about your financial journey, about your money journey. This is again, a marathon, not a sprint. You're going to be doing little and small things. And you might think, "It's not working. What's the point?" But it is working. Don't give up before you see it or don't let a random bloat or random bad day, mess up all the hard work. And by the way, there is no mess up because even if you fall off, come on now like even though I'm talking about eating healthier and following through, I still again, I'm if I want a slice of pizza, I'm going to have a slice of pizza. I want an enchilada I'm going to eat that. So it's not that everything is going to be salads and saving as much as possible ever, right? It's really more about if you see yourself slipping up or if you're indulging, acknowledging that, that it's part of the journey and getting back on it. Not being too hard on yourself about that, because no one gets it perfect all the time. And if you do, then I give it up to you. But most people I know including myself, there's a balanced approach to how you're going to do this. And the last thing you want to do is let your eyes or the current situation deter you from your future situation. It may not be what you currently want, but you have to trust the process. You have to trust that you're planting the seeds and no matter what it seems like, no matter what external forces are happening, that internally, you are doing the work. That you are putting in what needs to be done to get to your goals. So that's what bloating has to do with money and goal setting.

Last but definitely not least, I want to share my running story. So you if you listen to this podcast, you may have gotten the gist of this because I kind of talked about this a little bit about how fit I was before I had kids. And I mean, I was really fit. I used to do CrossFit-well I was a gymnast. So first of all, let's go back a little bit. I was a gymnast. And I would mean, I wasn't that good. I like got up to level seven. So for those of you who know the gymnast world, I got to level seven. And it was cool, right? And I was like in high school when that happened. And I would have continued I definitely would have have not made a college team. Like, but I would have continued if I went to a college that had gymnastics, but I just didn't and I never continued. But I was always very athletic and adventurous. And so after college, you know I did work out cuz my husband is very athletic. He used to play basketball, he still plays but he was always working out. So I was you know, continuing working out and in my 20s and then right before I really started to have kids, I took up CrossFit which I absolutely love because I was able to merge the gymnastics with the intensity. So things like handstand push ups and handstand walks. Like I loved all those things because I used to do those in gymnastics. Then even with my first son, I literally worked out and did CrossFit with him like till a week before I gave birth. And then I developed something called Diastasis Recti, which is the separation of the abs. So this happened after my first child. And it really discouraged me because I was just like I did all that work to be fit like throughout my whole pregnancy and I feel like for what? Like I still kind of now with the separation of the abs, it makes your stomach appear a little poochy. You know, especially as I previously stated I have bloating. Um so very round stomach which again like when you see like all these snap backs from celebrities and you know, people you're just like, "Okay, my stomach looks nothing like that." And I know like in pictures, if you don't like know me, if you see me in pictures, like it looks fine, and trust me. I'm not bashing myself. I know I look fine, especially for having three kids. But just comparing to who I was before, and how I look before it was a big shock after having my first child, and I knew I wanted more kids. So I kind of made like a conscious effort. Like I said to myself, "I am not going to go that hard, like in terms of like fitness, while pregnant and breastfeeding." Like, I will get back into the swing of things after I'm done having kids. And so I said to myself, "I'm giving myself two years per kid," this was like, in my head, I'm, like, you know, just rounding up basically, like, I'm going to be pregnant and breastfeed. So I'll give each kid about two years each for that, and then I'll be ready after my last kid. I'm pretty sure Blake, my daughter, is my last kid like seriously, I do not want any more. And so I said to myself, "Okay, you have no excuses, time to get back in shape."

So at the beginning of 2020, I joined the gym, because I just was not feeling like myself, especially after having Blake, like I was not fit at all. So going from the friend, the annoying friend of all my friends that would be like, "I'm getting up going to CrossFit at 5am" you know, before my two hour commute to where, like, I'm not even working out at all was crazy. And I just I just didn't I had no energy, I just I didn't feel like myself, I felt like a stranger in my own body. And so I wanted to do something different. So I had a commitment in 2020 that I was going to get back into the swing of things, back into the gym. And then, that I was also going to take the time I needed to heal, as much as I could, Diastis Recti. So when you have the Diastis Recti, the the fast and impactful movements are not going to help, right? So CrossFit definitely out the question with this. It's really the align movements like the smaller core movements. It's about stretchin. About all the things that I kind of find boring, quite honestly, that I needed to do. But I said to myself, "It's 2020 I'm going to do this." So I joined in the gym because I did want a mix of, you know, classes because I know myself I need to be -I love group settings. I love being motivated by other people around me. If it's really just me, I'm not as motivated. And so it was really helpful that I could join the gym. So joined the gym 2020 and with going to the gym, I baked it into my schedule, I was in a groove, feeling really good. And then the pandemic happened, and so the gyms closed and so for a little bit, I wasn't really doing anything again. I tried to do some at home stuff and I'm just like, just not feeling it. Then my husband, he started running because we have like this trail by our house and if you follow me on Jamila Souffrant, my Instagram, that Instagram I shared the trail I share me running. So when I first started running like he started running and he you know said to me, "Why don't you come with me?" And I'm just like, "Why do people run? Like this is pointless but I'll go with you." And I went out with him and it was just like such a beautiful scenic route, where I was so amazed like that this was so close to me like meaning where we currently live. Like we live further in Brooklyn. And I would personally love to live closer to the city, but it's so expensive. So when we bought our house, we move further into Brooklyn.

And I'm always kind of like, "Dag, I wish we live by appear like by Dumbo Park", you know, by an area where you know, that was just like, built up to by the water. And so to find out that there is a water, like way not too far from me that we can drive five minutes to was amazing. I'm like, "How come? Why did it take me like 15 years to find this out?" So I would go with him. But I would begrudgingly run. Like, literally, I'd be like, "I'm only gonna run for 10 minutes because you're lucky I'm here." Or I'd say to him, my husband is so good at this. Like he allows me to do whatever like he's like Buddha. Like he's just like, he'll take on whatever energy you give him. So I would be like, "I don't think I'm gonna run today. I'm just gonna walk." He'd be like, "Okay," and then I'm like, "Wait a second. No, I'm gonna run it" and he's like, "okay." So I started to slowly, like pick up running. And at first, I would run I don't even think it was a mile. It was a mile, I started to run. And let me tell you, I thought I was gonna die running those miles I would start running and the first three minutes, I'm not lying to you, I'd be out of breath. I'd be like, "why am I doing this? This is so hard. How am I going to make it like to the final mile?" And I remember starting that way and hating it. And so did that for weeks and weeks only said I was gonna run one mile and then I'm gonna walk the rest of the way because I deserved it. So I did that. And then slowly because I know me, I started to push myself I said, "Okay, maybe not just that one mile. Maybe just go a few steps further" and I started to do that. And so now fast forward a bit. I am legit running. I'm so proud of myself. Drumroll, everybody.

Three miles, which is such a huge deal for me. Because I didn't even know, I never even imagined I'd be running three miles. I thought I was going to die at the one mile mark. But what I've learned since running is that the reason why I felt that way was one, I was out of shape, and I had to build my endurance. But I was setting my sights only on one mile. And so when I was approaching that one mile mark, I was done. I was not running anymore. But once I started to set my reference point and my goal further, I was able to reach that because my goal point was further. I was prepared to stop at the one mile mark, and like, lay out on the ground. But once I said,"Nope, you're gonna stop at that 1.3 mile mark," or whatever it was, that allowed me to pass that one mile mark, and have my sights on the next thing. And so I slowly started doing it. And that's literally how I like started to run more than one mile that I thought I'd never run and it's so crazy because even running three miles now, it feels the same way as I, when I run one mile. It's not that it's necessarily easier. Like it's so hard for me. But because I've done it before, I'm like, "You got this." And I in my head right now, I'm like, there's no way I can run four or five miles consistently. But because I've already accomplished this going from one to three miles, it's possible, right? So I'm not like, I'm not professing to be like a huge runner here. But I've learned so much from running over the past few months. And I just want to share some lessons actually share this on my Jamila Souffrant, Instagram, post one of my posts about running lessons from a non runner.

So one of the things that I started to do to help me and this to me has a lot to do with goal setting and money. I can always relate things back to goal setting and money when it comes to like talking about a topic, but I was started to focus on the quality and the distance of the run, not the speed. So for me what that meant was don't worry about like how fast you're going per mile that will come. Worry about how you feel because I would try to start out running kind of like faster. Because you know, you see other people running faster. And I'm just like, "Alright, I can run a little faster." I'm like, okay, no, no, we're not running for speed. We're running for distance and quality of the run. Because when I started out too fast, I would get too tired. And then I'm just like, "Oh, no, this doesn't feel good." But when I started out slower, and had a consistent pace, it felt better. And so that helped me go further and enjoy the run as much as you can enjoy running a bit more. And it makes me think about like, when you when you talk about like reaching financial independence, if you're going for the quality and the distance versus the speed, I think that matters a lot more. Because a lot of times, when you're focused just on how fast you can pay off debt and save gazillions of dollars or even save $10,000 right? If you enjoy it, fine. That means the quality of the journey is there and it's great, but if you are miserable, if you are just focusing and on sacrificing, giving things up and not enjoying it, that is not a run I'd like to do, I want to enjoy it. So sometimes in the beginning, it may be giving up the speed to get to your goal. But you'll get there, you'll get there. And the crazy thing about it is the speed will pick up naturally. Because even though I'm not focused on speed right now, when I'm running, I'm getting faster. I'm focused more on the quality. And so I think that has a lot to do with our financial journeys and our life journeys. Because if you're not focusing on how fast you get there, but the quality, you'll get to where you want to go, and you'll enjoy it, and plus the speed will pick up. You'll get there faster. Okay, the other thing I learned was I was afraid to push myself with running. You know, I know me I have a very distinct I don't know if it's distinct. It's not that distinct. I have a personality where if I say I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it. And there were times that I would run and know I could do more, but I stopped myself, because I was like,"If I go further, that means I'm always gonna have to go that further, or that you know much further" and I wasn't prepared to make that commitment. You know, I said to myself, "if I run..." when I was running that mile, I said to myself, "you know, Jamila, you can run probably a little bit longer." And I said, "But if you run longer, you're always gonna have to run longer." And who wants to do that, right? And it was almost like I was scared of my own potential. And once I started to say to myself, I let myself off the hook, I said, "Jamila, if you run further this one time, it doesn't mean anything. You don't have to do it all the time. You don't even have to do it again." Don't focus on the forever of the situation, because sometimes we're not ready to make that commitment, even when it comes to maybe making a commitment about money, right, or saving or investing or something, right? It's like a commitment that maybe will need you to continue and have habits form around it. And maybe you don't feel like you're ready for that. But what I found is that when I don't focus on the ongoing habit, just focus on that one little thing that one day that allows me to let myself off the hook. Go all out, go for it. And then guess what? After I'm done, I can decide if I'm going to keep doing it. And if you're like me, you will naturally want to keep going, right? Or maybe yes, one day is like I ran that 1.5 miles. I'm not running that right now. Just don't feel it. That's fine, too. But naturally, you will want to keep going. And so that to me, is what pushes me further. It's not to to commit long term like you know, I'm not committing right now to be like a four or five, six marathon mile runner. I'm not doing that. But it may get there one day, but I'm not committing to that. And I say, and I think sometimes for us on this life, journey, financial journey, you'll have things you want to do but you're afraid to declare them because you're afraid you might actually fail or or not keep up and my thing is just just start. Just take it one day at a time, $1 at a time. And see where that leads. Get the momentum going.

Okay, next thing I learned about running and money. For me at least, my brain wants to stop before my body does. So, because I've already ran that distance sometimes as I'm ready, like within that mile or running, I'm wanting to like give up mentally, I'm like, "I'm tired, like, I don't want to run anymore", but it's like your body can do this. You've done this before. And so I'm relying on muscle memory at this point to carry me through because if I listen to the hater inside of me, that telling me and you know, you know, quite honestly, we all have that kind of person in our head, right? Like the "Hater," but they're really just trying to protect you, right? Like, they want to make sure you're safe. So sometimes when you want to take risk and do things that you're not comfortable with, they're going to say, "Wait, here are all the reasons why you shouldn't." They're going to present you with the alternative to keep you safe.

But especially if you push yourself before or that's why examples having examples are helpful, if you see someone else's He was able to do it who has a similar situation or similar qualities to you and makes you feel like, "I can do this too." So, don't always listen to your brain. Yes, you need to make sure you're safe, especially when it comes to working out and running. And, but really, your brain is just trying to protect you most of the time. And it won't allow you a lot of the time to fulfill your full potential unless you push back and you just like, "Alright I'm not gonna listen to you right now. I'm just gonna follow what I instinctively know I can do. And then also what I've done before." So that's another thing I've learned.

The last thing I'm going to share about running that I feel like totally relates to money and financial goals in life is just start, just start. A few months ago, I could have never thought like I'd be running this far. I have no clue where I'm going to be in a few months. I might not even continue running after you know, the winter this pandemic is over. I don't know. I'm taking it one day at a time. But I'm so proud of the commitment that I've made to get up early you know in the morning and to run my own race. And so just starting for you may look like a bunch of things, whether it's fitness or money, or career or something new that you're doing. Just start! You maybe want to keep the goal to yourself for a bit, right? Some people are motivated by others. And some meaning like if you tell someone your goal and then now they're like saying to you, "Aright, did you do it?" That helps you. Some people are not as motivated in that way. They like to keep things on the wraps a little bit until they know for sure they want to do something because they don't want to seem like a flake, whatever it is, that works for you. However it is that it works. Just start, just start. I feel that if you are listening to this podcast, you have the potential to do anything you want in life because you're listening. You're starting. You might not think this is a start, right? It's just a podcast, Jamila. If you're on this podcast the whole time, especially with me talking about tacos and bloating and you got this and you've gotten something from those analogies. Like, I feel like you are at the level where you can benefit from anything. And so I'm always amazed at how great people are in other areas of their life. So when I see people were running, or working out or or great in other areas like other than money, I'm just like, "If you applied that to money, you would frickin you'd reach any goal you set in however long of a term it took you, right?" Like that same greatness when I think of how people can run 10 miles marathons. I'm like, you becoming a millionaire or creating a career or a company or becoming entrepreneur should be a cakewalk. Because to me, running is harder. But that is my little wrap up. I know, hopefully, it wasn't too all over the place. I wanted to just kind of share my thoughts and a little update about what's been going on. Again, if you enjoyed this episode, let me know because once you give me the encouragement, then I'll do some more episodes. I'll do some more solo episodes. But what I hope you most get from this is that one-taco shells, you create your own directions. You can you can source other help and tips and tools, but ultimately, write your own damn directions on your own box. One. Two, don't let bloating stop you. Don't let what your eyes see discount what's going on beneath the surface, beneath what's so visible, but those are the biggest changes, body and money. And three, the running. I mean, I had so many takeaways from running. But my biggest one for you right now is just start and don't be too hard on yourself. Set that goal. Set it further than you think you can do, and just work one day at a time towards it.

All right, that's all I have for this episode. I hope you enjoyed it.

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