Budgets

When people think of budgets, this often brings to mind their finances.  The concept of a financial budget is to use funds within whatever means or goals the person has set forth.  Presumably it is to avoid unwanted debt, although it can also be used as a tool to reach milestones.  While many people think of their financial budget as a negative constraint, the purpose of a budget can also bring forth a lot of freedom through the disciplined process.  People pay down their mortgages faster, enter retirement sooner, purchase luxury items, and embark on adventures through the process of financial budgeting. 

By shifting the perspective to a positive lens, a monetary budget can be an empowering and educational resource.  We know that if we need or want to spend more money than we make, thought needs to be given to reducing spending, absorbing the debt, or establishing plans to earn more income.  A budget doesn’t have to be fixed and concrete as it can evolve with strategic efforts.  The key is to act within self-determined factors.

Applying these same principles, other areas in our lives could also benefit from the concept of budgeting.  For instance, a health journey can be budgeted where food consumption and exercise are pared to determine the weight, energy, and wellness we wish to establish.  Each one of us, just like a financial budget, has a unique set of contributors that determines our health factors, like metabolism and physical exercise thresholds.  Together these can create a health budget to reduce issues, much like reducing financial debt, or improving areas, similar to achieving financial benchmarks.  Our BMI-weight scores, blood pressure, and physical flexibility are examples of long-gauges on our short-term budgeting decisions surrounding our calorie intake, types of body movement through exercise, and genetic disposition.

Time and relationships can also be considered from the lens of a budget.  The allotment of 24 hours in a day exists for everyone, and how that time is spent is something to assess.  Sleep, work, parenting, recreation, exercise, and hobbies are just a few of the things where our time needs to be managed.  With relationships, our personality and temperament, along with external demands on our time or energy, can impact how we wish to budget our interpersonal associations.  We may wish to have a few quality relationships with selected individuals, whereas others use this budget to have many large social circles.

Knowing the criteria that impacts each of our designated budgets helps us analyze gaps, create goals, and maintain the homeostasis we individually identify.  No two people will have the same life budget, so our job isn’t to determine how others should act in accordance with their established budget.  Instead, our task is to self-reflect and intentionally behave in such a way that is consistent with the life budgets that mirror our internal values and beliefs.  Then, we can rest easy knowing we are consuming or saving well within our own set living budgets.

Changepoints:

Think through a specific time where you wisely calculated your spending, eating, or ability to juggle time or relationships:

·      How did this proper gauging affect you in other areas outside this specific parameter?

·      How has this successful achievement benefited you and what long-term pitfalls did you avoid?

·      Who in your life has shown an ability to shift a budget in their life – health, time, money, relationships – where you could see growth?

·      How can this person serve as a mentor or guide for you as you select areas for improving your life budgets?

o   What are the detailed, specific benefits of achieving these goals?

o   Who will reap the rewards of these efforts? 

Living budgets are a way to shape our world in a way that reflects our inner compass.  They need not be viewed as a punitive, restrictive tool.  Instead, they can be seen as a daily choice we are given to demonstrate a life that is controlled, empowered, and measured by our own hand.

outSIGHTin, LLC: Creating awareness as a changepoint for improved organizational results.