As a woman, gaining Financially Empowered is quite hard when pay inequality is one of the most significant issues in the workplace. Even though they have the same skills, sometimes with more skills, they are underpaid.
Further, they have to bear more responsibilities than men, for instance, household, family demands, career goals, and the like. It can be quite tough to shine through all this. Many women stop pursuing their career goals because they give more priority to family.
It is not a bad idea to think about your family, but putting your career as a secondary option is not good either. Being a woman, gaining Financially Empowered is undoubtedly tough, especially when your focus is not entirely on your career, but you can achieve your goal with the following steps:
Set Realistic Goals
since you give priority to the needs of your family, you do not bother about setting your financial goals. Note that it is not enough to earn money. Household responsibility along with your work eats up your all day, and as a result, you are left with very little time to think about your finances. Goals help you fulfill your purpose.
As you do not board a flight unless you decide on the destination, you cannot manage your finances well if you do not set realistic goals. Open goals result in no commitment. Set a clear roadmap that will help you achieve your goals.
For instance, you have decided to cut down on your spending by 500. This is a real goal that needs a desired action. To accomplish your purpose, you can take the following actions:
- you will have to assess your monthly expenditure.
- You will classify them into essential and discretionary categories.
- Then, you will cut back on discretionary expenses.
- If it is not enough, you will try to cut back on essential expenses too like energy bills.
Trust your gut
if you have set a goal and you are making an effort to achieve it, make sure that you trust your effort. You cannot achieve your goal overnight, so you need to be patient. Achieving financial goals is not easy at all when you have to respond to the never-ending demands of your family constantly.
Sometimes people you meet can dampen your hope. They can criticize you by doubting your ability to achieve your goals. It is not surprising that you can give up in the middle, but never stop trusting your skills and ability. You have set a realistic goal, and you are making the right effort, so you will definitely win. It can take some time, but one day you will definitely achieve your goal.
For instance, you have decided to have your life free from debt. You will have to figure out ways to get rid of debt. First off, you will get to know how much debt you have and then figure out a repayment plan, for instance, whether you will pay off the debt with high-interest rates first like bad credit loans and credit card bills or you will pay off debt with low-interest rates first. Whatever strategy you follow, you will have to stick to that, and you will surely be successful in achieving your goal.
Stay focused
just making an effort and believing that you will go to places is not enough to become Financially Empowered. You will have to stay focused. No matter how many activities you are involved in, you need to make sure that you stick to the plan to achieve your goals.
To take hold of your finances, you need to remind yourself of your financial goals every day. This will keep you realizing that you have set some goals and you have to achieve them. Jot them down on paper and paste that on a wall in your room or kitchen.
You can also use Post-it notes and attach them to any surface in your home, including your refrigerator door. This will make you remind of your goals every time you come across them, and hence you will become more focused on achieving them.
Get some time to boost your confidence. During this time, you will make yourself realize that nothing is too complicated. Even if it is quite challenging to pay off all your debts, you should not let any negative thoughts flash across your mind.
A negative mindset will pull you back from achieving your financial goals. As you go closer to your goal accomplishment stage, do not forget to treat yourself. This will make you happy and boost your confidence. This act will encourage you to keep it up.
Look outside your world
you may lose the spirit in the middle because you are living in a world where women are underpaid and underappreciated. You may think all your effort will go in vain or you may think that this is not going to change your circumstances because you have to serve your family. Still, if you look around you or beyond your own world, you will find a lot of women out there that have been struggling to become Financially Empowered, and most of them have succeeded.
Join social media groups that share real stories of women from different parts of the globe about how they gained financial independence. Join them by having a regular conversation. You should also join forums that are particularly aimed at women wanting to be financially empowered. You may not get answers to all your queries, but participation in forums can help you feel less anxious throughout the journey.
As a woman, it is not impossible to become Financially Empowered. All you need to do is to set realistic goals, trust your gut, stay focused, and get inspired to stick to your goals.