Watch Me As I Go

While I’ve still been working 55 hours and six days a week this Summer, it’s certainly been a lot easier than the 15 hours days I was working when school was in session.  I have at several points this Summer, especially while enjoying a previously forgotten delight called free time, marveled at how I was able to pull off working so much during the school year.  I kept eying the end of August, thinking, “how can I do this again?”

But then several weeks ago, I was talking to one of my coworkers, who’s been in a similar situation, and he and I were trying to explain to another of our coworkers that you just do it.  You really don’t know what you’re capable of until you push yourself to the limits. Not to continue to force Nike slogan-like motivational statements on you, but there’s no secret except to just do it.  And that made me feel better, because I know that I’ve done it before and I can do it again.  That simple thought has taken away most of my anxiety about the end of Summer and the start of Fall.

Adding to my motivation is that the finish line finally seems so close.  There has been a lot of time between the exhilarating start and the fantastic end.  Months and months of just plugging along.  But now the end is only four months away and I can smell it, feel it, taste it.  Getting there is, to me, worth whatever it takes and I’ve been working on making all the preparations necessary to start the final sprint.  Most important has been to get my mind in the right place.

I was certain of success from the beginning. I guess because getting out of debt is really so simple.  There’s never been a point where I didn’t know what to do or I was confused by someone else or I could possibly convince myself that not getting out was the better option.  It took me a long time to get my mind in the right place, but then it was and I’ve had complete focus ever since, which stands in contrast to the rest of my full-of-distraction life.

Getting out of debt has been my biggest priority this year and it has demanded a lot of my attention and nearly all of my time.  I’m looking forward to my money being my own more than anything, but I’m also looking forward to having this burden off my back.  I think about money all the time and not having enough of it/expenses coming up/not making my debt goals are a constant source of stress for me, often even when I don’t realize it.  I’m making a lot of money and yet I always feel broke.  I’m tired of that.

So, watch me as I go is I guess what I’m saying.  I’m going to do everything I can to be out of debt by the end of the year.  I want to start 2011 differently.