3677: Fiscal Fitness: Eliminate Debt with 10 Successful Diet Principles by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits on Paying Down Debt

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[00:00:54] This is Optimal Finance Daily. Fiscal Fitness. Eliminate debt with 10 Successful Diet Principles by Leo Babauta of zenhabits.net. And I'm Justin Malek. I read articles to you every day of the year. And this one's about getting out of debt by borrowing the habits of successful dieters. Kind of a mix between Optimal Finance Daily and Optimal Health Daily. It was written a while back, but I think it's just as useful today.

[00:01:25] So with that, let's see if you have a look at this video. Let's see if you have a look at this video. Let's get right to it as we optimize your life. Fiscal Fitness. Eliminate debt with 10 Successful Diet Principles by Leo Babauta of zenhabits.net. Recently, I've been studying the habits of successful dieters, people who've lost 30 pounds or more and kept it off.

[00:01:49] And in reading a recent Get Rich Slowly article, I realized that the same successful principles these people follow are the same ones that will get you out of debt and keep you out of debt. Debt dieting and weight dieting are exactly the same. Personally, I'm doing both, and it's striking how similar the two practices are. I allowed myself to get lazy and get into debt with bad spending habits,

[00:02:17] and now I'm trying to work it off debt-free by early next year. I also allowed myself to get overweight with bad eating habits and a lack of exercise, over the course of several years, and now I'm trying to work it off flat stomach by early next year. Let's take a look at the 10 habits and principles of successful dieters. Again, people who lost a lot of weight, at least 30 pounds, but many over 100, and kept it off.

[00:02:44] Number one, count calories. It seems difficult, but it's not really, and it works. Number two, weigh in weekly. Daily weigh-ins work for weight maintenance, but really you should weigh in once a week when you're trying to lose weight. Number three, exercise. Almost everyone who loses and keeps off weight incorporates more physical activity.

[00:03:12] Number four, watch less television. TV makes you fat. You can probably figure out why. Number five, write down goals. If you put your goals down in writing and make them specific, you're more likely to actually achieve them. Number six, log their eating and exercise. Writing down what you do really makes you more aware of it and motivates you to do better.

[00:03:40] Number seven, public accountability. By telling others about your goal and your progress, either in some type of program or an online group, or just your spouse and friends, you motivate yourself to do well. Number eight, baby steps. No one gains 100 pounds overnight, and you don't lose it that way either. Take small steps to eat healthy and get more active,

[00:04:06] and one step at a time, you'll get closer to your goal. Number nine, lifestyle change. You can't go on a drastic diet or exercise program and expect to sustain it. It has to be small, gradual changes that you can incorporate for life. You're not restricting yourself. You're changing the way you live. And number 10, rewards. You have to find non-food ways to reward yourself.

[00:04:35] Treat yourself without blowing your calorie limit. So how do these weight loss principles apply to debt elimination? You probably can see by now that every single one will work in the same way. Let's take a look. Number one, track spending. It seems difficult, but it's not really, and it works. I've done it, and you can really see where your money goes, and it makes you more aware of your spending.

[00:05:03] Number two, check in weekly. You could actually do it monthly, but balancing your checkbook once a week really helps you to stay on top of your budget. And keep a graph of your debt elimination updated weekly so you can watch your progress. Number three, income. Almost everyone who loses and keeps off debt incorporates an increase in income. It's like exercise. You still need to diet or control spending,

[00:05:32] but exercise, increased income, helps burn off the fat, debt, faster. Number four, watch less television. TV makes you spend. You can probably figure out why. Number five, write down goals. If you put your goals down in writing and make them specific, you're more likely to actually achieve them. Number six, budget. You really need to plan your spending and log it

[00:06:02] to make sure you're following the plan. Number seven, public accountability. By telling others about your goal and your progress, either in some type of program or an online group, or just your spouse and friends, you motivate yourself to do well. Number eight, baby steps. No one gets into $30,000 of debt overnight, and you don't lose it that way either. Take small steps to be more frugal and earn more,

[00:06:31] and one step at a time, you'll get closer to your goal. Number nine, lifestyle change. You can't drastically change your spending habits overnight and expect to sustain it. It has to be small, gradual changes that you can incorporate for life. You're not restricting yourself. You're changing the way you live. And number 10, rewards. You have to find inexpensive ways to reward yourself.

[00:06:59] Treat yourself without blowing your budget. If you follow these 10 principles of dieting to help you get out of debt, you'll be successful without a doubt. They're working for me, and they work for many others. Maintenance phase. Once you've lost the weight or eliminated the debt, how does your life change? Well, I haven't gotten there yet for either, but from my research, here's some things that others have found.

[00:07:27] You should still track. Although you're no longer in the intense weight loss or debt elimination mode, you don't wanna go back to your old habits. Tracking helps keep you aware of what you're doing and keeps you sticking to good habits. You have more leeway. Once you've lost weight, you can indulge in treats more. Similarly, once you're out of debt, you can spend on indulgences a little more. But you can't go overboard.

[00:07:56] Do it in moderation and stick to your new, healthier habits. You just listened to the post titled, Fiscal Fitness. Eliminate debt with 10 successful diet principles by Leo Babauta of zenhabits.net. I'll be right back with my commentary. You know what's funny? We'll hit the gym, eat clean, track our sleep, then slam coffee all day to function.

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[00:09:24] This episode is brought to you by Accenture. When your advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales, using automation, analytics, and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business. The result? Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most. Learn more at Accenture.com slash Spotify.

[00:09:54] Thank you to Leo. I love this comparison because it's so true. Getting out of debt and getting healthy really are so similar. And what's key is that almost none of it is about being extreme. It's the boring, steady stuff. Tracking, checking in weekly, and small changes you can actually keep. If you've listened to me for a while, you'll know I'm a huge believer in tracking, whether it's calories or spending.

[00:10:22] I've talked before about tracking every dollar, and one of our sponsors helps you do that automatically. But I've also tracked other things. I spent about a year tracking my mood, of all things. And what I learned is that the tracking itself is where most of the value is. You can't really change something you're not paying attention to, and the simple act of writing it down makes you more honest with yourself. The other one I really believe in

[00:10:50] is his point about lifestyle change instead of restriction. Crash diets and crash budgets both fail for the same reason. They're painful, so we quit. But small changes you barely notice, you can keep for years. So if you're working on debt right now, maybe borrow his ideas. Don't go on a crash diet. Just pick one small habit, track it, and let it become normal. That's what will actually last.

[00:11:20] So thank you to Leo. That'll do for today. Have a great rest of your day. Thank you for being here, and I'll see you tomorrow as usual, where your optimal life awaits. You can turn the force to theう. Now let's go on a crash. Take care. Take care. Take care. Thank you.