Making A Better Fit

About a year ago, I bought a really nice vacuum cleaner. I hadn’t had a brand-new vacuum in nearly 20 years and wanted this purchase to be quality that would last, as well as top notch for helping our allergic household.

This thing is amazing. Super sealed HEPA filtered system, heavy duty tools, all the bells and whistles.

But here’s the thing. It only makes the house pristine clean when I actually use it.

Just owning a top-of-the-line vacuum doesn’t magically make the house perfect or cure everyone’s ailments.

Who knew, right?!

It sounds silly, but how often do we procure a tool, fail to use it, and then blame the tool for not living up to its promise?

It’s like the big diet debate… which one really works for losing weight? Everyone wants know.

But the truth is that the one that works best is simply the one you can stick to.

The effectiveness is in the sustainability, the consistent use of the thing, not the thing itself.

Have you ever found the perfect new budget app, template, planner or other magical money tool and then it failed to work?

We’ve all been there. We get excited, motivated, inspired, get into our new-fangled system… and then it falls to the wayside.

The thing is that it’s not really a problem with the budget app or template or system itself.

But it’s also not really a problem with your willpower, discipline, or some other internal quality.

It’s just a mismatch.

Most tools, whether a budget app, spreadsheet system, or simply a modified spending habit, are not one size fits all.

They’re simply a starting place.

Most tools need some tailoring to fit you, your personality, and your life, to become more sustainable. And that sustainability, the consistent using of the thing, is what creates a successful result.

You must do the work. There’s no way around that.

But by treating tools as malleable, adjusting them to your needs, focusing on usability, consistency, and sustainability of the practice, is way more effective in the end than doing anything perfectly.

My vacuum works way better when I whip it around part of the house for a “good enough” clean up when I have a gap of time to fill, rather than waiting until I can do a top to bottom super clean with all those fancy attachments.

Because it’s about fitting the tool into what works for you, not adapting yourself to perfect use of the tool.

What system or tool are you struggling against when it comes to your finances? Can you treat it as a starting point and find an adjustment that helps it fit you better?