Why giving up sugar helped me save for a house deposit

When setting a goal it is easy to say, “I want to go on holidays!” “I want to lose 5kgs!” or “I want to buy a house”. It’s also easy to part with your money when the time comes to enjoy the reward of achieving said goal.
Giving up Sugar

So then what’s the hard part, you ask? The sacrifice and commitment to stay on track along the way.

Take saving for a house, a long-term goal with a great reward at the end. Defining how much you need to save can be easy but figuring out where those savings come from is another matter. Fun and exciting things tempt you off course each month. Music festival? Yes please! Couple of dinners out? Bring me the noodles! How do you enjoy living in the moment whilst making progress towards your #dreamhouse or #dreamholiday… This attitude of YOLO can make you feel good in the short term but I have learnt that only putting a small amount aside each month and spending up on the fun and exciting things is not the recipe for success. YOLO turns into YNAYG (you’ll never achieve your goal).

So what changed and what’s my advice to you?

  • Focus on changing your mindset
  • Train your glorious brain to think twice before moving your online shopping cart through to purchase
  • Recognise when you have moments of weakness (as we all have) and try to pre-empt them before they happen
  • Get others on board – like group fitness classes, having others around helps keep you focussed on the prize
  • Challenge yourself regularly!

To sharpen our goal-focus our team has been doing monthly challenges. Last month we decided to go refined-sugar free and believe me when I say it was sacrifice (croissants, I miss you). Apart from the knowledge gained by questioning my food choices, I committed to sacrificing mini joyful moments (Easter eggs anyone?) for longer term health benefits.

Training the sacrifice muscle regularly keeps my focus on the bigger goals sharp whilst enjoying some small wins along the way.

As you can tell, we LOVE goals so if you need help defining, planning for or achieving your goals chat to us today!