Money is a LIFELONG journey. No matter where you are starting, there will always be something “Next” on the list. When we think about our financial lives, it’s as if we are climbing a mountain. We are always looking up and we can see the next step towards the goal we are working towards, but it’s like the top of the mountain is covered in clouds. Every time we think we must be JUST about to reach the peak, we get through the clouds and discover there is still so much more to go.  There will ALWAYS be more we are striving for and if we aren’t careful this can lead to frustration It is easy to compare ourselves to others who we see as more successful and think - “they are so far ahead, I will never get there.” So to combat this, we need to manufacture some artificial peaks for ourselves. We need to have a way to measure our progress and recognize that while it still feels as though we are climbing a never ending mountain, we actually HAVE made so much progress and that makes it worthwhile to keep on going!   Notes from the episode: Our brains want to keep us “safe” and “safe” = Familiar. This isn’t actually a good thing if the things we have been doing aren’t getting us the results we want. In order to “retrain” our brains, we need to create positive memories and experiences that relate to our financial wins.  Setting goals or milestones is the first step. We need to have something clearly defined that we are working towards, so we know when we can celebrate! Visual cues and reminders can be extremely useful for positive reinforcement and training our brains to focus on what is most important to us (this is why vision boards are actually so powerful!). Be intentional about using ordinary experiences and turning them into purposeful and intentional ways to celebrate and acknowledge your progress!