It’s the beginning of a new year. Most of you must have made a good number of resolutions for yourself and a list of plans to keep them alive.
Whilst it is hard to make certain lifestyle changes, it is much harder to do so when you burdened with debts. Initially, it seems impossible to repay but if you commit to paying down, there’s nothing you can’t achieve.
I have prepared a list of 5 different kinds of debts that you must repay before it begins to hurt your shoulders:
1. Physical
Regular exercise is extremely important to stay fit, both physically and mentally. However, in our busy schedules, most of us often don’t get time to do any form of physical activity. This lack of exercise is the root cause of why there’s a long list of diseases hanging in our prescriptions. In fact, CDC reports suggest that less than one in four Americans get enough exercise. If you can also relate to this number, it’s high time you must start considering some form of physical activity, it can be simply an evening walk or half an hour of early morning jogging.
You can also join a gym and exercise under the supervision of a professional. This will help you achieve your fitness goals faster. Remember the age-old maxim applicable even today, health is wealth!
2. Personal
Focusing on your work is certainly very important, otherwise, how will you survive in the cut-throat competition? Despite putting in long hours at work, you might feel like it’s not enough and decide to invest more work hours. As much as doing this will help your career, it is not good for your personal life. In the hustle-bustle of our daily commitments, we as it is get very little time for our family and friends and the extra work hours will only add the non-needed strain on your personal relations.
So here’s your rescue: balance. Yes, dedicate equal hours to both aspects of your life and learn to prioritize. This will also boost your productivity manifolds. You don’t have to overwork all the time, save some time and try to reconnect with your friends and family in the remaining hours.
3. Financial
This is one kind of debt that’s on each of our shoulders, in one form or another. Stats reveal that in the US alone, consumer debt was about $14 trillion in the second quarter of 2019! Well, this stat is alarming enough for you to consider repaying your debt at the earliest.
When you decide to repay all your debts, make wise decisions. First, start off by paying the loans that have the highest interest rates because if you don’t repay such loans early, the amount will keep compounding to become a bomb one day. Once those are ticked off your list, consider other kinds of debts like medical debts. These have the minimum impact on your credit score, thus must be last on your priority scale. Instead, if you have student loans hanging in your bank account, try to approach your company or a third party debt recovery agency to check if they can assist you in repaying your student loans. But don’t fall for any agency since the niche is very competitive and equally corrupted. You need to be really careful while choosing one. Check their LinkedIn profile, read their reviews and then go for one.
4. Professional
When you think about your initial working days, you will realize that you definitely wouldn’t have survived as long as you did, if it was not for the advice and constant guidance of your mentor. It can be your colleague or even your immediate manager – you are forever indebted to them because, without their assistance, you might never have reached whatever position you are present. Being a mentee makes you feel like you owe a debt to your mentor. The only way you will feel free of this debt is when you become a mentor for someone else.
Guide a new employee at your workplace or someone you know personally. This will help you create a positive impact on the other person’s life and will serve as the best kind of repayment to your mentor.
5. Spiritual
This is the most difficult debt to pay off. You might be feeling like you are not contributing to the well-being of the world or that you are not doing enough to help the people who are suffering around you. This leads to a spiritual crisis. This sort of spiritual crisis does not occur only when one is religious, in fact, it has nothing to do with your personal beliefs. A feeling of not doing enough can trigger this sort of crisis and you will find it hard to fight off alone.
Join a group that volunteers in your field of expertise. This will infuse a feeling of contentment from giving back to society and might reduce the burden of this spiritual debt on you. You should also focus on practices such as meditation to help get free of such a debt.
If you are a victim of these 5 debts, it’s time to set yourself free! Trust me, in the end, the feeling of satisfaction is magical!