Why Systems Work when Willpower and Motivation Falls

0:00I owe you an update. So I started the nurse money project with this vision of posting every single week consistently and showing up with a new lesson or video. And then life happened. Work up busy. And family got really busy. And suddenly two to three weeks later, I have not posted any video. And so today I wanted to give you something a little bit different, like an honest update of really what's been going on and share something during this like break that reminded me about money. Hi, if you're new here, my name is Elaine. I am a nurse practitioner, also a certified financial educator. And I founded nursing flow sheet, which is a platform where nurses can learn about money and learn how they can build wealth as a nurse. So I also created the nurse money

1:03project, which is a series where I help nurses build financial freedom in a way that's calm, sustainable, and realistic. And so we've talked about things like money mindset, investing, coast five, defining your enough number in the last video. And the whole goal of this series is really simple. And it's to help nurses design a life where the money supports them instead of trapping them. And so the truth is the last weeks have been very full for me. And I work full time as a nurse. And I told you guys last time that I am now a solo income earner in our family. And we're trying to really still address our life here in the big area. And everything else is going behind the scenes, like the filming, the editing of the YouTube, but making content, and just really working full time, being a full time mom. Like this whole series started

2:08feeling more like one more thing on a very long list of things that I have to do. So I had this moment where I thought that I'm already falling behind on this project, what should I do? And then something interesting really happened. I realized that even though that my life is busy, my money systems still really work in place in the background. And my investments are still going on. Just recently, the stock market has been so red because of politics, because of the news, and the state of the economy, even though the economy does not really reflect the market. But investors have been reacting to it in a way where the stocks are falling down. My limit orders just went through. And I'm still investing in the background. And so this is when I really realized that automating your investments is so important. And not just your investment, just everything else around money, even though I

3:13got really busy with life. My bills are still getting paid. My savings is still intact. It's still growing. And nothing in my money system has broke in the last three weeks that I have not posted online. And that reminded me of something really important. So the lesson with this video, and also I guess like why I'm making this video, is to really remind you and talk about how important having systems is instead of willpower. And life will always get busy whether you have kids, whether you don't have kids, whether you work full time or not. There will always be times when work becomes overwhelming when people need you more or need more of you. And your energy is just not there. Like I noticed like in the last month that my energy has just not been the same. And just I don't have the motivation to show up. And I feel bad for even saying that. It happens. I'm only

4:18human. And if your financial life only works when everything is perfect, when everything's going the way that you wanted to go, then it's also going to fall apart in moments when life is not like for me. But I think that if you built your financial, financial life or money on systems, when you automate, when you're intentional with your investing and saving, when you have clear priorities and clear financial goals, you will keep you on moving forward. It will keep you moving forward, even though you're not thinking about it every single day. And honestly, I feel that is what financial freedom really feels like and looks like. It's not really obsessing about money and it's designing a life for your money just runs quietly on the background. Like it's not something that you have to worry every single day. And so one of the things that I

5:24really realized while making this series is that a lot of nurses feel like they're supposed to be perfect with money. Like you probably feel like you need to have the perfect budget. You have to be making a specific amount of money. You have to be perfect with investing. You have to pick the right investments. You have to have the perfect discipline and motivation. But in all honesty, real life doesn't look like that. And I am a reflection of that. Like I, even though I may seem so like well kept and organized and put together online and have my ship together all the time, it's not real life. Like we go through seasons in life where everything is not perfect. Real life looks a lot like seasons of focus, seasons of rest, seasons of recalibrating, seasons of not doing anything and not hustling. And honestly, that is okay because financial progress or even like

6:26how you become successful financially is not built from perfection. It really is built from direction and consistency. So even though your consistency is different from my consistency, it's just being able to do it all the time. Even though everything else is falling apart is what's going to help you reach that financial freedom. So I'll solve as your direction is right for your systems, your investing, your awareness. You're still moving forward. And that's what matters. So the nurse money project is still far from over. I know that we have a 12 week series and I missed like maybe three weeks of posting. I'm going to keep on posting until we get to that 12 weeks. If anything, this little break or pause really reminded me why this whole project matters. Because nurses like you deserve financial freedom that doesn't really come from the pressure,

7:28the perfection or the hustle. It really is a reminder that we all deserve a system that actually supports our lives, our real lives, like everything that's happening behind the scenes. So I'm going to be posting more episodes, more honest conversation and more tools to help you really design that life. And yeah, so if you've been following this project, thank you so much for being here. And if you're new, I think this is also a perfect way to start this whole nurse money project. And if you've ever felt like you've fallen behind with everything else in life, whether that's money, your goals or just life in general, I hope that this reminds you that you don't need to be perfect in order to progress or in order to reach your financial goals. Like you just need to be intentional. We are. And everything has been crazy. I hope you stick around and I will see you

8:29in the next video. Bye.