Have you ever listened to someone tell their “rags to riches” story?

If you’re asking what is a “rags to riches” story, it’s basically someone’s story of how they went from poverty to wealth and for those watching it can appear as if it happened overnight.

But for the person who went through the experience, it can feel like it took a lifetime.

Today’s post isn’t necessarily about going from poverty to wealth (although I do think that’s an important discussion to have), but more so about moving from where you are today to where you want to be.

All this month, we have been talking about habits and how what you repeatedly do forms the person you are.

So, if you’re not happy with the person you currently are or the way your life looks, you really are one habit away from a new life.

Let’s take the example of the person who went from “rags to riches,” people often ask how come this happens for some, but others are never able to get out of their bad situation.

There are numerous reasons for this, but I believe the biggest reason is a person’s habits.

There are many things that separate those who are able to change their life drastically from those who seem to be stuck in a cycle of never getting where they desire to be. Today, I will talk about three of those differences.

1: THEY MADE A DECISION

I have shared my story many times of being homeless and how my life looks nothing like it did seven years ago and truthfully the same thing that got me out of that situation was the same thing that got me into it to begin with. It all started with a decision.

You see I had made the decision for many years to live beyond my means, to try to keep up with the “Jones,” and to ignore the fact that I was awful at managing finances. I recognized that I had poor money management skills, but I chose to ignore it for years. All of these things were decisions I made.

It wasn’t until I hit rock bottom, coming home to our lights being turned off and having to get my son and myself dressed for school and work in the dark with just the light from a cell phone. Standing in line to donate plasma to save my car from repossession and going without eating because there was only enough food to feed my child. All of these things were consequences of my poor decisions.

This is what it took for me to make a decision that something had to change. What will it take for you to make a decision that something in your life has to change?

2. THEY TOOK ACTION

It can be hard to acknowledge that something in your life is not working.

We talked about spiritual, relational, financial, and self-care habits this month and maybe you believe you’re thriving in three out of four areas, but I believe if you’re lacking in one area, you’re lacking in all.

But the good news is that it’s possible to thrive in EVERY area of your life!

It all starts with making a decision, but you can’t stay stuck there.

YOU MUST TAKE ACTION

So, back to me hitting rock bottom and recognizing that something had to change.

My first step in taking action was I needed accountability and I needed to humble myself and realize that I did not have it together the way I tried to portray to the world.

The enemy is good at making us think that as long as our problems stay hidden, it’s really not that bad.

This is why I chose to stand before my church in testimony service and say I had no idea how I was going to pay next month’s rent. I wasn’t sharing because I wanted sympathy or for someone to rescue me. I shared because I needed to face my problem. I was living a lie.

I can’t even begin to explain how free I felt after getting that off my chest. From there I decided that despite the money I did not have, I was going to invest in financial literacy and that is why for me my first mentorship was with a financial coach.

Yes, it could have been easy to say, “you can’t afford a financial coach right now,” but truthfully, I could not afford to not have a financial coach.

Now ask yourself, what area in your life do you need to take action and what does that look like for you?

3. THEY DON’T GIVE UP

We live in a world where everyone likes the “overnight” success story, but success that actually lasts never happens overnight. This is why we always hear about people winning the lottery and then losing it all in no time. God never intended “success” to happen overnight, although with Him it is still very possible.

Take Proverbs 13:11 as an example “Wealth quickly gained is quickly wasted- easy come, easy go! But if you gradually gain wealth, you will watch it grow.”

I believe this scripture could be applied to almost anything- “love” that happens too quickly, weight that is lost too quickly, fame that is gained too quickly- we all know people who have experienced things too quickly and it usually turned out badly.

People don’t like to wait for anything. We want what we want, and we want it now.

But there is something to be said for something that takes time to attain. It usually helps to build patience, character, and what I like to call “stick-to-itiveness.”

When I first invested in the financial coach, I was barely making ends meet, but for me this was the one decision that led to one habit change that completely changed my life. You see this one decision to invest when it looked like I could not afford to helped to change my mind set when it came to money. This decision led to me making a habit of investing in myself. This looked like investing in therapy, investing in joining a fitness studio (and actually going), investing in learning, and now when an opportunity comes for me to grow in an area, I don’t hesitate to invest in me.

My life didn’t change overnight. It took time to implement the things I’ve learned in mentorships. It took trial and error to learn what works for me when it comes to finances. Yes, there were times when I felt like I would always be living paycheck to paycheck, but God had shown me I would build wealth, so I was determined to not give up.

Now I sit here today with multiple streams of income, being able to be home every day with my son and having the flexibility to do almost anything I want.

I’m not where God has shown me I will be, but I must say I am in a much better place than I used to be.

And if God helped me change my habits which changed my life, He can do the same for you.

Change that lasts doesn’t come from motivation, it comes from dedication.

You have to first make a decision that something has to change, then you take action to make the change, and no matter what comes your way, don’t you give up!

If you do those three things, I can guarantee you that you’ll be glad you did.