Music Mondays - No Easy Way Out

No Easy Way Out

For those of you who are not familiar with this song, it’s from the movie Rocky IV, and in case you are not totally familiar with the Rocky series, Rocky IV is the movie where Rocky fights a Russian boxer in the ultimate battle of good versus evil. This song, as you can see in one of the videos below, plays as Rocky reflects on his life, his boxing career, the recent loss of his good friend Apollo Creed to the Russian boxer, and what he will do in response to the loss.I love the beginning of the chorus of this song:

There’s no easy way out. There’s no shortcut home.

For people who are battling debt, I think this is a great song to inspire you on your journey. Just like it’s easy to gain weight, it’s easy to put on debt; however, just like it’s difficult to lose weight, it’s difficult to combat debt. There really is no easy way out or shortcut home.On Wednesday I am going to share my 15 ways to fight debt in 2015 to give you some inspiration in your debt repayment journey, but the first thing to remember is that it will be a tough road you have to travel.

My Difficult Journey

As some of you know, I didn’t necessarily have a massive debt hill to battle, but I did have a massive weight hill to battle. After suffering from a miscarriage shortly after deciding to have a child, it took us a while to conceive again; and after every failed pregnancy test, I threw the biggest pity party ever which typically consisted of lots of wine and sushi. These pity parties led to weight gain, which was only compounded when I actually did get pregnant with my son, and I indulged in IHOP pancakes, Outback burgers and anything from Taco Bell.It was easy and usually fun to put this weight on, but my weigh-ins were never fun, and I will never forget the time I stepped on the scale at the doctor’s office and weighed in over 200 pounds. For years after my son was born, I haphazardly tried to lose weight, but typically gave in after a month or so because I didn’t have the energy or commitment for the journey.Finally, three years ago I decided enough was enough, signed up for Weight Watchers and over 8 months, I lost 50 pounds. There was no easy way out for the weight loss, and there certainly were no shortcuts in my journey. Each day, each week and each month I battled against my food demons, my drinking demons and my emotional demons to reach my goal weight. 

We All Need Inspiration for a Long Journey

I actually listened to this song quite a bit while I was on my weight loss journey. You would think it would be a de-motivator; however, there was something comforting in knowing that I was on a difficult journey. This song was my reminder that I had to keep pushing hard because I couldn’t give in and go back to who I used to be.I find lots of similarities in financial fitness and physical fitness, and I have a great deal of compassion for my clients who have lots of debt, because I see them as I saw myself 3 years ago, overweight with a long journey ahead. Just as I lost the weight, though, my clients lose the debt. It’s not an overnight result; however, since they are mentally prepared for the tough journey, it actually helps them maintain patience along the way. Plus the end result is worth all of the hard work and energy.

How do you keep yourself inspired and on target when you have big goals to face?

PS: Below is the Rocky clip; however, below that is the original music video. If you want a great laugh, check out the music video.