I was just exercising.  For the first time in weeks if not months.  It is the first of two ways that I’m failing myself right now.  The second way I’m failing myself right now is by not being robotic about my finances.  By robotic I don’t mean to take the personal out of personal finances, but by cutting corners where I should be consistent every single day.

By not exercising I’m increasing health risks, allowing my heart to be weaker, letting my body potentially gain weight (though I have not ballooned over my holidays), and generally allowing myself to fall into a pattern of laziness.  If I exercise regularly the benefits are myriad and I usually feel better throughout the day.  Its a no-brainer, but I’m also feeling lower emotional motivation.  My wife can workout for two hours a day, seven days a week and enjoy it.  I work out once a day and its a miracle.  This isn’t a late new years resolution, I just need to be disciplined in principle.

Of course my second area of failure also shows a sign of lack of discipline.  I can blog regularly, and I think about my finances regularly, but it is easy for me to let things slide here and there so that my bills are paid on time, just not earlier than they could be.  I need to send finances to charities/individuals/ministries I support (which I will do once this post is published - if you’re reading this, the money has been sent).  I just put it off a little bit here and there, but it adds up.

I’m going to take control today and see what I can’t accomplish over the next week in discipline.

There’s a reason why money is taboo: its often very, very, very personal.  This weekend as I was taking a walk down my in-law’s neighbor’s dirt road I saw this sign: Private, Dead End.  I didn’t actually trespass in case anyone was worried that I saw the sign, took a picture and kept walking.  What I was thinking about as I took this picture is that personal finance is private on one level or another.  At some point in time you are more than likely going to draw the line between what is acceptable to communicate to others, and what is not public knowledge.

Where do you draw the line?  I personal don’t speak of my income to various people I work with, but some family members know that information.  I have been timid to share the actual amount of debt we have or how much I pay in taxes on this blog and pretty much everywhere else I’m speaking about personal finances - again, a few family members know.  One thing I’ve been able to perceive about this - private or not - is that as a personal finance blogger I don’t feel comfortable dumping out everything I’m thinking or doing just to be open.  I would much rather present principles that are useful than numbers which may help you gauge where I’m at, but not communicate the concepts which matter.

My personal financial state isn’t where I’d like it to be - and I’m assuming that unless you’re a billionaire, you, too, are working on improving your financial state.  I’m reducing debt, preparing to understand more about investment opportunities and generally trying to be wise with my family’s finances.  I tend to be a very open person, in the past it has gotten me into a discussion with my wife about being too open, but when it comes to personal finance I’m not concerned about your numbers.  I don’t want to know them.  I do want to know what your operating principles are, though, so let me know where you draw the line with sharing personal finance information.