It’s The Climb
I’m not normally a big fan of Miley Cyrus, but today I wanted to talk about her new song ‘The Climb’. If you haven’t heard the song, I highly encourage you to listen, not because she’s a phenomenal artist – though I think she has potential when she gets older – but because the words themselves are so moving. And, while I think these words are great for every day struggles, I’m a pf blogger so I see the potential for this applying to personal finance.
Let’s dissect the song, shall we?…my sincerest apologies to Miley Cyrus, of course!
I can almost see it
That dream I’m dreaming
But there’s a voice inside my head saying
You’ll never reach it.
I’m sure that many of us in the quest to get out of debt have heard that voice. It’s the little nagging nay-sayer who tells us working to get out of debt is pointless because we’ll end up right back where we started, or it tells us we don’t have the willpower to stop spending, or any number of other negative phrases.
Every step I’m taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking
But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high.
I’ve said before that perseverance is a necessary quality when trying to get out of debt. Actually, I think it’s necessary with most things in life, but the point is, you have to be willing to pick yourself up and try again. Along the way you’re probably going to stumble, but that’s ok. No one’s perfect. You just have to keep trying and remember this…
There’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose.
Guess what? You didn’t get into debt overnight and you’re certainly not going to get out of debt overnight. But more then that, personal finance is ever changing so the phrase “there’s always gonna be another mountain” can very aptly be applied to it. Once you master one area, there’s something new to learn and master. Once you get out of debt, you’ll find new goals to reach for and then you start over and work your way towards those goals. Sometimes, along the way, we find that what we thought was important really isn’t, and we have to let those things go. Sometimes we simply discover we can’t beat everything and we have to choose what’s more important. You may want to get out of debt in three years, but perhaps sending your kids to a private school is more important to you. While I don’t like Miley’s choice of the word ‘lose’ she makes the point that we’ll never have everything go the way we hoped or planned.
Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb, yeah.
At the end of the day, money is just a tool. Our life is what’s most important and the choices we make define how we choose to live that life. Our goals are always going to be important to us, even the monetary ones, but it’s what we learn and the choices we make in life that really matter…that really define us. Personal finance is a huge part of our lives and I strongly encourage you to build good habits. But if your road getting there is a little slow-going, don’t worry. It ain’t about how fast you get there…it’s the climb!
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