Micro Losses, Macro Wins

One of my clients felt frustrated. When I asked her how the most recent monthly budget went, she confessed that she didn't do so hot; she overshot four categories. Curious about this, I told her I would check her numbers quickly. Here's what I found. As explained, she overspent on four different categories in the amounts of $27, $33, $40, and $41.

Sure, that's not ideal. The objective is to spend what we budget, no more and no less. So when she whiffed on four categories, that wasn't the plan. However, she was missing the bigger picture. Upon review, I noticed that while she whiffed on those four categories, her entire budget was within about $25 of her target. That's awesome! In other words, she may have had some micro losses on specific categories, but she was a winner on the macro level.

To prove a point, I checked my own budget. While she missed four categories on her budget, Sarah and I overspent on 13. Yes, 13 separate categories were a miss on our budget. It happens. Life happens. But we rarely get bent out of shape over it. Instead of dwelling on micro losses, we focus on the macro. In the case of our total budget, we were within $100 of the target......which is a win!

Don't psych yourself up over micro losses. So what if you overspent on household goods by $40? So what if you spent $30 more on kids than you had intended? Sure, we should always strive to do better, and we will hopefully do better next month. However, focus on the big picture. It's never going to be perfect. You'll screw up. Life will happen. Unforeseen expenses will pop up. That's called being human.

If we give ourselves permission to experience micro losses, we'll be more inclined to give ourselves grace, focus on the big picture, and achieve what matters more: macro wins!

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