Have you ever wondered that countless people share their knowledge on financial literacy and how-tos on making money or getting it to the top of economic wealth and financial freedom? To name a few well-known people, Robert Kiyosaki, Dave Ramsey, Warren Buffett, and in the Philippines, we have Bo Sanchez and many aspiring Filipinos that started their websites, blogs, and podcasts, like Chinkee Tan about Financial Literacy. All these brilliant people mean well, and they all know this came from their own experience and hand-me-down financial advice from their best life teachers. But how is it that there are still 17.6 million people, more or less living under the poverty line, while almost the same number of broke people have no savings, no emergency funds, or no financial plan? There are only 14 thousand millionaires in the Philippines out of 98.87 million people. These statistics data are all available on Google.

In today's generation, we are so lucky to have dedicated people who share their financial knowledge mostly for free. To have all the means to learn and numerous platforms to acquire all the knowledge you need. Our generation is constantly evolving to the more high-tech world, innovating state-of-the-art devices and technologies, providing plenty of opportunities to earn money, especially in the world of the internet or online; the sky's the limit.

So, all of these, WHY ARE WE STILL BROKE?

Being broke is having run out of money. LIVING PAYCHECK-TOPAYCHECK. Being unprepared for rainy days and not having an emergency fund. Children’s education is yet secured.

You are either too lazy to take action, lack confidence and trust in yourself, or a mediocre, or simply you were dealt with bad hands and you no matter how much you tried, money is still a problem.

All these traits are fixable.

Let's start with the elephant in the room. Financial Stress.

Financial Stress almost always occurs in most people’s daily lives, especially those currently living in a financial rut. You might be buried in debt or barely making ends meet, or simply residing paycheck-to-paycheck with no extra left to get or buy something you want. However, financial stress is not only present to those who are not making enough money, but it also takes place in people with lots of money. Having to think about where they would want to use their money, would you not rather have this kind of stress? Instead of living in fear and discomfort, wondering where you will find yourself sleeping tomorrow if you cannot pay your apartment rent?

This content is not created so you can get rid of your financial stress, and I hope that this will serve as your guide to MANAGING the stress. After all, financial stress or any kind of stress is a good thing to experience, for it is an indicator that there is something not going well or aligned in your life and that you need to address what needs to be addressed. Like how important it is for us to have a sense of fear because it activates our fight-or-flight behavior and leads us to decide how we will handle unpleasant or dangerous occurrences, so is the purpose of stress. It is there to tell you something is not working right and that you should pay attention to it.

Bad and good stress have side effects of their own. However, if you happen to be under lousy pressure, you will start your way to financial anxiety. When you are still stuck and maybe refusing to get help on how you can figure out your financial dilemma, it will only be a matter of time before you will helplessly fall into depression. My friend, that is what we are trying to avoid and experience because once you are in that position, only you and a professional therapist can get you out of it, and depression is not easy and a no-joke, so tread lightly.

On the other hand, good stress is most of the time manageable. Knowing that you already have more money than you need, I am sure it wouldn’t be that hard to hire someone to help you manage your finances. But if things go south, you might wake up one day seeing all your wealth crumbling down, all just because you wanted to handle everything by yourself, and so you refused to designate when you could have used your valuable time to do something more productive and fruitful.

Here are four simple steps on how you can manage stress. I always apply the most straightforward method that is no secret to everyone.

• WHAT: Identify the problem or the cause of the stress
  It would be hard to manage something if you don’t know it. Write it down and see if you can be as specific as possible. Ask yourself.

WHAT is stressing me out right now?

Example: I am a mother of 3, working full time. Every time I get home from tiring work, I can hardly rest at home, and my husband’s demanding job keeps him working late nights. The moment I arrived, I had to cook and prepare dinner, clean the house and do the dishes, put my kids to bed, and just so I thought I could finally get some sleep, my toddler decided to wake up crying in the middle of the night.

I need to address the lack of time for sleep and time for myself, so my performance at work will not be affected. Do I hire help or resign from my job? But I don't think I can afford it.

• WHY: State the reasons why you have to address the stress. This powerful part tells you why you must take action; hence, you must identify your WHYs.

WHY is it important that I must have time for myself?

Example: Not being able to afford financially what is essential can be detrimental. It will only be a matter of time till I get exhausted and burned out. I will be less capable of taking care of my kids and being there for them. It affects my mood if I am always tired. I must take care of myself to maintain a healthy mind and body and get enough sleep.

• HOW: Now, you can brainstorm the possibilities and ways to control the stress and finally live at ease.

HOW can I make this happen? Or HOW do I proceed with a plan?

Example: *If resigning from my job is not an option, we barely have any extra money left after paying all the bills. I need to find a budget to hire help. *

First, is talk to your partner about the plan and how it could benefit you. Weigh the pros and cons and see if you could meet halfway. If you have no partner and are raising the kids alone, then one problem down, you only have yourself to convince about your plans.

In another situation, if you have no kids and not married, this might be your best time to pay attention on your finances.

Second, research how it works. Do you hire from an agency or directly hire someone you probably know, like a good neighbor. Is the help going to be a stay-in or stay-out? Research how much it will cost so you would see the amount to target.

Third, create plans A and B, or it doesn't matter if you get to the letter Z, as long as you have options if one doesn’t work out.

Plan A: I have been in the company for seven years now, and my performance is over the top. I could ask for a raise.

Plan B: Apply for a higher position that pays more but won't demand more of my time.

Plan C: Find a second job

Plan D: Talk to someone knowledgeable about managing finances. Get help.

Plan Z: ...

• WHEN: All your answers to WHAT, WHY, and HOW would be put to waste if you cannot set the time when you will start following up on your action plan.

This area is challenging. Our courage and confidence get tested. Some of us will ask ourselves, can I do this? Or can I make it happen?

You know, the impostor syndrome. You start to question yourself. Just know that if you don’t take a step forward for you are afraid to proceed with your plan because of your fear of failure.

Take that step anyway, for getting stuck is already a failure.

When your commitment is high, all you plan to do or change will happen no matter how long it takes. The disciplines slowly will develop until it gets natural to you, and commitment alone is not enough. There are times when discouragement and disappointments meet you along the way, where they tend to be persuasive for you to stop what you are doing. Be careful of the constant mumbles in your head, and they will tell you that you are not good enough or failure is what you’re only getting. To conquer all these challenges, you will need an effective ACCOUNTABILITY BUDDY!

Here are your action steps:

First, write down at least one financial lesson that you last heard and you didn’t apply or didn’t start practicing. For example, “ I watched a YouTube video about how to start saving money, that you should start with a budget and master budgeting first. Did I start budgeting my own money already?”

If you still don't have savings, then that is precisely a financial education put to waste, and you are not alone in this area. So many people know yet failed to apply it, and this goes not only to financial education but also to other aspects of life.

Second, find your ACCOUNTABILITY BUDDY, may that be a member of your family or your closest friend. Just make sure this person can give you honest advice and not sugarcoat everything he says because he is afraid to hurt your feelings and speak of emotions. You may want to tone down your over sensitiveness if you happen to be one because if you keep getting broken to everything, dude, you will not get far. You don’t have to be heartless. Just know how to manage your emotions towards money.

Thirdly, start right away, don’t wait for the perfect time before you can begin, for there is no perfect time, only Time-Wasted.

You made it here! Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have picked up ideas you can start implementing. Stay updated on my next topic in Financial Insights Series.

Speaking of Accountability Buddy, I am happy to be there for you. Make me you Accountability Buddy and let's get you to a good kick start in your financial journey.

Never limit yourself to the good things you can have in life. Suppose you feel stuck right now and lost in what you want to do. Find the kind of kickstart that you need to move forward.

Imagine this.

YOU HAVE THE POWER TO REWRITE YOUR OWN LIFE STORY AND CARVE YOUR SCULPTURE.

Figuratively speaking, all you need is a pen and a notebook to rewrite your story and a sharp chisel to carve your life sculpture. What you just have to do is, pick them up and start working on yourself.

And before you know it.

YOU WILL BE IN AWE AT YOUR VERY OWN MASTERPIECE.