I went away with a few friends this weekend to Pittsburgh, and I had literally zero time to myself. I have grown accustomed to recharging solo, as COVID has granted us all more free time.  I was completely out of my element and out of my routine, and everything I learned was truly put to the test. Here is how I integrated what I learned and the tricks I used to have a great weekend in what could have otherwise been a stressful time. 

Set an Intention

I set an intention for the weekend that whatever happened was supposed to happen. I got interrupted during every meditation I attempted. I ate unhealthy food all weekend and didn't workout. I skipped my online courses and breathwork class in lieu of bottomless brunch. I even had to share a bed with one of my friends, so even my nighttime ritual was scrapped! 

By having my intention in place before the weekend started, I was able to maintain my state of alignment even when I didn't have a single moment of the entire weekend to myself. I ...

When I lived in Chicago, I was very goal driven and numbers oriented when it came to my job, but not so much when it came to my life. 

I used to take screenshots of my book of business on the first of each month to highlight the progress I was making in growing my accounts. It was one of my favorite things to do. I sent myself a calendar reminder and everything. I loved to watch myself progress and grow month over month. 

This game became much less fun once my accounts continued to grow and my income continued to decrease, alas, enter spiritual awakening / quitting said job / blowing life up / healing from experience / creating something bigger and better :) 

I bring up this concept, because it is something new I started doing in my personal life. Now, on the 30th of each month, I take a "screenshot" of where my finances are, and where I am in terms of reaching certain goals and thresholds I set for myself. 

I chose the 30th for a few reasons:

- My birthday is March 30, thus when ...

I felt ashamed and embarrassed of the fact that I was in credit card debt for a long time. I hired a financial advisor right before I quit my job (unbeknownst to me at the time) and he provided me with a blueprint on paying off my debt.

He encouraged me to take out a 401k loan to cover my interest-bearing credit card balances and then pay myself back over the course of 2-3 years.

With this guidance, he also offered a word of caution.

“If you don’t change your spending habits, you will find yourself in this exact same spot down the line.”

I took out the loan, paid off my credit cards and went about my life.

Then, less than 2 months later, I quit my job, moved in with my Dad, and found a new job I hated that paid me significantly less money. I started using my credit cards again to buy things to offset how empty I felt inside. I incurred a new balance of nearly the exact same amount less than one year later. 

Everything in my life had changed except my mindset, particularly in the ...

Once my beliefs around money started to shift, so did my reality. I went from spending to more than I earned to saving more than I spent! I shifted my mindset and became more conscious with my financial decisions and watched as the number in my bank account started to grow and my balance on my credit cards continued to diminish. 

Here are key shifts I made:

I Made Do With What I Had

When I quit my job and moved in with my Dad, I was feeling lack in all areas of my life, so I went shopping and spent money as a means of not feeling so miserable. It didn't work, and I contributed more and more to my debt, alas, my miserable state.

In order to reverse these habits and undo the financial harm I had caused myself, I turned my focus towards working on myself, and became obsessed with personal development / starting my company. 

Basically, I replaced my short lived desire for new clothes with a long term desire of a fulfilling, happy life. I knew in order to be taken seriously in business...

Lol sorry for the boring title...

We are moving into the next phase of content, which will be centered around financial abundance and aligning your mindset with your bank account. In addition to mental hacks, we will be providing you with Allison Ziggy templates and workbooks to track your financial goals!

I have some pretty baller announcements to make in the next few months around what I personally have been able to accomplish, and I am so excited to share with you the methods that took me from my lowest point to financial freedom in a very short amount of time! 

For now, here are a few quick tricks you can use to feel more financially abundant right now:

Take Solid Inventory of Your Finances

As someone who is obsessed with visual progress, I basically made increasing my net worth a game that I track every single month. I love to keep the old data to show myself snap shots of the progress I made, as well as to take the time to appreciate just how far I have come. Even when I was...

I have a vivid memory of myself sitting on the El on the way to work in Chicago. I was mentally running through all of my bills and was stressing about whether or not they had been paid. My mind never stopped running when I lived in Chicago. 

My life had become so fast paced that I never stopped to ask myself if I was living the life I wanted. I was so caught up in all the wrong things and my primary state was one of anxiety. 

I am telling you this because there is a better way to live life. When I started working on myself, every single thing about my life began to change. When I started working out, the way I talked to myself changed. Once I started being nicer to myself, I stopped using credit cards to buy things I couldn't afford and I shifted my focus to saving money instead of spending it. Once I was healthy both physically and financially, I focused on my interpersonal relationships and brought more love into my life. This is the natural order of operations I recommend for bri...

I have been having the most wonderful 3-day weekend. 

I used to actually struggle with having an extra day off, believe it or not. When I lived in Chicago, my job was my everything, so my long weekends were usually lonely. Most of my friends were work friends, and they either went out of town on holiday weekends, had weddings to go to or spent time with their significant others. It felt like i was just spending too much time alone, so I started traveling to spend time with my friends from college, meaning I was literally not spending any time alone at all. 

Basically when I lived in Chicago, the key thing I struggled with was achieving balance, which is something I now make a conscious effort towards achieving. 

Now that I have achieved balance in my life, I love and appreciate the holiday and the extra down time it brings. I love being able to write this article knowing I get to sleep in again tomorrow  but at the same time knowing I get to go back to work on Tuesday. I love that I...

The issue with planning in advance is that you never know how you are going to feel in the actual moment. What if you get hit with a panic attack? What if you become overwhelmingly tired and really want to stay home and sleep? What if you were overzealous in committing to the plans in the first place and after you take a step back and remove yourself from the situation, you realize you don't actually even want to go.....?

Breathe. Relax. Cancel. 

If there is one thing 2020 taught us, it is that you can't plan everything. Here are some rules I have for cancelling without coming across in the worst way. 

Give as much notice as you can

Be honest with yourself and your friend (or whoever you made plans with) and let them know as soon as you know you want to cancel. You need to trust your gut. Make sure to honor reservations or concrete plans, or at least expect to pay any of the fees associated with cancelling. Commitments are important, but your wellbeing is more important. Only doing...

I have recently experimented with the idea of mentally starting my week on Sunday instead of Monday. I am all about for eliminating stress and anxiety whenever possible, and one of the things I used to struggle with in the past was the harsh divide between the week and weekend. As the lines continue to become more blurred between being at home and working, the line between Sunday night and Monday morning has become even more stark, at least in my opinion. 

My weekend became a sacred place of not doing things remotely related to work, but then I found myself dreading Monday even more. I knew my alarm clock sounding at 5am on a Monday marked the start of nonstop activity until Friday night, which is a daunting approach to beginning anything. I know stress this is a signal from my body to reframe my approach to a situation, and thus came the idea/overlooked opportunity to use Sunday as a soft start to my week. 

What do I mean by Soft Start?

Ease your transition by using Sunday to prepa...

Sundays are for planning. I know I will not have the luxury of free time this week once 5am Monday morning rolls around, so it is my job to make the most of it right now. With that being said, there are errands I need to run today that will ensure a more successful week ahead. 

• Grocery Store
• Laundry
• Prepare presentation for Monday 8/17

The list as written is highly ineffective. 

Relate Action Items to your larger "why"

If grocery shopping is on your list, think about why you are actually going to the store. What is the motivator behind the initiative?

Grocery Shop - So I don't max out my budget for takeout this week from lack of groceries

This helps remind yourself the action is driving you towards your larger goal of being financially responsible, thus solidifying it in your mind as a priority. It also allows you to be in more charge of when you opt to order take out. It becomes a decision of desire instead of obligation.

This method helps you align your actions with wha...