Numbers and I don’t get along. We just don’t jive. We coexist but on a completely different wave length.
I have a kind of number dyslexia where sometimes numbers get transposed either in my head or when I go to write them down. So, the number 384 becomes 348. Sometimes I unconsciously add or subtract zeros. I’ll be thinking a number in my head, like 5,000, but if I have to speak it, I will say something different, like 500.
This number aversion is nothing new. In school, I hated math. In fact, in third grade, I tried to bribe my teacher to get out of doing my math homework. It didn’t work.
But as a business owner, I’ve had to buck up and face the numbers. And yesterday, as I was preparing all my numbers for my 2011 taxes (so I could send out 1099 forms before the end of the month), I found myself grateful for those friggin’ numbers. Because they told me the truth about where I am in my business. They dispassionately just sat there and said, this is where you are, sweetcakes!
So, let me ask you, do you know where YOU are financially? Do you know right now the relationship between your income and your expenses? Do you know how much you need to have coming in to meet your goals? And do you know how that’s going to happen?
If you do, good for you! If not, why not?
If you are like me, and you tend to bury your head in the sand just a bit when it comes to your financial fitness, I invite you to join me in this commitment to get over number lackadaisicalness, and do the numbers! Or… if you have a great system for staying aware of your own financial fitness, share it here by writing a comment below this post.