Financially Adjusted

#33: HOW TO BUILD HEALTHY FINANCIAL HABITS

• Leslie Roth • Episode 33

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In this episode of Financially Adjusted, I’m highlighting the importance of healthy financial habits for your chiropractic business. I’ll discuss why consistency, small steps, and proactive check-ins are key to financial wellness. You'll learn why reactive financial management can hold you back and how a weekly money check-in can transform your confidence and control over your finances. Plus, I’ll offer practical tools and tips to help you stay on track, whether you consider yourself a numbers person or not!

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Happy New Year my entrepreneurial friend! Can you believe it's twenty twenty five? I don't know if I'm just imagining this, but I feel like once I got past the age of forty time just started moving a whole lot faster. It's so weird and now I'm forty six so time is really flying. But I hope you all had a very peace full holiday season and you're entering into the new year feeling recharged and ready to go. 

Question for you - Are you someone that sets New Year's goals?

I do but I'm more a fan of creating realistic goals frequently throughout the year versus extreme unrealistic goals once a year. I used to do this when it came to my health and business. Now, I realize that it's more about creating healthy disciplines that lead to healthy habits. I try to challenge myself but I also want to make sure I'm being realistic about my goals and creating ones that enable me to stay consistent.

For instance, for years, every January I would pick some, what I call extreme, form of a diet and try to like revamp my health all at once in a month So I've done whole thirty and I've done, the wild fit and although these are great and they do help you get your health back on track for me that's not realistic to be consistent with those.

So I have found that I need to focus on consistent habits throughout the year when it comes to my health and other things in my life, and just set myself up for leading a lifestyle that contains healthy habits versus just like these extreme times where I go crazy doing a one eighty and then I can't stick to it. And often as humans we set these huge goals at the beginning of the year, that mean taking this huge leap versus smaller more realistic goals that we're more likely to achieve and lead to honestly long term success, in my opinion, versus the ones that you just give up on because they're too extreme and they're unrealistic.

I think when we're building any new habits it's important to create disciplines that lead you to your goals…instead of just relying on motivation and willpower…

We all have days where we just don't want to show up and do the thing whatever that is for you. Whether it's finances or something else, a good first step is to decide to commit to just showing up to do the thing you know we'll get you the results that you want. Decide to show up even on those days where you just don't feel like it.

I'm telling myself this as much as I'm telling you. And this leads me into today's topic on building healthy financial habits.

First, I'll get into why healthy financial habits matter. Think of your finances like your physical health. If a patient only checks in once a year or stops every few months for their chiropractic adjustment, things can stay out of alignment and there is no healthy baseline. They're simply being reactive versus proactive. The same goes for your finances.

Consistency and small habits lead to overall financial wellness. If you're barely ever checking in with your finances, you're missing the opportunity to be proactive with managing your money and you're just reacting to unhealthy financial symptoms when they pop up. This also has a really big impact on your stress. Avoiding your numbers might feel easier in the short term but it creates more anxiety in the long term. Healthy habits reduce that uncertainty

that exists and help you feel more confident and in control. Being proactive with your money allows you to make the financial adjustments you need to in order to have a healthy bottom line and a thriving practice…

I'd like to talk a little bit about overcoming that mindset of I'm not a numbers person. And you may not be excited about numbers or have a natural bent towards numbers, but you are absolutely capable…of being a numbers person when it comes to your business and being a business person who cares deeply…about their numbers because it means caring deeply about the health of their business.

You do not have to be a math whiz or a CPA to manage your finances. So remind yourself of that every time. It's not about loving numbers It's about making them work for you to get to your goals and have a healthy business. Think of Your finances…as a tool basically that Are go is going to allow you to help more people and to stay in business and thrive…

At the end of the day money is a tool and you're simply managing that like you would any other resource in your business. And remember that small wins matter and I have to tell myself this as well? Because I have a really hard time stopping and just celebrating those small wins along the way. I have this tendency to just look forward and think about all the things I haven't achieved yet instead of recognizing how far I've come. So I don't know if you need that reminder today but small wins do matter, so start with tiny steps When it comes to managing your money.

Just like you encourage your patients to make small lifestyle changes to be proactive about their health You can do the same thing with your finances. Many times people avoid their finances because of the overwhelm that comes with thinking you have to know everything. You don't have to master everything at once. You just have to plug in and get familiar here and start there. This involves taking baby steps towards understanding and managing your finances. If you're a chiropractor you've spent many many years learning and practicing your skills, You didn't start school thinking, you have to have it down in a week you know you have to know how to do adjustments in a week.

No You knew it was going to be a process. And that it would take years of building the knowledge and the skills that you need to be a good practitioner. When it comes to the financial side of running your business it's the same.

I'm not saying it's going to take you years to learn the necessary skills to manage your money well but I'm saying it's going to take time to build that knowledge and skill. If you commit to learning and practicing money management skills, You are absolutely capable of gaining control and confidence around your business finances…

So…What are some actionable steps that you can take to building? The financial healthy habits and the discipline that you need to get there. The first thing I recommend is to schedule a weekly money check-in. You can set aside even if it's just fifteen minutes once a week to review your practice's revenue and expense is. Don't worry about deeply analyzing anything.

Just look at the numbers…

And if you don't have…Your bookkeeping set up yet if you don't have financial reports to look at yet? Go in and look at your bank account Look at the the way your money is flowing in and out of your accounts…

Take a look at your expenses. Get to know your revenue…

And In order to remind yourself of this and to to kind of like hold yourself accountable. I want you to this on your calendar so that you get an alert And I don't know what calendar you work with but I have Google Calendar and It's very easy to set up tasks so you just create a task and you can make this repeat So you could set up a weekly recurring task that pops up at the top of your of the day on your Google calendar. And then it will be on your radar. So you'll set yourself up for these reminders so that you don't have to count on yourself remembering. Because that's not going to happen most likely.

So make it a time of day also that you're more likely to do it Like if you know you're a morning person and when it comes to the afternoon evening you are complete exhausted…and not really functioning and you're just kinda wanting to shut down, make sure you put it on your calendar for in the morning and then vice versa.

For me I'm more of a morning person, I'm up at like four or five in the morning, and I'm sharpest…before lunch, and then like like two pm on my brain is just like starting to check out So for me I don't put any tasks on my calendar that involve a lot of like deep thought work analysis…past two PM. So definitely put this in the first part of your day if you're a morning person, when you're sharpest, that's what how it's gonna work for you. And why this works is because regular check ins make your finances less intimidating and they build your confidence over time, just by familiarizing yourself with your numbers, you're not going to feel like you're completely in the dark Work. It's giving you the opportunity to incrementally…improve on your money management skills and keep your finger on the pulse of your financial health. Versus just completely checking out, and then you get into that mental loop of, oh I don't know anything about my numbers.

You are flexing that muscle so to speak and putting in the reps that will make you stronger when it comes to money management. And you have to start somewhere So even if that's just looking at your bank statement or just looking at a few line items on your P and L. That's something and it's better than doing nothing…

What this check-in can look like for you just depends. It could be a budget check-in I highly recommend having a budget. And when you're doing a budget check-in weekly, You're just going to look to see that you're on track with your budget and account for any unexpected expected expenses. As we know things can change very frequently in our businesses so you wanna stay up on…whether or not you have, um additional expenses is coming in that you didn't account for, maybe less revenue or more revenue that you didn't account for So as things change throughout the month, these weekly check ins are really gonna be you doing a little adjustment in your budget…

You know you can check-in on your revenue your collections, make sure that there aren't any fraudulent expenses coming through or any subscriptions that you're paying for that you aren't using. So this can be a really great way to not let anything really slip through the cracks…

And when you're looking at something months down the road you're less likely to be as in tune to what's going on as you are in that current month and that current week.

You also wanna do this for your personal finances as well as your business finances. These touch points will help you make sure that the two are aligning and you're able to take what you aim to take from the business and that personally you don't need any more or any less. If there is additional income that you didn't estimate for in your budget, How are you going to be allocating those funds in your business? Looking ahead with your budget is so important for these reasons and I usually recommend…doing at least like three to six months of your budget in advance so that you have that framework laid out for your budget and you're just tweaking it every month and checking in every week.

If you are somebody who DIY their bookkeeping…

This weekly check-in can also look like you are categorizing expenses You're going in and you're making sure you're staying up to date on your bookkeeping so that it doesn't all pile up and then leave you feeling too overwhelmed and like you can't manage it. And then this weekly check-in can also…be a good time for you to pay any bills that you need to. Um to stay up to date on your bills and pay attention to the timing of your bills for your cash flow. For instance if you're using a credit card, you could also you know pay that off weekly…

if you are Having your bills can mainly come through your checking account because you don't like to use a credit card As far as cash flow goes it's a great time to make sure the timing of Your bills coming out and the revenue coming in is working out in your favor and that you're not gonna overdraw your account or that there's Anything weird going on there. Another thing that is going to help you stay on track and have these financial healthy habits is to use simple tools We use tools that are easiest for you and will decrease the resistance to checking in with your finances so if you're someone who Absolutely hate spreadsheets. Don't use a spreadsheet. Know even if you if you're somebody who really doesn't wanna use tech at all and you're more of an old school like write it down on paper person then write it down on paper…For budgets, I do really recommend. Doing um the an app on your phone I recommend the Every Dollar app which is a free app you can use that on your PC or on your phone and it works great for both.

Um

and then a spreadsheet does work well too If you prefer fer to use tech, you can just grab like a Google sheet and start plugging in all of your information into there and you could use different tabs for different months, but every dollar is so…straightforward and easy to use And what's nice about that it has like a copy and paste feature So when you're moving to the next month and you go to start that budget it'll say…

start the next budget Do you want to do that And you say yes and then it populates everything in from the month before four. So you don't have to like redo everything You're just tweaking what's different about that month versus the prior month. But you ultimately know yourself better than anybody else And you know what you're likely to stick with and what works best for you. You can always tweak and reassess your system down the road So if you say okay I wanna try this every dollar app or I wanna try a spreadsheet or I just wanna try writing it down. And something isn't working for you and you know, it's Not helping you to check-in because it's a pain in the butt for you.

Or you you know set a time on your schedule that wasn't right for you This can all be tweaked You know just…you're constantly assessing your financial systems and…Doing what allows you to simplify and check-in more frequently…

You likely give patients a care plan When they come to you You know you recommend how often they should be adjusted in order to maintain optimal health and to function well. When it comes to your finances, I'm recommending that your financial health care plan…

Should include a minimum of a weekly check-in. Many chiropractors I've spoken with carve out a day during the week or a portion of a day at least to take care of admin tasks when it comes to running your business. Have this financial check-in be a part of that day? Incorporate that into any other admin tasks that you have to do…

Another thing that I recommend when it comes to…setting healthy financial habits is to set a monthly profit goal. And to check-in with that monthly profit goal periodically. So this is definitely a healthy financial habit That helps you to think ahead and it helps you think bigger picture in your business.

You can start doing this by deciding on a realistic profit goal for the month when you create your budget. Remember that this can be adjusted along the way Even if you're unsure, Just setting a target profit goal helps you stay aware. So when you're setting up a budget you're recording all of the cash that's flowing into your business and all of the cash that's flowing out. And that gives you what we can call margin. So when you're creating your profit goals think about how much margin you wanna have. How much do you want left over…when revenue happens and expenses are deducted from that revenue How much do you want left over?

That you can take home from your business that you can pay down debt that you can reinvest in your business that you can save…You know what your goals are in your business, so have a monthly profit goal that aligns with the margin you wanna have.

And this does not have to be fancy When you're starting out it can be as simple as writing this down on a piece of paper. Okay How much Is my average revenue? How much are my average expenses? What does that leave me with And how do I wanna allocate that money? Like this does not have to be you've got a bunch of spreadsheets pulled up and you've got your profit and loss pulled up No It does not have to be that fancy.

And if that all freaks you out then stay away from that to start. Just have a profit goal…

That is simple, and then you can advance from there…

And healthy mindset shifts that you might need to have…is don't let profit be a reactive thing or something that is Just happening and you're…looking after the fact. Profit is not simply what's left over. It's something that you plan for. So shift your mindset into thinking like that. Profit planning and allocation of your profit?

Is a proactive thing in your business and you're doing this by setting a budget three to six months in advance…so that you can be looking forward. You are proactively planning with your budget and these check ins I'm encouraging you to do on a weekly basis…

That you're incorporating into your schedule are your financial adjustments that are part of your financial care plan…

So I hope that helps to reframe your mindset and to give you some actionable…practical ways that you can start building these financial habits that don't seem so scary and so overwhelming…

And the next thing that I wanna talk about is…Focusing on key numbers. So You know I talked about making it simple to have a profit goal That's not fancy. Like you are just focusing on how much money do you want leftover to do things with in your business and to take home? So…

when you get to the point where you are looking at your financial statements. And you're looking at your budget. You don't have to every week be focusing on every little expense that's coming through every little detail. You can look in a bigger picture your way You can pick some key numbers to focus on where it doesn't feel so overwhelming…

For instance for chiropractors, a lot of times you're like higher line items in your profit and loss statement or the areas where you spend a little bit more that you might wanna make your your key numbers that you focus on is going to be payroll you know advertising and marketing…Uh maybe education coaching consulting, and office supplies office expenses…

Decide to focus on…Maybe where you tend to overspend in your business And focus on those categories every month…

And then you can also focus on your total revenue…focus on how you're trending from month to month um and what your trends are for your specific business…That's a really helpful thing to know especially when you're budgeting and you're projecting forward six months. It's nice to know…What your season looks like for each quarter So you know people are vacationing and not regularly going to get their chiropractic adjustments as much in the summer, you know that that's you know a little lower revenue in those summer months and maybe your vacation And so that means lower revenue for that reason as well But just focus on a few key numbers versus feeling like I have to look at everything and I have to understand everything. That is just not the case…

So this will be very effective for you I think because that focus on just a few key items will create clarity for you You're mastering…one metric at a time before you're advancing more into understanding things on a deeper level. If you were new to like let's say weight lifting, You wouldn't just shoot for the heavyweights at first. No I mean this would be way too much at once and would lead you to giving up and having like crazy sore muscles or possibly an injury. So don't do this to yourself when it comes to your finances. Start small by focusing on just one or two key metrics and build upon that.

Give yourself time to get used to looking at the numbers. If you're new to navigating financial reports and you don't know where to start I did a few podcast episodes on this It's episodes…eleven and twelve and I'll link that in the show notes. And then you can also grab my free sample chiropractic P and L, you can just go to my website financially adjusted dot com and click on free resources at the top and you can easily find that But I'll also link that in the show notes. These are going to be a very help full resources for you when it comes to understanding what's on these reports, how to navigate them and…

The sample Chiro P and L I made this so that you have kind of a benchmark to look at and figure out what healthy numbers should look like and how does that compare to your own? So it's just…

Going to be a guide for you to understand like some healthy ranges and percentages of revenue. And expenses. So definitely plug into those resources and like I said, don't be overwhelmed. Like focus on a few things at first, focus on checking in once a week…

And then just focus on education slowly incorporating some education in every week if that's something that you need in your business So if you really don't understand the financial reports That's a great place to start…

Also remember to reward yourself through all of this. Celebrate your progress when you complete a month of financial check ins celebrate that Depending on how your finances look you can do something small like a special coffee drink, or a special lunch, or go a little bigger get like a massage or a facial but treat yourself and really recognize that that is a huge important step that you've achieved. So stopping and celebrating those wins are gonna be crucial. And also don't beat yourself up if you miss a week. You miss a week.

The next week is a great time to get back on and start those habits But…

The key is to just stay in it and stay consistent…And set realistic goals for yourself. Financial check ins are going to make you aware of your situation, which is not necessarily a bad thing This is such an important thing to remember. I think a lot of people that have been in the dark for a while with our finances…

have built it up to be this really big scary thing like many people Avoid their finances…for a number of reasons But I found that many are just afraid of the unknown They think they're going to get this rude awakening to how bad they're doing financially. When it can actually go the other way. So you need to also consider that. You could uncover that you have money you didn't know you had and you're actually more financially healthy than you thought. And by plugging into your numbers, you can free up money for things in your business that are going to be a better spend for you versus things you are spending money on that you don't really need So You are just becoming very aware of what's going on in your business And that can be a very good thing.

I've helped chiropractors get clear on the finances many times in my business in my bookkeeping business, And you would be surprised how often the money is actually there To do the thing you wanna do in your business? For instance I helped somebody who wanted to expand to a new office and get some new equipment. He was in the dark about his finances and thought it was just too big of a money move. By getting his bookkeeping in order he discovered that in fact it was the opposite and he had more than enough to make this new move…

and or make the move to the new office and then get all the equipment that he wanted needed So he was able to advance forward with his business plan so much sooner. But because he just simply wasn't aware of the numbers, He just kept thinking mmm I just don't know if I can make this move. So I mean it really can go the other way and make a huge difference for you. And you can do things sooner than you think. So this could absolutely be you.

Uh and if it isn't and you are you feel like you're the opposite you know You have some messy finances. The best time to check-in is now so that you can put yourself on a path to cleaning things up and getting financially healthy. Staying in the dark is not the answer It's hard to have a mess and not know what's going on, and it can be hard to make moves to understand your money and clean things up. Choose your hard my friend. They're both hard but one of these paths leads to more confusion and more frustration, and one of these paths leads to financial health and success…

The key behind building healthy financial habits is Just starting small staying consistent, being kind to yourself and celebrating your wins. Money is simply a tool and a resource you're capable of managing it, the way you would any other resource in your business. You just need to start building the habits start plugging into the education…and show yourself some grace along the way. If you're ready to dive deeper and start checking in with your finances, This podcast is a great start so give yourself a huge kudos for being here and listening today.…If you haven't listened to my older podcasts start doing that now, You can also download my free sample profit and loss statement I'll link that in the show notes Um it'll give you a clear starting point for your financial journey and what a healthy practice can look like. Thanks for joining me today for the financially adjusted podcast.

Remember healthy financial habits lead to a healthy practice. And nobody's going to care about your business more than you do…

Action brings clarity and imperfect action is better than none at all. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen so you don't miss anything.

See you next week my friend!

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Leslie Roth

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