375. Build Your 2026 Vision in 2 Minutes

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As we wrap up 2025, Brad Nelson, founder of Debt Free Dad, introduces a transformative idea to revolutionize your financial life in 2026. Learn why traditional methods like budgeting harder aren't the solution and discover the power of shifting your focus. Brad shares his expert tips on creating a clear, meaningful vision that pulls you forward, rather than relying on willpower. Find out why clarity, emotion, and identity are key to lasting financial change and get actionable steps to start the new year with purpose. Tune in for valuable insights and free resources to help you break free from debt, reduce stress, and build lasting financial habits.

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Episode Transcript

Brad Nelson (00:00):
So as we close out 2025, I want to leave you with
one simple idea that has thepower to change your entire
financial life here in 2026.
Now it's not about budgetingharder or being more
disciplined.
It's about shifting where youput your attention because what
you focus on, it really doesdetermine the direction of your

(00:20):
year.

Announcer (00:23):
You're listening to the Debt Free Dad podcast with
Brad Nelson.
Brad and his co-hostsexperience the anxiety of living
paycheck to paycheck beforelearning the fundamentals of
financial success.
They are now on a mission toempower regular people to pay
off their debt for good andenjoy happier, less stressful
lives.
Keep listening forinspirational interviews, tips,

(00:45):
tricks, and practical advice togain financial freedom.

Speaker (00:51):
So today we're going to be talking about how to build a
clear, meaningful vision thatcan actually pull you forward
into a brand new year.
Hey guys, I'm Brad Nelson,founder of Defree Dead.
I paid off about $45,000 ofdebt.
I've been debt-free now formore than 12 years.
I've also been fortunate enoughto help thousands of other
people save and pay off tens ofmillions of dollars with the

(01:12):
work that we do here at DefreeDead.
Now, after listening to thisepisode, if you are ready to
take things to the next level,you're ready to break free from
living paycheck to paycheck.
You want to reduce stress, youwant to build savings, finally
pay off your debt for good, butmaybe you're not sure where to
get started.
We've created some incrediblefree resources on top of this
amazing podcast that we have.

(01:33):
And we're going to be sharingsome details about how you can
get some of those later on intoday's episode.
Now, if you've ever felt likeyou're constantly trying to push
yourself into better moneyhabits, you're pushing yourself
to spend less, you're pushingyourself to stay motivated,
you're pushing yourself to stickto the plan.
Today's episode is going tofeel like a big exhale.

(01:54):
Because the truth is, you don'tneed more willpower here coming
in the new year in 2026.
What you really need, and whatwe talk about a lot here on the
Deaf ReDad podcast, is you needa vision that actually pulls you
forward.
Now, again, this is somethingthat we talk about not only a
lot on this podcast, but alsoinside roots, because it's one
of the biggest shifts peoplemake when they finally break old

(02:18):
patterns.
And as we head into a brand newyear, this is the perfect time
to talk about this topic.
Now, let's share why thismatters.
Because here's the reality yourbrain, it focuses on what you
tell it is important.
And whatever you focus on themost, that's what's going to
grow.
So if you focus on stress,guess what?

(02:41):
You're going to get a lot morestress.
If you focus on fear, you'regoing to get a lot more fear.
If you focus on progress,though, if you focus on
confidence, you focus on thetasks that are going to create
more confidence.
You focus on your purpose, yourvision.
Your brain is going to look forways to support that.
You see, most people spendtheir whole entire money life
focused on their money problems,which is easy to do.

(03:02):
I used to do it too.
We focus on things like we'rebehind.
However, we're going to getcaught up, or I messed up again,
or I never can just seem to getthis right.
And your brain, it just keepsscanning the world and your
environment for proof of thosethoughts.
Now, a pull vision is going tochange the whole direction of

(03:25):
your mindset.
You see, most people try topush their way into financial
change.
Now, push sounds like I need tostop spending money, or I have
to try harder, or I can't screwup this time, right?
Or we have that scarcitymindset or that limiting mindset
of I can't buy those thingsthat I enjoy.

(03:46):
You see, push requires a lotmore energy.
It requires a lot moremotivation and willpower.
And let's be honest, thosethings, you'll right, and as
you're listening to this, we allknow that those things wear off
pretty quick, especially whenyou think about New Year's
resolutions, people usually quitwithin just a few weeks of the
new year.
Now, a poll vision, it's kindof the opposite.

(04:08):
It makes good decisions feelnatural because they're
connected to the life that youactually want to live.
So poll will sound somethingmore like this.
I want to build more breathingroom in my life, or I want a
calmer life.
I want Sunday nights to feelpeaceful again, or I want more

(04:31):
choices, more options.
You see, when you have a visionthat pulls you, you're not
forcing yourself to change.
You're moving forward withsomething that actually matters
to you and something that youreally want in your life.
And this is where realtransformation really begins to
happen.
Now, Inside Roots, we teachthat a money vision or a wire

(04:53):
purpose, it has like three kindof areas or pieces to it.
Number one is clarity.
What exactly are you movingtowards?
What do you want your life tolook like?
You see, vague goals, theydon't really motivate anyone.
Just the idea of I'm gonna payoff my debt or I want to be
debt-free isn't enough.
You need something to pull youtowards that.

(05:13):
Your brain needs focus, itneeds like details of exactly
what you want.
So instead of, again, like Isaid, I want to get out of debt,
try, I want to wake up withoutthat anxious knot in my stomach
every single morning.
Or I want a budget that feelspeaceful, not restrictive.
Or I want to be able to covercar repairs without it always

(05:37):
feeling like panic or emergencymode all the time.
Clarity and getting reallydetailed in what you want, it
creates the direction that youreally need.
Now, the second area isemotion.
Why does this matter to me?
Like, why does this workmatter?
Numbers don't drive change.
As exciting as it can be to seeyour savings grow, as exciting

(05:58):
as it can be to see your debtget paid off, that wears off as
well.
It will be exciting for alittle while, but eventually
you're gonna get bored with it.
Now, being that those numbersdon't drive the change, then
what does emotion, right?
You're gonna stick with a planwhen emotional reason, when you
have some emotion behind it andit's meaningful.
You know, maybe it's wantingyour kids to feel more safe and

(06:21):
secure, or maybe you want lesstension with your partner when
it comes to finances.
Again, maybe you want moremargin, you want more breathing
room in your life.
You see, wanting to stop livingreaction to reaction and really
putting some emotion behind itreally is gonna drive that
motivation that you're lookingfor because again, it has

(06:42):
meaning behind it.
When your vision is emotional,your decisions will follow that.
Now, number three is identity.
Who are you actually becomingby improving your finances?
This one is huge.
And again, I get that these canbe really deep and sometimes
they can almost be like, oh, Ican't do that.
It's way too touchy-feely forme.
But I'm telling you, thesethings really do work.

(07:04):
You can't build a new financiallife with an old identity.
Not I'm trying to be betterwith money, but instead, I'm
someone who follows through.
I'm someone who plans ahead.
I'm someone who is a goodsaver.
I'm someone who is confident inmy financial decisions and my
financial future.
I'm building a stable andpeaceful home.

(07:26):
Your identity is going to drivethose habits.
And your habits, they're gonnadrive your results.
Now, here's a quick exercisefor you guys as we kind of wrap
up 2025 here and look to 2026.
And I get as you're listeningto this, especially if you're
listening to this as thisepisode airs, you know, we're
right in the midst of theholidays.
And I get, you know, you don'thave a lot of time.

(07:47):
That's why this is really quickto do, and it's gonna really
kind of help you focus on afterthe holidays and moving into the
new year.
And this is something, again,that we talk about a lot inside
Roots and we have our membersdo.
So grab your phone, grab anotebook, a piece of paper,
whatever.
Answer these three questions.
All right.
Number one, what's one thingyou want your money to do for
you next year?

(08:07):
Again, think with clarity.
What's one thing you want yourmoney to do for you next year?
Number two is how do you wantyour life to feel next year?
Again, not just about money,but just how do you want your
life to feel next year?
Think emotion here.
And then number three, who areyou becoming in the process next

(08:33):
year?
And this is all about thatidentity.
Now, again, this only takes twominutes, but you know, take
some time while you're drivingto work or while you're on lunch
break or while you got thoselittle pockets of time
throughout your day.
Think about these threequestions.
These three questions are gonnacompletely shift the decisions
that you begin to make, startingeven this month in December, as
you're listening to this brandnew episode, or starting

(08:54):
especially in 2026 in January.
Now, here's the cool part.
Once you create your vision oryour why or your purpose, this
is the best part about it, isthat you are now actually gonna
build a filter for your life.
Because before you start tospend now, now that you have
this clarity, you have thisidentity, you have emotion

(09:15):
behind why you're doing thethings that you're doing, you
are going to now ask, is thispurchase that I am so drawn to
make, is that gonna move mecloser to the life that I now
want to create, or is it gonnamove me further away from it?
This one question is gonna saveyou a ton of money.
It's gonna save you a lot ofstress, it's gonna save you a

(09:36):
lot of guilt, it's gonna saveyou a lot of regret because it
reconnects your choices withyour future instead of your
impulses.
So here's the challenge I wantto give you.
Pick one thing to focus on thismonth, one area of your
financial life that you're gonnagrow simply because you're
giving it a lot more attention.
Not 10 goals, not a whole newyear's resolution list, just one

(09:59):
point of focus that will pullyou forward.
Because when you shift yourfocus, you're gonna shift all of
your results.
This is the work, again, thatwe do inside roots every single
week in our membership andaccountability program.
We build clarity, we buildconfidence, we help people build
the habits that actually last.
And you're fully capable ofmaking those shifts as well.

(10:23):
You don't need perfection, youjust need good direction because
what you focus on is gonnagrow.
Now, guys, if you're ready tobreak free from living paycheck
to paycheck, you want to reducestress, you want to build
savings, finally pay off yourdebt for good.
But again, maybe you'restruggling with where to get
started.
Don't worry.
Like I said, we've got youcovered.
Simplify My Money is sent toyou each and every Sunday to

(10:44):
your email.
It is your step-by-step roadmapto better financial control.
And you're also gonna learnsome easy to follow strategies
to manage your moneyeffectively.
It's gonna give you some helpwith making stress-free money
decisions, like we talked abouton today's episode.
These little tips are gonnahelp you simplify your financial
life with proven tasks thatactually work.

(11:05):
And you're gonna gain the toolsand confidence to tackle your
financial goals head on.
You can sign up for Simplify MyMoney by clicking the link at
the top of the show notes.
Thanks for joining us ontoday's show, and we will see
you guys on the next episode.

Announcer (11:23):
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(11:44):
Catch you next week.