Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to God as we understood Him.

It is rarely possible to express such a complex concept as "life" in a few words. Our definition, of course, is a development of the thought expressed in the First and Second Steps; first of all, this is the thought of our inability to control the course of life, and secondly, that help can come from a Power greater than our own, and for this we must trust this Power. This may be the best decision we have ever made. Once we have made this decision and are constantly mindful of it, the Higher Power becomes a part of our daily life.
So, taking the Third Step is our next stage of growth. He will allow us to take control of our actions in our own hands and prevent relapses. We tried to resolve our difficulties, make choices and take action, relying only on our own reason and weak human capabilities. This was not enough: our mistakes and disappointments confirm this. When we made our plans, we could not take into account all the contingencies, so very often we were defeated. There are many things we need to change, and we can start by trying to figure out how to get help from a Higher Power.
It takes courage to make the decision to commit your life to the care of a Higher Power, and moreover, trust. She will help us if we constantly begin to control our thoughts, words and deeds. This can help us develop the habit of including our Higher Power in our thinking whenever we have to make a decision. And when we think about something every day, even every hour, then surprisingly quickly this habit is established by us.
Each time we consciously remind ourselves of this Step and contemplate it, we will reinforce a sense of learning and growth. Many Al-Anon veterans have had the opportunity to repeatedly observe the exciting changes in the beginning members of the Commonwealth, as they gradually freed themselves from despair, and week after week they grew in understanding and trust in Higher Power.
Now we come to the next part of the wonderful plan of the Third Step: “turn over our will and life…” Our will depends on the maturity of the individual, the experience of life and habits that cannot be changed in one day, whether they are ingrained or newly acquired. This is the quality that gives us confidence in our rightness. It is it that tempts us to justify all our actions and does not allow us to doubt our innocence. Without a spiritual rebirth, we will not be able to overcome this. negative impact upon us of our own willpower. It is she who can serve as a seed from which failure will eventually grow. Although at first, it is she who helps us, but in the end, our triumph, unexpectedly for us, can turn into defeat.
“Turn over our… life…” Day after day we live and perform some actions more or less automatically; before us is only the current moment with its complexities, we live out of habit and rarely stop ourselves to think about whether it is possible to live the day better. In addition, we like to think that we are in control of our lives and expect our decisions to lead to the best. But we only have to look back at our many failures to understand that at best, only sometimes we managed the situation, but most often it only seemed to us. Otherwise, why are we now looking for help and want to “turn over our will and life…”? And it is quite obvious that we do not expect help from any particular person; there is no address where we should go for the answer we need. Therefore, we must now for the first time realize the fact that the beneficent Power has always been with us, it is always ready to lead us, as soon as we are ready to be led. She comes like spiritual world and we have the opportunity to get help not only when we are unable to help ourselves, but also when we still think we can help ourselves. All we have to do is learn to recognize, understand, and accept the advice of a Higher Power—and to follow it, always remaining true in our souls to our decision to turn our will and life over to His care.
Consider now, what can we lose by making such a decision? Only our stubborn belief that we can make things happen the way we want them to; and only our disappointment - when once again our plans were broken. What do we gain by making this decision? A new meaningful life, having a goal, movement and feelings accompanying any growth - satisfaction and spiritual enrichment.
And finally, the last words of the expression of the Third Step: "... as we understand Him." For each person, the word "God" should mean exactly what he considers most important for himself. We can imagine Him as the supreme judge and lawmaker, dispensing rewards and punishments. Or, in our understanding, God can become an expression of the Highest Love, manifesting itself in our lives. For some, He will be an omnipotent person, but separated from us, while for others, God is perceived as the central part of the entire universe.
God, as we understand Him, does not belong to any group of people, there are no boundaries for His knowledge, and our understanding grows depending on our spiritual growth while taking the Steps. The choice is only ours. The opportunity to be led by a Higher Power is given to each of us, but we still have the right to put into practice our own understanding of God and His will.
Considering the above.
All the experience of my life, habits, way of thinking are so much my nature that everything I think, say and do is an automatic reaction to what is happening around me.
The Third Step suggests that from now on, I will learn to be receptive, open to the help of a Higher Power. This help can come in many ways, most often through other people. I will try to remember that this connection that I establish with God does not only mean the ability to ask him for help, but it is also the knowledge that He exists, and everything that happens happens with His knowledge.
It's like I'm standing on the bank of a river, and my child is on the opposite side - hungry, cold and scared. I have a boat at hand, in it a warm blanket, clothes, food. Will I stand idle and only pray to God to save my child, even though God already knows my need? Of course not. I will rush to the boat, do my best to warm, feed and comfort the child, and only then thank God for understanding me.
And the same should be the case with my other problems. Before I connect with a Higher Power, I may miss out on many simple solutions to my predicament.
Life story for the Third Step.
With the exception of the nearby city, I almost never left my small village. I got married early, gave birth to six children, and then divorced my drinking husband. When I came to Al-Anon, I slowly progressed through the program, but the more I learned about it, the more confidence grew in me.
My eldest eighteen-year-old daughter married a sailor and went with him to the duty station. Everything seemed to be going well, but suddenly they called me from there and said that my daughter was in the hospital due to emotional stress. At first I panicked, but I had already learned to turn to God for help, and now I did it first of all. I understood that I should be next to my girl. But how? There was no money. I had never traveled anywhere and knew nothing about what to do in unfamiliar places. Again and again I almost lost touch with God. But I almost forced myself to believe that God would help me find a way out.
I borrowed money for a plane flying to the nearest city to the base. Now I had more faith that I could get to that naval base. I called the secretary of the Al-Anon group, and she connected me to the Directorate of the Al-Anon World Organization. I was given two surnames and phone numbers by which I could contact upon arrival at the place.
When the plane landed, my first thought was to contact my Al-Anon friends. The first woman I called was Barbara. I told her my story and asked how to get to the base. She told me which bus I should take, where to go and where she would meet me.
I was worried about how we would recognize each other, but she herself recognized me and accompanied me all ten miles to the base. On the way, she said: “I have acquaintances there, it will be possible to stay with them while your daughter is in the hospital.”
I was so touched that I burst into tears. But I knew these weren't random encounters, we were members of Al-Anon, entrusting our lives to a Higher Power that cared for each of us.
My daughter became so animated at meeting me that her health soon began to improve. Barbara has been with me all week. Every time I told her about my gratitude, she answered: “Don’t you think that all this is very important for me too?”
Barbara even accompanied me to the airfield. I flew away with a calm heart, the doctors assured me that things were on the mend.
This is how the essence of the Third Step manifested itself for me. I did not know where I was going, how I would get where I was going, I knew and believed in one thing - everything is in the hands of God.

1. Reading: Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book)
2. Additional reading:
3. Additional reading:
4. Focus: today we look at the 2nd and 3rd steps of the recovery program
5. Listen: MP3 session.
   
6. Exercise: Read the prayer, be quiet and answer the questions. Discuss your answers with your sponsor. Do not rush. If the answer doesn't come to mind, ask God or your version of your Higher Power to help you see the truth. The answer: "I don't know" is as sufficient and satisfactory an answer as any other. Discuss your answers with your sponsor.

Prayer

God, I ask You to be with me to guide and guide me in my search for Your will and Your truth. Please remove from me that which will block me from Your truth. Put aside all my prejudices, knowledge and opinions about what I think of You and show me your existence and your power in and around me. Lord, help me to realize and accept Your truth and Your will and not mine. Amen.

STEP2: Believedat that, that only strength, more powerful than us, can restore us to sanity

In the chapter “How to Be Agnostic,” the following provisions are indicated that are necessary for the beginning of our spiritual growth:

• Put aside your old ideas and prejudices about God
• Express at least a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves
• To honestly seek a Higher Power

Below are suggested exercises related to these provisions:

1) Page 44, paragraph 1, sentence 3: “ Let go of prejudice , ” “ Put aside your old notions :”

• Do you believe in the existence of a Higher Power (a power greater than yourself)?
• If yes What is a Higher Power for you? What are her qualities?
• Returning to your answer to the previous question: Do you think so, or do you know it in your heart from your own experience? Are you sure about this?
• Looking back at how you move through life, what do you really believe in? In other words, what do you rely on most in life?
• If you don't believe in the existence of a Higher Power, what do you believe in? What force sets life in motion?
• What turns you away from the idea of ​​God or a Higher Power? Tell me about your doubts.
• Do you think that dependence on the Force that is outside of you, and faith in it, is a manifestation of weakness and even cowardice? (art. 45)
• List the religious or spiritual terms that evoke denial in you?
• Page 46, 1 incomplete paragraph, middle: ≪ Ask yourself , that these spiritual terms mean to you ? ≫
• Could you (do you have the desire) to put all your prejudices aside and look at the question of the existence of a Higher Power from a new, different point of view?
• If you don't believe in the existence of a Higher Power, can you admit that the concepts that you have accumulated about God are not true? In other words, could it be that you are wrong in your beliefs about God?
• If you believe in the existence of a Higher Power, in what areas of your life do you live as if you don't need a Power greater than yourself? The presence of fear in any area of ​​your life is a sure sign that you are leaning on yourself.

2) Page 44, paragraph 1, sentence 3: “ Express willingness to believe in the Force bigger than ourselves »

• Can you recognize the possibility of the existence of the Creative Mind or Spirit of the Universe underlying all things? (art. 45)
• If not , do you admit the possibility of the existence of such a Force? In other words, do you have any hope (even a very small one) that such a force can exist?
• Are there people in your life who experienced (not according to them, but according to your inner feeling) a spiritual awakening as a result of working the 12 steps? People who have experienced something more than you experience?
• If so, do you think that you too can experience this as a result of working the 12 steps?

3) Page 45, paragraph 2, penultimate sentence: ≪ For us the kingdom of the Spirit extensively , spacious and comprehensive . It is always open and available to those , who honestly seeks ≫

• Are you willing to persevere and honestly seek your Higher Power?

Questions , related to the second step :

Question for newbies ( first time step by step ):

Bill's story (v. 12): “All that was required of me was the desire and willingness to believe in the existence of a power greater than myself. All that was required to get started. I realized that growth could start from now on.”

Page 46, 1 paragraph, 1 sentence. The cornerstone of Step 2 is:

• Do I now believe or am I ready to believe that there is a Power greater than me? Yes or no.

question for those , who works with 12- yu steps , has had a specific spiritual experience and desires a deeper experience of a Higher Power :

• Do I now believe or am I ready to believe that there is a Power greater than myself that will take me beyond what I have already experienced in every area of ​​my life, beyond the experience that has already been given to me? Do I believe in realms of peace, love, freedom, happiness, wisdom and understanding, dimensions of consciousness, existence, and power that I can't even imagine? Yes or no.

STEP3: Made a decisionto turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, how we understood it

First, we need to see that a life built on self-will, i.e. a life in which the leading force in my life is my desires and my conviction that I am right - did not bring the desired result. Look at your answers to the 2nd task.

1. Art. 58 last Paragraph: “ The first requirement is to have confidence that , that a life built on self-will cannot be successful . Such a life almost always brings us into collision with something or someone, even if we are guided by the best of intentions.”

• How do you define success in your life?
• Does it success in your understanding of how much peace, peace, love, happiness, joy and satisfaction exists in your life?
• If you believe that success is measured by the accumulation of material things, success in your career, respect from people, good sex, an ideal spouse, smart and beautiful children, etc., don’t you desire these things in order to ultimately experience peace, peace , love, happiness, joy, etc.
• Do you agree that as a result, all our strengths and desires are mainly aimed at experiencing peace and happiness within ourselves?
• If you have completed the second task, which helps us see the results of our self-willed life, have you seen the symptoms of a spiritual illness in yourself?
• If yes , can your life, built on self-will, be called successful, for yourself?

Art. 60 (3rd paragraph): “ In this way , we ourselves are the cause of our troubles . They start in us ; the alcoholic is the ultimate example of self-willed rebellion, but he certainly does not think so.”

• Do you agree that your insistence that you know how life should be, God, other people and yourself (in other words, your egocentrism) is the cause of the conflict you often find yourself in?
• If you see that your management of life is not bringing you the desired result (does not bring you peace and happiness inside), are you willing to try to accept help and guidance from your Higher Power?

If yes , keep working :

1. Art. 60 (2-paragraph): First of all, we alcoholics must get rid of this egocentrism. We must do this or he will kill us. God makes it possible. Often it is impossible to get rid of egocentrism without His help.
   Art. 60 (last paragraph): First of all we had to stop playing the role of God for ourselves. It didn't give any results. Then we decided that from now on in this life drama, God will be our Guide. He is our Lord, we are the doers of His will. He is our Father, we are His children. For the most part, useful ideas are simple, and this principle has become the cornerstone of a new triumphal arch, passing under which we have come to freedom.

• What does it mean to stop playing the role of God?
• Are you ready to stop playing the role of God in all areas of your life?
• How do you understand the meaning of the words "will" and "life" in the third step?
• How do you understand the meaning of the word "decision" in the third step? Does a decision need to be backed up by action to produce any results?

Art. 62 (2nd paragraph in the middle): “ Although our decision was vital and decisive , it would not have a lasting effect , if not supported by serious efforts to realize all that , that blocked us from the inside , and get rid of it .” How does this cleansing take place? With the help of the following steps: 4-9 and continued spiritual growth in steps 10-12.

• Are you ready to follow the path4-9 steps, and then continue to grow spiritually in steps10-12, as suggested by the process12- steps? Without such an action, your decision3- th step is useless.
• Are you ready to make the decision to turn your will over to(yourthinking)and your life(your actions) under God's care, how do you understand it?

If yes , keep working :

»»

II. Decision-making.

If my answers are: “Yes”, then I make the decision of the III step, turn to God:

“God, I have decided that from now on in this life drama You will be my Guide. You are my Lord, I am the doer of Your will. You are my Father, I am Your child."

The book says:

“For the most part, useful ideas are simple, and this principle has become the cornerstone of a new triumphal arch, passing under which we have come to freedom.”

After making a decision, I take the third step with the sponsor.
I have made the decision that I need a new leader in my life, as I, as a leader, have not been up to the task. My leadership of life led me to the pile of unsolvable problems that I have today. My very physical existence, my very life, was threatened.

Therefore, I entrust my will and my life to the care of a new leader - God, by deciding to learn how to live according to certain simple His rules (principles) and be in contact with Him.

Naturally, at the same time, I must completely abandon all old ideas and ideas about God, about how to live in order to be happy. They didn't work in my life.

III. Third step.
We both, sponsor and sponsored, kneel.

Sponsor prays first:

“God, I’m on my knees before you and (name of a person), he came to You with all the humility that he has to ask You that from now on You would guide him and guide his life. (person's name) realized that his life, built on selfishness and self-will, when he lived and acted in such a way that it was good only for him, cannot be successful and completely uncontrollable. (person's name) came to You, our heavenly Father, with all humility to ask that you make him one of your children, that he serve You, do Your will, consecrate his life to You, God, and turn his will and life over to your care God, striving to be in constant contact with You, useful to your other children in all their affairs and live according to Your principles in order to become a conductor of Your love.

Then I (sponsored) say the 3 Step prayer:

“Lord, I commit myself to You to create and work with me as You please. Free me from the bondage of selfishness to do Your will. Remove what burdens me so that this victory is a testimony to those whom I could help and I will help with Your strength, Your love, Your way in life. May I always do Your will! Amen!"

The book says:

“We thought long and hard before taking this step, to be sure of our readiness to surrender to Him completely.” Why is it necessary to think? I usually give the sponsor time to think and decide: “Is he really ready to start life on a new basis? Is he really ready to pray and live on a different basis, consciously excluding from life personal gain, lies, deceit, etc.?”

Also, the book says:

“We realized that it is desirable to take this step of spiritual growth together with a person who understands us, such as a wife, best friend, spiritual mentor. This does not require any mandatory verbal formula, it is enough just to express the main idea without any reservations.

God has always been by my side and tried to help me, but I did not allow him into my life, constantly being busy with thoughts and taking care of myself (the subscriber is not available or is out of network coverage). For complete clarity of the question, what I promise to do so that God can come into my life and lead it, after the prayer of 3 steps, I say the main idea of ​​the third step in my own words (and ask the sponsor to also say their promises).
Lord, I promise You:

• that I will completely abandon my old ideas about You, about myself and about how I should live.
• that from now on I will learn to constantly turn to you in prayer for guidance and be guided by Your will in my actions.
  (Your will is for me, Lord, that I be constantly in contact with You, live according to Your principles, so that I change my life in such a way as to make it as useful as possible to others, especially alcoholics, in all my affairs. And I agree that you gave me everything I needed depending on the extent to which I was useful to others.)
• that I will take steps 4 to 9 to see my selfishness, which prevents me from giving my life under Your guidance, to learn to identify it, to recognize and get rid of its manifestations with Your help, and also to repair the damage caused in a previous life.
• I promise that every day I will live in steps 10,11,12.
• I promise that I will share experience, strength and hope with others, especially alcoholics, and apply the principles of this program of life in all my affairs. AMEN!

From the moment the decision of Step III is made, what "I want for myself, does not matter." What matters is God's will for me
(how can I be useful to your other children and have the power to live by your rules (principles) in all my affairs?), only this matters.
God takes care of those who have stopped taking care of themselves!

Immediately after the third step, the sponsor gives me (and I give the sponsor) the 11th step, because it is exactly there that it is described how exactly you need to act in order to turn your will and your life over to God today and every day in your life.
Now I need to take a moral inventory.

"Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to God as we understood Him."

A newcomer comes to the AA group and asks:
- Who's in charge here?
They answer him:
- You go! When you reach step 3, you will get to know Him yourself.

The third step is so important that a separate book should be written about it. Although, such books have already been written by people wiser than me. Therefore, I decided to dwell on the main misconceptions that I saw in people trying to take the third step or in specialists using the 12 steps in their work.
As a rule, step 3 refers to the stage of acceptance of the Faith. Both patients and their mentors (both from the group and specialists) often discuss the question that “you need to believe in God”, “you need to choose a religion”, they recommend reading religious literature. Many even say, somehow confused, that “this step is so individual that you have to do it yourself, and don’t ask anything.” Doctors often try to somehow get around this topic, seeing some kind of contradiction between science and religion. And therefore, they are trying to interpret this concept as a kind of psychotherapy, in which the patient chooses as a criterion for himself a certain object, or idea, in which he will continue to believe.
If we carefully consider the previous two steps, it turns out that the very concept of Faith in an alcoholic has already been formed by this moment. After all, a person has already renounced his will, recognized that there is a Power more powerful than him, and decided to look for sanity there.
Many of those who came to the 12 steps have always considered themselves believers, many were brought up in religious families, sometimes even church ministers can be found in the program.
So what then is the meaning of surrender?
In AA you can hear a parable about a man who hung over the abyss, holding on to a branch. After a while, the hand got tired, and he shouted:
- God! Help me get out! I will believe in you!
And then he heard a voice:
- If you believe in me. Do you believe that I am almighty and can save you - let go of your hand
It turns out that the 3rd step is the action step. Previously, a person reasoned, thought, came to conclusions, but now he really needs to do something. “Let go of the hand” and trust what he believes in.
It is important to understand that the concepts of "believe" and "trust" have different meanings. One anonymous spoke about his conversation with a priest who went to groups, but still broke down. The attendant wondered why? After all, he believes, and for a long time, and in the way that his religion tells him to?
Anonymous gave him an example:
- Imagine an acrobat walking on a wire.
- Introduced.
_ Do you believe he won't fall?
- I believe he is a professional. He does it every day. He studied.
“Are you willing to climb on his shoulders and walk with him?”
It turns out that believing and trusting does not mean the same action. In fact, belief itself is not action at all. A person can act only on the basis of trust.
Paradoxically, with the impetuous, compulsive type of thinking that is so characteristic of the alcoholic, and with the person very often trusting the opinions of others, the third step is not always easy.
Obviously, the whole point is that trusting a Higher Power is a painstaking business. This is an ongoing, daily process. This is not something that can be done "once and for all".
Very often you can hear people say that they “do not need” to talk about this topic. Say "I'm such a person: I said - I did." “I decided to trust God, and I immediately trusted.”
In order to fall into the abyss, you need to do only one action - to step in the wrong direction. And in order to get out of it, you have to take many steps. And you can't stop. The edges are slippery.
In this case, you will need to remember the formula "here and now" more than once. If a person claims: “... I believed in God in 19 ..!”, I immediately want to ask: “And now, right here and at this moment? Do you believe?
No wonder people who have long periods of sobriety often talk about the need for daily prayer. One of them said that he prays when he wakes up, but still opens his eyes, because his illness wakes up before him.
What then is the essence of surrender? If this is such an important thing that it needs to be done every minute?
Many incorrectly view this as a waiver of responsibility. They say: “I entrusted, I asked to take care of me, and now I can do nothing, the Almighty will now think about me.” I even had to see specialists who tried to remove the third step from their authorized programs for this very reason.
This is a rather difficult question. For all the seeming philosophical nature, for people suffering from addiction, it is purely practical. I had to see how people, trying to turn over their lives, fell into dependence on surrogate concepts. They began to subordinate their lives to another person, phenomenon or ideology. The phenomenon of sects shows that most people, falling under the influence of leaders, not only did not resist it, but, on the contrary, aspired to it.
Sometimes people think that taking the third step means experiencing universal laziness, refusing responsibility for their actions, on the basis that "God is now leading me." In such cases, there are “wise” provisions that “non-action is beautiful”, a person tries to lead a “contemplative life”, referring to the teachings of the ancient sages.
If you analyze this delusion, you can understand that such a person did not understand the second step. This is a common phenomenon: the third step without the second. The mistake is that by "transferring" his will in this way, a person actually decides for himself what kind of "God's" will suits him. This is the usual manipulation of an alcoholic: lead me, answer for me, and I will do everything in order not to hear anyone.
Trying to subordinate their will to the Higher Power, many were surprised that what the Almighty demanded of them was in no way included in their own plans. At one group, I heard a woman go to the priest to ask for blessings for fasting. Batiushka looked at her and said: “You can eat everything, but don’t swear!” For her, it was a surprise. She was ready to suffer, to starve, to limit herself in everything. But not in bad language.
So it turns out that the third step is not the removal of responsibility. On the contrary, it is after a person has taken the third step that he can assert that he is now ready to bear responsibility before the One whom he cannot deceive.
*
How exactly technically, if I may say so, to ask the Almighty, what is His will? For this, there is the second half of the third step "To God as we understood Him." AA is not a religion. Everyone has their own choice, their own ideas.
To do this, you can use what has been done before us. I will not compare religions or describe them. Moreover, I saw people who, in fact, created their own religions and their own ideas about God. Many of them mix existing ones. Or then they come to one traditional one.
A.A. literature often recommends making decisions based on your intuition. That is, do not bargain, do not look for "rational" explanations, but do as your conscience tells you. Even if it can cause you material harm or is humiliating from your point of view.

Since we live in the material world, we need money in order to satisfy our needs. Therefore, almost every person wants to be financially independent. This is the very first basic human need - to feel secure. Why, then, do most people in the world live below the poverty line?

The very first reason is our attitudes. This is the foundation upon which we build the foundation. These are the principles that were invested in us from childhood by our environment. If the wrong foundation has been laid in us, then no matter how much we want to achieve financial independence, our attitudes will slow us down and push us back each time.

So the first thing you need to do is analyze your relationship with money.

What sayings or phrases regarding money are deeply embedded in our brains?

One day I was in big debt. I had a lot of loans that ate my income. Some of them I didn't even repay, and the creditors kept calling me.

When I thought about it and began to analyze my situation, the phrase immediately popped up in my head: “In debt like silk!” I realized that this attitude was deeply embedded in my head. Every time I got rid of debts and loans, I took out new ones, because walking in silks is cool! I realized that I needed to change my setup.

However, it is impossible to take an ingrained mindset and just throw it away. It must first be loosened, and then replaced with another. I began to think, what setting can I replace my limiting setting with? I read that in Babylon, once the richest city, people borrowed by mortgaging themselves. And if a person could not pay off his debts, then he was sold into slavery. Thus, I developed a new belief for myself: "Duty = slavery!"

After that, every time I thought about taking a loan or borrowing money from someone, I imagined how the next shackles were put on my body. It helped me get out of debt as quickly as possible.

Very often we take on debts and loans in order to buy ourselves something that is not essential. These are all show-offs with which we want to impress other people. Better to be than to seem! It is better to become the person we want to be than to pretend that we are.

The second step towards financial management is control!

In my trainings, I often come across the fact that people do not control their financial flows. Many perceive only positive financial flows. Few people think that expenses are also financial flows, only negative ones.

People can easily calculate how much they spend by looking at the difference between income and what they have left, if anything at all. Almost everyone can tell how much they spend on utilities. However, that is all they are limited to. Few people know how much money is spent on food, travel, household expenses and entertainment.

You can't control what you can't control. So start writing down all your expenses for the month. Every penny. These little things add up to very large sums. This will give you huge benefits.

You will clearly know how much money and what you are spending. You will find out how many products you need per month. How much on average do you spend on travel, entertainment and other household expenses. But the most important thing is how much money you drain on unnecessary things that you can easily refuse and redirect your cash flow in a more successful direction.

No wonder every company has an accounting department. Exactly the same bookkeeping should appear in your family budget. Take control of your finances. Start managing them. Direct the flows wisely. As soon as you learn to control your flows, they will begin to increase and grow.

The third step in financial management is planning.

Start planning for your future. Designate what it should be and how much finance is needed for it. Remember when we are planning some kind of event, be it a birthday, a wedding or New Year, we always know which financial expenses we have to cover. We always prepare in advance for this event.

When you have a plan, you will clearly know what you need to do to implement it. Rich people differ from poor people in that they plan their lives. They clearly know what they want to achieve and in what time frame. Therefore, they use every opportunity that will help to carry out their plan.

Write a plan for your financial well-being right now. Even if you don't know how to implement it yet, it doesn't matter. Life will give you all the resources to make it come true. Now the main thing is to decide what you really want.

Start taking small steps. Look at babies. First they crawl, then they try to get up, then they walk, and then they run. Likewise with finances. Stop crawling already. Get up and take your first steps. As soon as you learn to control your financial flows, consider that you have learned to walk. Only then will you be able to run and build up speed.

Write questions and comments. Share your opinions and examples.

I wish each of you to be financially successful! If you have read this article, then this topic bothers you, and you are developing in this direction.