I rarely, if ever tell myself "no." What Jasmine wants, Jasmine gets. That has always been the way that I've lived my life. When it comes to shopping and eating, my lack of self control have resulted in credit card debt and excessive weight gain. But a week ago, I decided to fight the urge to shop by challenging myself not to buy any of my favorite things for 2 weeks. My favorite things are clothes, shoes and makeup. I had this big crazy idea to go 30 days, but chickened out. After completing 1 week, I am pushing myself to go the full 30 days that seemed impossible in the beginning.

I did not believe in myself when I set the goal of not shopping, but I pushed myself to do it anyway. The same rules that we use for business apply to life, for example: "push through the scary stuff." This past Sunday, I styled a former employer and was so inspired by her home that I went to purchase The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I told myself that if I could get my shopping habits under control then I could surely get my weigh under control. Because it all starts with the mind, I ended up purchasing a couple of self-help books for inspiration.

After I purchased my books, I walked into GAP. Stop.... I love GAP and always have. Did I mention that I pulled out a 50% Off March Madness coupon? Which means, I could have bought anything in that store. I love GAP jeans, but I told myself that I didn't want to buy anymore jeans until I was out of the double digits. Normally, I'd take that coupon as a "sign" that God wanted me to shop, but that day I knew that it was a test. Not to mention that the line was super long and I had an appointment with my photographer to get to. 

I ended up trying on at least 5 pairs of jeans and a skirt before I landed on 2 items. As I approached the line, something inside of me cried out. I couldn't do it. I couldn't just waste a weeks worth of self-control for a coupon. It wasn't worth it. I felt like a new woman walking out of that GAP store and was able to give that coupon to 2 women in the check-out line. The moral of the story is that sometimes telling yourself no can yield big results.

This may seem silly, but I never thought that I could go into a store and find items that I wanted to purchase then leave them there. But it was a freeing experience. I am so over being broke with a lot of things, but lack of experiences. 

Where do you spend your time? Where does all of your money go? I challenge you to give up 1 of your favorite indulgences for 2 weeks, then for 30 days. Denying ourselves builds character and exposes are lack of self-control. Knowing where you are weak provides opportunity for growth. 

I hope this story inspired you! Thank you for reading!