I was reading this past week about a woman who lost 170 lbs in 9 months by eating backwards. She had breakfast for dinner and dinner for breakfast. She lost the weight without leaning on a typical diet plan. Her result, losing 170lbs, has lasted ten years. It's not so much the weight loss that caught my attention, but the fact that she took responsibility for change in her life.

This now size 1 woman didn't go on a diet, she made a lifestyle change. Diet is a bad word. It represents a temporary nutritional change that will require sacrifice and results that are often unsatisfactory and short lived. She made up her own solution, and that's why it worked for her. Chasing down someone else's ideas is rarely effective. We are more likely to be successful when it is our own plan.

What is your plan? What do you want to change? If you have been craving something new, different, better, but find yourself mired in the same spot you started in, maybe you would consider making some backwards choices? Identify a few areas in your life you expect something greater that what is right now.

One important place to make changes in your life is in the financial arena. Are you paying yourself first? Preparing for your future? Spending within your means? Our typical mindset is to spend what we have, or more likely, spend more than we have through loans and credit cards. We live paycheck to paycheck because that is the choice we have made.

I encourage us to make some new choices. Take responsibility for where we are, and decide where we want to be. Then all it takes is a plan, a few backwards choices, and watch how quickly we find ourselves in a new and better place.

As a structured settlement recipient, you can make some backwards choices by cashing out your annuity. Instead of waiting for the settlement to pay out over time, you can get the money you want and need sooner. Consider carefully any financial choice you make, and seek expert advice. If you want the best, you have to seek it out. Whether you are trying to lose weight, or regain control of your finances, sometimes making backwards choices can get you going in the right direction.

Jason Rigler
Financial coach for structured settlement recipients and lottery winners.
http://www.whataremypaymentsworth.com