exercising?

Sadly no, I haven't been. I aggravated a recurring injury and had to shut things down for a week.
This has been a lingering injury because instead of giving it ample time to heal, as soon as it would stop hurting I'd be climbing again. But after my first or second climb I'd be in pain again. Not this time. This time I went a full week with no stress on my shoulder or arm muscles. After three or four days I was pain free but still kept to my recovery plan. No climbing, no gym for a week. I really missed it. About midway through the week I would look at file cabinets at work and think to myself that I could easily climb up to the top of the cabinet.

After a week has passed I was pain free, but still didn't go back to climbing. Instead I gave my shoulder a series of small tests to help it build up. I did push-ups one day, curls another and finally pull-ups and after each day I was still pain free. I was finally ready to get back to climbing!

This same process of breaking a goal down into smaller goals can also help with your finances. Want to pay down your debts so you can live debt free? First get pain free - get a handle on your monthly budget so you're saving more than you spend. Next start to build a little muscle with small exercises - send extra money toward your debt. Full recovery - find even more places to save and snow ball your payments which will really cut down on the debt you own.