Goal Setting
Today’s topic of discussion is goal setting. You know what your finances are today, but have you thought about what you’d like them to look like in five years? How about one year? What about in just six months? Can you think less far out and envision what they might look like next month? Have you even thought about setting goals to improve your financial position?
If you are just living day to day, and haven’t even thought about your financial goals, perhaps it’s time to start. Are you where you want to be with your money right now. Do you have plans to purchase a home in the future? Are you setting money aside for retirement? Or, are you getting “past due” notices. Can you sleep at night or are you worried that your money isn’t stretching enough? If you really haven’t thought about any of these things, perhaps it’s time to start. And, it’s also time to set some goals for yourself and/or your family.
Start writing some goals down on paper of where you’d like to be in six months, in a year, in three to five years. Yes, write them down and post them where you can see them every day. The refrigerator is a good place. After all, how many times do you go to it daily. And, put it at eye level so you don’t miss it. Yes, you can move the kid’s pictures down a little so that the goals are front and center. But, you say, I have them in my head so why do I have to write them down? Because, in your head, they won’t be “in your face”!
Additionally, put down a realistic timeframe of when you want to complete each goal. For example, if you’re drowning in debt, setting a goal to become a millionaire in the next month probably isn’t very realistic. But perhaps setting a goal to pay off a credit card within the next eighteen months might be. Definitely write these goals down and put them on your fridge or another visible spot where you’ll see them daily.
One of my goals was to not have to eat dog food when I retired. Guess what? I put that goal, along with others, on my fridge. And, I’m not eating dog food in retirement. I promise I only eat people food. Also, I managed to accomplish most of my biggest goals by reviewing them daily on my fridge.