“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”-Mahatma Gandhi.
What makes financial planning difficult is basic human nature. We want good things now, not in a seemingly distant future we are not sure of anyway. This kind of thinking is, however, problematic because our resources are limited. Unless you are a billionaire, there is probably something you want but you cannot afford to get right now. Any attempt to get it might lead you to debt and that is a slippery slope. The fact is you cannot actualize every single wish that pops into your head. It takes time to plan how to transform wishes into goals and eventually actualizing them.
Achieving financial independence is a vague idea if you have no clarity of its meaning and corresponding goals on how to actualize it. The fact is, many of us never think much about which financial objectives really matter the most. Instead, we muddle through life spending to meet the day-to-day expenses that dominate our attention. However, this approach risks leaving your most important objectives unfulfilled.
This article is all about helping you identify the financial goals that matter most to you and making sure they happen. It is not as easy as it sounds since financial goals are in a continuous collision with one another and change depending on what stage in life we are in. That is why to get what you want, you must:
1) Decide which goals will take priority and,
2) Work towards your goals in order of priority.
The first step of a journey is knowing the destination, then the means to get there, and then the way to get there. Most of us spend countless hours researching the merits of one investment over another before we even decide on our goals.
Achievement of personal goals is in itself a goal in our lives. That kind of productivity differs with individuals. To arrive at your own definition of productivity, you should ask yourself what it is that you want to produce, that is your goal and transform the definition into action. The overarching goal in life is to be successful; it is prudent to define success in some way that defines what you would like to be. Once you arrive at this definition, you must align your priorities, pursuits, and productivity accordingly, then form habits that maintain that alignment, such as:
Define the Goals
The first thing to do, that we have been discussing time and time again in our articles, is to write down your goals. Once the list of goals is established, you can rank your goals in order of priority while remembering that time is of the greatest importance when investing for growth. Time offers us the gift of compounding investment returns and helps us stay ahead of inflation. This means that small investments made on a regular basis can grow into a large sum of money over time.
By starting with one goal, you can focus on what is important to you, and start the planning process accordingly. From there, add another goal and work to accomplish it. By isolating the important goals you are more likely to accomplish them.
Achieving financial independence is a process and part of the process involves revisiting your goals periodically to see how you are doing and making corrections where necessary. As important as it is to regularly review your progress, it is also equally important to let go of the need to obsess over your goals to avoid falling into the temptation of debt. Find the balance between living for today and goals for the future.
Commitment
Commitment is the real determining factor between success and failure, inertia or even moving backward. Determination and perseverance are added accelerating factors that will serve to magnetize the opportunities that will pave the way for the manifestation of your dreams.
If you are not meeting your goals, revisit your financial budget to see if there are any areas where you can cut expenses in order to free up money for savings.
Conclusion
Many changes occur in life that can affect how we plan. Goals can become obsolete. In some cases, changing or eliminating a goal may be wise as we grow older and wiser. The only constant is to have tangible financial goals to work towards at any time.
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