Achieving financial goals before you retire is everyone’s dream. But working on these goals is hard if you do not know where to start.
One common advice in setting a goal is to set SMART goals. SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-based.
But having SMART goals isn’t enough. Here are some tips on how you can set not only SMART financial goals but also, goals that YOU can actually achieve.
1. Start Small
When I was first introduced to network marketing, I’ve awesome people who motivated me towards financial success. But the goals are too audacious that even if I wanted to believe them, it still sounded too good to be true.
“You can be a multi-millionaire in a year!”
“Your goals should be big!”
“Grab a picture of your dream car/mansion!”
All these are great. But these can all be overwhelming.
Financial freedom cannot be attained overnight.
Start small. Set a target.
It can be ten thousand to one hundred thousand per year depending on your current financial status. By starting small, it would be more realistic and achievable. Many successful people started small. Start small but think big.
Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong in dreaming to live in a magazine-worthy house. But if it doesn’t seem realistic enough for you, it will only give you frustration and heartache.
And just because you’re starting small doesn’t mean you can’t dream big. Which leads me to the second point.
2. Increase your goals periodically
They say the first $1,000 is the hardest. But hit it and you can replicate your efforts to earn more than $1k. After hitting $1k, you can work on achieving $10k, then $100k, and then a million.
Remember that the first million came from a humble $1k and then increase it as you learn more.
3. Give yourself enough time
If you set your goal for a very short time frame, it may be too ambitious and might only give you stress and frustration. But if you set the time frame too long, you might become too relaxed along the way.
Set a realistic time frame to work on your goals – not too short and not too long. Assess your financial status. Is my work salary enough? Should I get other sources of income? What should I do to target the time frame? Pressure may be good at some point because it pushes you to reach your goals. Make a short-term and long-term plan, which includes a proper accounting of your income and expenses.
4. Educate yourself
You have to continue learning. Keep reading books to motivate you. Not to mention financial blogs, too. If you have questions about financial instruments and investments such as stocks, mutual funds, treasury bonds, among others, you can find information online. Join Facebook groups or online forums that teach about investing.
Invest in seminars also. Learn from the experts. There are so much to learn so keep on learning.
5. Have different streams of income
Even if you think your salary allows you to live a comfortable life, it’s still better to have other sources of income. Don’t settle on one.
A combination of an active and passive income is best.
6. Focus
Stay motivated. Help yourself. Remind yourself every day of your financial goals. This is probably the hardest part. But keep your focus and the rewards are great.
7. Your goals should be yours
Often, our goals are based on other people’s goals and standards.
We can become too inspired by some people that we want to follow their path forgetting that we have our own path.
Or, sometimes, we compare ourselves with others so we try to achieve big goals just to become better than the other guy.
Stop. This isn’t doing you any good. Even if you achieve goals you set but if it’s based on comparison or envy, you won’t be truly happy.
Know yourself and your purpose. Why do you want financial freedom? What happened in your life that you want financial freedom?
Your answers should be about you.
Fired up to start setting our own financial goals yet?
You should be!
And don’t just set goals. Work hard – really hard – to achieve them.
Remember that the journey to financial freedom is never easy. But it is doable. Start today.
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Joy
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