The Fastest Way To Stay Focused On Your Goals
Although you understand the importance of setting your financial goals into action, if you are in the strife of financial obligations and challenges, putting heightened goals may cause frustration rather than a solution.
However, if you set better feasible goals, it wouldn’t be hard for you to achieve it. Besides, the utmost reason why people tend to falter on their goals is due to their failure in setting varying time frames to make it more attainable and realistic. For instance, if you’re having a hard time paying your credit card debt, your goal should be center in becoming debt-free and maybe to save money in building your emergency fund.
Time Frames To Successfully Set Your Financial Goals
This may sound appealing, yet with your current financial constraints, it’s really hard for you to entertain this kind of thought. Well, the key to your success in putting your financial goals in place is by utilizing varied time frames.
Long-Term Goals
If you’re setting for long-terms goals solely, it will not aid you to move ahead; however, having these goals can give you a sense of direction and enthusiasm. It also compels you to consider all aspects of your life.
Moreover, it allows you to think about your values and priorities, as well as how you imagine living your life in the future. Your starting points in focusing on these goals are:
- Lifework or Career
- Financial Status
- Spiritual areas of your life
- Your Family
- Social aspects
- Physical aspects
- Intellectual
In attaining your favorable state in these aspects of your life, you’d probably rejoice your victory as you get to taste the fruit of your hard work. So, to reach your long-term goals, you may have to consider taking an initial step to achieve it. This means, it is not realistic to reach for these goals in a snap, you have to strategize and set short-term and medium-term goals first.
Medium-Term Goals
While your long-term goal might be perceived as the peak of your journey, medium-term goals will simplify and design the path that leads you to it. It does not take place in an exact stage, yet it can be a point where you are putting your plans into action for the purpose of reaching your long-term goals.
For instance, if your lifework goal is to run your own business, your medium-term goal should relate to it. In this case, you might start venturing online business and build clients by ensuring quality and affordable products within a year.
On the other hand, if your goal is to knock down all your debts and to start acquiring appreciating assets, you might need to focus on repaying your debt within 2 years.
Other instances would be joining a marathon, if this is your long-term goal, your medium-term might be a focus on conditioning your body and stamina by finishing a 10K race in the following12.
Moreover, setting a successful medium-term goal, which is time-frame specific can help you weigh your success or downfall. Say, if you haven’t got any clients for your online business within the given year, it would probably ring a bell that something isn’t right. Hence, if not with the time-specific goals in place, you can’t get to your ultimate ends. If you fail to set your timeline, you’ll surely settle for it later until it’s never.
Short-Term Goals
Since you already get the jest of where you want to be heading, you must determine what action items should you take at the moment. The bottom line of setting a short-term goal is making initial steps that are feasible at your current state.
The following are just some of the examples related to the goals mentioned above.
Considering your medium-term goal in building regular clients for your online business, your short-term aims may be as follows:
- Week 1: Determine your target market and know what people usually buy online.
- Week 2: Once you identify your target market, you may need to market your goods through social media networks. This includes reviews, testimonials and other marketing stuff that will boost your products.
- Week 3: Promote your product through testing and other discount or offers that may sound inviting to potential consumers
- Week 4: Pat your back for meeting the quota
In terms of your financial aims, your short-term steps may be:
- Negotiate with creditors for reducing interest rates
- Create a budget or determine where to cut back on your budget
- Earn extra income by utilizing your skills in massage therapy
- Save more money and build an emergency fund or open TFSAs or Tax-Free Savings Account.
While your marathon running can have the following short-term goals:
- Buy a pair of running shoes
- Look for an online calendar for your marathon training
- Set your first step to buying a pair of new running shoes, and complete day 1 on your calendar.
Your Action Plan
Perhaps, you’re already dreaming of lofty goals and have started working on it. Whatever your goals are, the key to success relies on your determination, discipline, and strategy. So, once you set your goals, make sure that you design an action plan and make sure that you stick to it as it works. if you have this in place, you might be surprise on how you can pay down your large debt in just two years. If it doesn’t work for you, you must revisit your action items and check your execution. Besides, for you to reach greater heights, you have to surpass obstacles along the way and your best ally to is the right attitude.
