Here at MSTRPLN, we love goal setting. When you set goals, you now have a direction to work toward.
While MSTRPLN promotes setting goals in all areas of life for work-life balance, today we're going to focus on financial goals.
If you've been following my content, you know I am a huge believer in setting and achieving financial goals. It's how I was able to chip away at and eventually defeat six figures of student loan debt.
If you don’t have financial goals for the year yet or if you haven’t mapped them out, this should give you the inspiration to take control of your financial future this year.
Take stock of where your current financial situation
Most people would rather dream about owning multiple houses than sitting down and taking a hard look at their current financial situation (#relatable).
However, if you don’t take a look at where you are, you don't know what you need to work on first.
It doesn’t matter if you have a ton of debt (did you know I was in 6 figures of debt?) or have a year of savings, now is the time to sit down and get a real look at your figures.
- How much debt do you have?
- What are the interest rates on those debts?
- How much do you have saved?
- How much do you make every year?
- Do you have side hustles or ways to increase your income?
- What is your current credit score?
It might sting a little bit to get all of the information into one place, but this is what you need to accurately set your goals for the year.
Day dream and set your financial goals
Now is the time where you want to dream about what you want this year. Maybe you want to finally become debt free and break those shackles. Maybe you want to finally create an emergency fund and have that mental stability.
Generally, I believe in setting short-term goals and long-term goals.
Short-term goals are usually the ones you can accomplish within a year, and long-term are within the next five to ten years.
Having both can give you the inspiration to get started and break it down into measurable steps.
How can you bridge the gap?
This is where the fun begins – you’re now going to map out how you can get from where you are to where you want to be.
You can only get to this point once you have your numbers and goals in front of you. For example, you might want to get out of debt this year but you realize that you don't make enough to do it this year. In this case, you might need to start a side hustle or pick up some other hours.
This is how you achieve your financial goals. Although you might get sidetracked throughout the year, your goals can be your North Star which help guide you.
Expect that you'll slip up here and there, we're all human, after all. However, keeping your goals front and center in your mind can help you get back on track.
Break it down by quarter
While I already have a blog post all about quarterly goals, I just wanted to remind you to break it down by quarter. This is where you really start to see things happening in your life because you’re going to start to take control of your goals for the next three months.
You'll want to find a middle ground between setting impossible goals and goals that are too easy to hit. That's the sweet spot that will make this year one to remember.