“If you are bored with life, if you don’t get up every morning with a burning desire to do things – you don’t have enough goals.” Lou Holtz
Research shows that our brains are a goal-seeking organism. Whatever personal or financial goals we give our subconscious mind will allow it to work night and day to achieve them. However, one goal isn’t good enough for our subconscious minds.
Some goals take longer to achieve than others, like buying a house or saving for retirement. If you spend years working toward only one objective, you’re likely to get discouraged when it doesn’t happen right away.
But when you have multiple goals you’d like to achieve, goals that align with your values and beliefs, you have more to strive for, and more opportunities to check those goals off your list. And the accomplishment you feel every time you complete a goal will inspire you to accomplish even more of them
Actions overcomes fear
Jack Canfield, author of Chicken Soup for the Soul™, states categorically that “the biggest reason most people don’t achieve their goals and realize their dreams is that they don’t take action, and the number one reason people don’t take action is fear.”
“There is a one thing that 99 percent of “failures” and “successful” folks have in common — they all hate doing the same things. The difference is successful people do them anyway.” Darren Hardy
People whom achieve their goals versus those whom fail has everything to do with overcoming the paralysis of fear versus taking action. The people who achieve great success in life are the ones who are willing to take consistent action toward realizing their dreams. They consistently push through their fear and take steps to make their goals happen, no matter what others may think or say about it.
Goal achievers make countless small decisions, they plan and they take deliberate actions every single day that keep them on target toward achieving their dreams. Because without deliberate action, your goals simply are not going to be achieved.
No matter how ambitious the goals or how brilliant the plans, if you’re not prepared to take deliberate action to reach them, they’re not really goals at all—they’re just dreams.
Start with goals you can achieve
Every successful investing journey starts with a set of clear goals.
Appropriate financial goals for an investor should be specific, measurable, attainable, reasonable and timed with a deadline (SMART). Successful achievement of goals should not depend upon unrealistic or outsize market returns or upon impractical saving or draconian spending requirements.
Defining goals clearly and being realistic about ways to achieve them can help protect investors from common mistakes that often derail their progress. Here we show that:
- Recognizing constraints, especially those that involve risk-taking, is essential to developing an investment plan.
- A basic financial plan will include specific, attainable expectations about action steps and monitoring.
- Discouraging results often come from not following a financial plan, chasing overall market returns, an unsound investment strategy that can seduce investors who lack well-grounded plans for achieving their goals.
- Without a plan, investors can be tempted to build a portfolio based on transitory factors such as fund ratings—something that can amount to a “buy high, sell low” strategy.
Life financial goals
Make a list of financial goals you’d like to achieve in your life. Be as specific as possible. Include details such as when they will happen, where they will happen, how much you’ll make, what model you’ll buy, what size it will be, and so on.
Keep your goals somewhere you can review them every morning. Put your goals on a poster or piece of paper where you read each night before you fall asleep.
Keep goals at the top of mind, you’ll be more likely to make them a reality. Reaching your retirement savings goals starts with developing a retirement plan. Fidelity Investments has developed a set of retirement guidelines based on 4 key metrics:
- Yearly savings rate,
- Savings factor to help you see where you stand,
- Income replacement rate, and
- Potentially sustainable withdrawal rate.
“Unsuccessful people carry their goals around in their head like marbles rattling around in a can, and we say goals that are not in writing are merely fantasies.” Darren Hardy
Writing your goals down is the first step in turning your dreams into a reality. If you keep goals in your head you’re not likely to focus and work on them consistently. Thus, it is important to write down all your goals. Whether it’s short-term or long-term goals, it is essential to list every goal in writing.
Writing it down will have a powerful effect on your subconscious mind to help you visualize and achieve your biggest dreams. Remember, a goal is a dream defined and written down.
Make Goals Real by Writing Them Down
Goals are a very effective way to build your self-belief because properly set goals require you to stretch a little outside of your comfort zone; causing you to expand your comfort zone as you achieve the goal.
With clear and measurable goals, investors can create a realistic plan for achieving their objectives within a certain time frame. Make a list of your short-term and long-term savings goals.
If you write down your goals, you’re more likely to achieve them. Think of them as a road map to where you want to go—and make them practical and attainable. Take a simple approach:
- Divide your financial goals into three categories: short term (less than one year); medium term (one to five years) and long term (more than five years).
- Attach a dollar amount to each goal. For instance, a short-term goal might be a family vacation. How much will it cost?
- The more specific you can be, the more motivated you’ll be to work toward that goal.
Goal Attainment Requires Believing in Yourself
Everything you have in your life is a result of your belief in yourself and the belief that all things are possible. According to Jack Canfield, the four most important steps to learning how to believe in yourself are:
- Believe it’s possible. Believe that you can do it regardless of what anyone says or where you are in life.
- Visualize it. Think about exactly what your life would look like if you had already achieved your dream.
- Act as if. Always act in a way that is consistent with where you want to go.
- Take action towards your goals. Do not let fear stop you, nothing happens in life until you take action.
Incorporate and practice these four steps.
Mistakes Investors Make
One of the biggest mistakes investors regularly make when goals and a plan are absent is to confuse investing with stock picking. Ask many people how their money is invested and they quickly tell you the latest hot stock they’ve purchased and the investment thesis that explains why they think it’s going to take off.
Saving for retirement and building an emergency fund should be the highest priorities, followed by other long-term financial goals, like college, travel, or a house. You can contribute a small amount to each goal or pick a couple to focus on first. Decide how much you need to save to reach those goals.
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Despite the fact that women today are better educated and enjoy more career opportunities than any other time in history, even now, many struggle to achieve a financially secure retirement. As a result, it is imperative that women (and men) take greater control over their financial situation, retirement planning and long-term financial security. Women need to further engage in saving, investing, and preparing for long and healthy lives and secure retirements.