How To Stay Motivated And Crush Your Financial Goals

I came across this great tool for setting goals for the new year called the Wheel of Life or Life Balance Wheel.  There are seven areas of your life including financial goals, physical goals, and spiritual goals for the new year.  There seem to be a lot of great versions of this out there so I decided to create my own with the focus on the eight most important areas I want to focus on.    The wheel looks like this:

 

Wheel Of Life

Spiritual Goals

Would you like to make a deeper connection to your higher being, whomever that may be?  How in tune are you with your beliefs?

Financial Goals

Are you where you would like to be in your financial life?  Could there be improvements made in the handling of your money?  Are you willing to get aggressive this year?

Social Goals

How is your social life?  Are there friends you haven’t seen in a while and keep “meaning to” get together with but don’t?  Do you spend more time on Social Media than with real people?

Career Goals

Are you happy with your career?  If you are not, are you willing to actively pursue other avenues?  Do you want to make more and do you have a plan to make that happen?

Personal Goals

What kind of goals would you like to see for yourself? Are you actively trying to be a better person?  Could you work on being less judgemental and sharing more kindness?

Intellectual Goals

Consider learning something new.  Can you commit to reading more or taking an online course?  How about a course at the local library or continuing education at the Community College.

Family Goals

What about your relationships with your family?  Would you like to have a better connection with your mom?  How about your brother that you haven’t spoken to this year?  Maybe healing is in order.

Physical Goals

How do you feel?  Are you eating well and sleeping enough?  Are there areas of your health that you would like to improve?  Consider cutting out soda or sugar.

 

Financial Goals

Because I am a Financial Coach, I am going to focus on the financial goals for this year.  There are three types of financial goals, You have short-term, intermediate goals, and long-term goals.  Meeting short-term financial goals will set you up for success for the intermediate and long-term goals.  Short-term goals are goals that can be met within a year.  Intermediate may be a 20-year goal and when I think of long-term, I think of retirement.

I was watching Youtube (which I would much rather do than watch TV) and I came across a couple from One Big Happy Life and they were talking about their YEAR LONG BUDGET!  I was quite excited to get into the video and I have never done a budget for the entire year before.  So, at 11:00 pm, I pulled up Google Sheets and started creating a spreadsheet for my (our) 2019 Budget!  Who Knew!  I look forward to finishing this as we have LOTS of goals for this year.

Here are some other financial goals you might consider for the year!

An emergency fund.

You know it will rain, right?  There will always be emergencies and when you have a little money set aside, to will make those emergencies less traumatic if there is money set aside specifically for them.

Eliminate all consumer debt.

Consumer debt is any type of purchase you have made with borrowed funds (not including your house).

Donate money.

If you can budget for it, then give.  There is something magical that happens when you do.  When you give money, beautiful things happen to you – spiritually and financially.

Plan for your death.

I know it sounds a bit morbid but does not put the burden on anyone else.  Create a Will and organize a Legacy Drawer where everything is in one place, and everyone knows where o find all personal documents

Create multiple income streams.

Start a side hustle, invest in real estate or start a blog.  Find a way to have another form of income, so you are financially prepared.

Be Insured.

Home, auto, and life insurance for those you love as well as for yourself will protect everyone involved.  And if you are over 60 years old, consider long-term care disability.

Live on less.

Some people call it minimalism and others call it cheap.  However you look at it, stop trying to keep up with the Joneses and live your life, not theirs!  Sell some stuff and get rid of the clutter.  You can organize your home at the same time you make some money.  Then stop buying stuff!!!  Simplify your life.

Create a budget.

Tell your money where to go on purpose.  A budget gives you the freedom to spend and not be worried at the end of the month that you haven’t enough money to pay the electric bill.

Invest for retirement.

In my last post, I explained many of the ways you can invest in your retirement.  It’s a great idea to start as soon as possible, but if you are 45 and haven’t done anything yet, there’s no time like the present.  Start where you are.

Pay off student loans.

The bain of so many’s existences.  The dreaded Student Loan!  Time to get serious and ticked off at these things.  They have been hanging around too long.  Whatever you need to do, get a second job, sell stuff, babysit…Throw everything you can at these thorns in your side!

Develop skills to improve your income.

My husband and I were talking about this yesterday.  There are SO MANY opportunities to learn something new with the information highway at our fingertips.  Want to learn how to fix your washer?  Youtube!!  Learn photography, someone has an inexpensive course!  Have you heard of Udemy?  Check it out.  They have so many learning opportunities!  How about investing more money and going back to college or getting a certification right from the comforts of your own couch.  Is there a way to increase your knowledge that will help you advance in your chosen career?

Save for children’s education.

But only if you are out of debt.  My son will be going to college debt free but we did not save for it. We never had the money to invest in any kind of college savings.  it took us a lot longer to be debt free than I would like to admit.  We will help cash flow as much as we can but he needs to go to a two-year school and pay for it.  WITH ZERO LOANS!  I will not sign any paperwork for him to go to college with any type of loan.

 

Motivation With Money

Motivation, for me, is not natural.  I tend to get bored if not reminded of why I am doing this.  Here are a few tips I use to stay motivated whether is for goals, weight loss, debt management, or any other idea I might come up with to challenge myself.

Reward yourself whether it be with a hot bath, a pedicure, a movie night, or a new pair of socks.  Keep the cost low and remind yourself as you are indulging in this behavior, WHY you got the prize.  Make it a big deal!

Listen to podcasts or watch Youtube videos. These are great motivators!  I like to watch people clean just to motivate myself to do the same when I am not feeling up to it.

Read more blogs.  Read more of MY blog!  🙂 or find others that will help you on your journey.

Create badges or get some stickers.  Maybe download a coloring page and hang it on the refrigerator as a reminder of your journey.

Find a Buddy.  Enlist a friend to be your accountability partner.  When you do good, they will give you that praise that is so beneficial.  When you are not so good or are tempted to sway off the path, they will be there to remind you what you are doing and why.

A reminder of your “WHY.”  Put it everywhere.  Post it notes, screensavers, reminders on your phone.  Write it down so you don’t forget.

Goals are so much better than resolutions.  I found this little saying from Tiny Buddha on Facebook that said “To resolve means to find a solution to a problem.  You are not a problem.”  I just loved that.

This year is the perfect year to crush some of these financial goals!