Financial Goals
Dear Friends,
Goal-setting has long been one of my favorite topics to teach and to practice. I am grateful for the influence of several people early in my spiritual and professional life who taught me this skill in a way that was useful and inspirational.
Today, I talked in the video about the importance of making your goals measurable by amount and by time. The reason that it is so key to be able to measure your progress in these two ways is that, unless you can track your progress, you may never get started on accomplishing your goal and you certainly will never know if you have finished, either.
Financial goals almost always involve sacrifice and a change of habits. If my goal is to become debt free, I will need to sacrifice by spending less than I am making (rather than relying on consumer debt to allow me to spend more than I earn). Additionally, that sacrifice will likely involve a significant change in my habits…eating out less often, buying fewer or less expensive clothes or household “extras,” and perhaps scaling back my family’s activities or lifestyle.
Recently, I’ve been working on losing a few pounds by spending time with a trainer and altering the way that I eat. Weight loss is very analogous to working on saving more money. My zeal and passion for my project come and go, but my sacrifices and habits must remain consistent in order for me to make real progress.
As you consider setting financial goals for 2011, I would direct you to do a few things in order to set yourself up for success. First of all, examine all of the 11 Buckets on the www.MasterYourMoney.com website and write down your financial dream in each area. Then, with your spouse (if you are married), determine the three areas that are most pressing and compelling. In those three areas, set a financial goal that is measurable by amount and by time. (I have found that trying to accomplish too many goals at once can cause me to become overwhelmed by the work and change involved so that I “throw in the towel” on the whole endeavor.)
After you have set your goals, be very realistic about the habits that you will need to change and the sacrifices that you will need to make in order to accomplish the goal. Only if you are realistic will you be prepared when temptation comes! The holiday season is behind us now, but it was a time of great intentionality for me in my weight control efforts. I tried to be very realistic with myself about what indulgences I could take and about what temptations I would need to avoid along the way.
Finally, as an encouragement to you, ponder the following two Scriptures. If you are His child, God is both with you and in you as you seek to move in the direction of dreams and goals that He has given to you.
Proverbs 16:32 (NIV) “Better a patient man than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.”
Galatians 5:22 – 24 (NIV), “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
May God’s peace encourage you as you pursue financial wisdom and depend on His Truth.
Blessings,
Ron
Click here for the video transcript
Goal-setting has long been one of my favorite topics to teach and to practice. I am grateful for the influence of several people early in my spiritual and professional life who taught me this skill in a way that was useful and inspirational.
Today, I talked in the video about the importance of making your goals measurable by amount and by time. The reason that it is so key to be able to measure your progress in these two ways is that, unless you can track your progress, you may never get started on accomplishing your goal and you certainly will never know if you have finished, either.
Financial goals almost always involve sacrifice and a change of habits. If my goal is to become debt free, I will need to sacrifice by spending less than I am making (rather than relying on consumer debt to allow me to spend more than I earn). Additionally, that sacrifice will likely involve a significant change in my habits…eating out less often, buying fewer or less expensive clothes or household “extras,” and perhaps scaling back my family’s activities or lifestyle.
Recently, I’ve been working on losing a few pounds by spending time with a trainer and altering the way that I eat. Weight loss is very analogous to working on saving more money. My zeal and passion for my project come and go, but my sacrifices and habits must remain consistent in order for me to make real progress.
As you consider setting financial goals for 2011, I would direct you to do a few things in order to set yourself up for success. First of all, examine all of the 11 Buckets on the www.MasterYourMoney.com website and write down your financial dream in each area. Then, with your spouse (if you are married), determine the three areas that are most pressing and compelling. In those three areas, set a financial goal that is measurable by amount and by time. (I have found that trying to accomplish too many goals at once can cause me to become overwhelmed by the work and change involved so that I “throw in the towel” on the whole endeavor.)
After you have set your goals, be very realistic about the habits that you will need to change and the sacrifices that you will need to make in order to accomplish the goal. Only if you are realistic will you be prepared when temptation comes! The holiday season is behind us now, but it was a time of great intentionality for me in my weight control efforts. I tried to be very realistic with myself about what indulgences I could take and about what temptations I would need to avoid along the way.
Finally, as an encouragement to you, ponder the following two Scriptures. If you are His child, God is both with you and in you as you seek to move in the direction of dreams and goals that He has given to you.
Proverbs 16:32 (NIV) “Better a patient man than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.”
Galatians 5:22 – 24 (NIV), “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
May God’s peace encourage you as you pursue financial wisdom and depend on His Truth.
Blessings,
Ron
Click here for the video transcript
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