You may have heard the saying if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. If you haven’t, then now you have :-). The power in this statement is that it covers everyone. Once you’ve decided what you want your financial future to look like, you need to put together the plan.

Goals are the cornerstone

I can name a long list of both famous and common folk that had money and now they don’t. I bet in many of these cases they didn’t have clearly defined goals. The keywords are “clearly defined”. For example, “I want to pay off my debt” is not a clearly defined goal.

Your goals need to be S.M.A.R.T.

Specific. Measurable. Achievable. Relevant. Time-bound.

Smart goals increase your likelihood of achieving financial success. Your goals should be clear and concise. You need to be able to visualize the outcome you want.

How will you know if you’ve achieved your goal? This is fairly easy with financial goals. If you set out to save $500 dollars for a vacation in 12 months, then you can measure your success by checking your savings account in a year. Simple right? Now for the hard part — sacrifice.

This is something I really want you to spend some time thinking about. Sometimes for a goal to be achievable you need to make sacrifices or acquire a new skill. It’s important to take this into consideration when creating your goal. The last thing I want to happen is for you to get discouraged on your journey because you didn’t think through all that’s required of you to achieve your goal.

For example, if I set a financial goal of obtaining a mortgage to buy a house by the end of the year, and my credit score is 400, then it may not be an “Achievable” goal. Great results always come with great sacrifice. That’s ok. No need to be discouraged. The key is to align your goals with your larger financial picture and set realistic goals to keep you motivated.

Another goal killer to watch out for is procrastination. How many of you know someone that every time you see them, they are “about to” do something?

No Bueno. Your goals need a deadline. Commit to a reasonable deadline and make it happen. Sometimes it’s easier to set a vague goal and then make it S.M.A.R.T. by making sure it follows the criteria. Now, let’s try an easy exercise for setting S.M.A.R.T. goals:

I want to increase my credit score — not S.M.A.R.T.
I want to increase my credit score by 100 points by April of next year to bring me one step closer to homeownership — S.M.A.R.T

Now I know some of you are still not convinced. It may seem elementary but it’s proven that goal setting increases your chances of success.

Take the time to do it!

S.M.A.R.T.

Improving your financial life requires planning, and that starts with setting goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound (SMART).

Specific

Your goals should be clear and concise. You need to be able to visualize the outcome you want.

Measurable

How will you know if you’ve achieved your goal? This is fairly easy with financial goals. If you set out to save $500 dollars for a vacation you can measure your success by seeing if you have the $500 or not.

Achievable

This is the one you really need to take time thinking about. Sometimes for a goal to be achievable you need to make sacrifices or acquire a new skill. It’s Important to take this into consideration when creating your goal. The last thing I want to happen is for you to get discouraged on your journey because you didn’t think through all that’s required of you to achieve your goal. If one of your goals is to own a house by the end of the year and your credit score is 400; that might not be achievable. The issue is that if you didn’t think it through, you may get discouraged, thrown off your game and give up.

Relevant

Your goals need to align with your larger financial picture. For example, your family may be focused on moving into a new house to expand your living space and reside in a better neighborhood. But if your personal goal is to upgrade your older but functioning car to a new one, then your goal is out of focus with your family’s larger financial picture. Each goal you create should be relevant to the long-term vision you have for your life.

Time Bound

How many of you know someone that every time you see them, they are about to or intending to do something? Goals need deadlines. No dragging them out, no procrastinating. If you don’t set a completion date you’ll be like the person we’re talking about. You may already be that person but now you know it has to stop.

ONCE YOU‘VE DECIDED WHAT YOU WANT YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE TO BE, YOU NEED TO PUT TOGETHER A PLAN. GOALS ARE A CORNERSTONE. –MANYELL AKINFE-REED

Let’s brainstorm afew goals

To begin getting comfortable with setting goals, you may start by setting smaller goals that are centered around gathering information.

For example, if improving your credit is a goal, your S.M.A.R.T. goal may be:

I will pull my credit score from all three credit agencies (TransUnion, Equifax, Experian) by _____ (date).

Once you’ve achieved a few of your smaller goals you can shift to writing short and mid term goals for each financial pillar (insurance, budgeting, saving, credit, retirement) that you want to achieve within the next five years.

Lastly, you want to begin focusing on your long-term goals that will determine your financial position in five to ten years. Although ten years may seem far away, it’s important to have an idea of where you want to be. It is highly likely your goals will change with time. But developing the mindset that planning this far in advance is necessary will help you achieve your goals.

Create and track your goals in our Blueprint App

Hold yourself accountable

It’s important not only to have goals but also to measure your progress. Your goals may be very short term or you may be working on several goals at once. Evaluating your progress will keep you focused on the most important priorities at any given time.

1. What steps do you need to take?

How will it look when you are finished with each step? What reward will you give yourself when you finish each step?

2. How will you monitor your progress?

What evidence will you gather to validate progress or failure?

3. How will you handle setbacks?

Will you make adjustments, and who can help you adjust accordingly?

Start small and buildon success

Let go of guilt or regret over setbacks. Every day is a new opportunity to start again. Even if all you can accomplish today is a 10-minute internet search or a single phone call, that is progress.

Accountability + Goals = Success

Acknowledge milestones

Just as you celebrate age-related milestones, it’s important to recognize achievements during a major life event. Especially when the individual achievements seem small, like researching a financial advisor and making an appointment, it is important to acknowledge the progress you are making:

What reward will you give yourself to celebrate?
Whom will you tell?
What will you set your sights on next?

Regardless of what you are going through, it is important to recognize that circumstances are constantly changing. Be gentle with yourself, ask for help, and celebrate even the small victories along the way.Be intentional about how you manage your money.

What reward will you give yourself to celebrate?
Whom will you tell?
What will you set your sights on next?

Track goals

Sign up for the Blueprint by MoCaFi app to set your financial goals and track them with real-time data from all of your financial accounts

theblueprintapp.com