How To Hit Your Financial Goals Easier
Managing your money can be tedious and overwhelming. Especially, if you don’t keep your records up to date on a regular basis.
It’s kinda like washing the dishes. If you let them pile up in your sink for a couple of days, then when you actually get around to doing them you have to spend a painful amount of time soaking and scrubbing and splashing soapy water all over your clothes.
Solution?
Make a habit of doing the small things today before they turn into big things tomorrow.
I know, I know… easier said than done. Who really wants to pour over spreadsheets every week and cross-check their bank statements at the end of every day?
So, instead of trying to manage your money with brute force - Automate & Simplify.
Why You're Not Hitting Your Financial Goals
If making progress on your financial goals feels like running up head against a stiff headwind, then here are some tips to help make things a bit easier.
Good Goal, Bad Strategy.
It’s possible to set the bar too high. When you make unrealistic expectations for yourself it can be demoralizing to fall short again and again.
Consistency
I have lofty goals for myself, I admit. But, the key to reaching big goals is all in the way you break them down to actionable micro goals and daily tasks.
You can actually accomplish a lot by doing a little bit consistently. There is nothing wrong with having big goals. Just balance the big vision with the detailed focus on what you can actually manage and take care of daily which will bring you closer to your finish line.
If the daily activities required to hit your goal are asking too much, then you may need to extend your deadline or rethink your strategy as a whole.
Focus
Another common issue is trying to accomplish too many different things at one time.
When you spread yourself thin your money and your cognitive resources get depleted in a hurry. Money and mental energy are like fuel - You need to have enough if you want to keep going!
That being said, make sure you get absolutely clear on what you’re passionate about. Identify the targets that you’re dead set on accomplishing and separate those from the fluffy filler goals that would just be “cool” to hit.
If you have debts to pay off, for instance, it’s important to funnel income in that direction before building a massive investment portfolio. If you want to get into the crypto space and start buying bitcoin online just make sure that you’ve already set up your emergency savings and tax-advantaged investing accounts.
Priorities give you clarity. Clarity reduces wasted time, energy, and money.
Use The Right Tools
There are a ton of savvy money moves that hold merit, but none of them matter if they don’t make your life easier.
There is something about a pen and paper that I love when I’m taking notes and learning. The dual processes of hearing the info and then rewriting it in my own words can really help new concepts stick. But that’s where the analog technologies stop.
We’re well past the days of tracking our financial activities by hand.
If you have online banking, chances are you already have access to some AI-powered reporting tools that can sum up your monthly expenditures, estimate an average budget, and highlight areas of overspending.
If you want to take it a step further, budgeting software like Mint makes it mad easy to stay on top of your cash flow situation day-by-day.
Don’t let managing your money become a chore. If you employ the right tools you can make your life a whole lot easier. The hardest part is just getting started. After that, these things typically run themselves.
Embrace The Process
Goals are a funny thing. Here’s how they usually work…
Set an exciting goal that gets you motivated.
Grind like mad in pursuit of said goal.
Hit your goal after much struggle.
Feel great for 5 minutes.
Feel unmotivated without a new goal.
Set a new goal.
This cycle is unhealthy, but it’s far too often the norm. I say this from first-hand experience.
Drive Past MILESTONES
If you are motivated by the idea that life will be better once you hit your financial goals, I’ve got news for you - It’s just not that simple.
Yes, setting goals is necessary & hitting the right milestones can change your life!
Keep in mind though, you still need a reason to wake up & push yourself everyday even after you’ve achieved your life biggest goals.
Many of the worlds richest, most famous people are still searching for something that fills them up inside. They’ve already accomplished their goals and now they are lost.
So, instead of “end-watching” and remaining fixated on that ideal goal state, embrace the process of getting there.
When you can find pleasure in making progress or see the significance in small wins, you’ve found the true secret to success.
Eventually, your love for the daily details will overshadows any finite reward that those positive habits yield.
This is the best case scenario because then the “work” of self improvement, saving, studying, or building your empire doesn’t look like work anymore.
That’s when the grind becomes a game and the joy of seeing progress becomes enough of a lift to keep you on track indefinitely, regardless of the heights you reach.