New Year – New Goals
In our conversations with clients, we’re spending a lot more time talking with them about their goals and plans for the future. If we know what your goals are and can estimate how much they may cost, we’re in a better position to help decide what you need to do (or save) to achieve them.
We provide a new service where we help you decide on those goals that are important to you. We then help you work out how much those goals may cost to achieve, and work with you to put in place a financial plan that gives you every opportunity to achieve your goals.
In this article we’ll summarise the process we take with clients, and give you a few ideas on goal setting.
Why bother setting goals?
Goals give you direction in life. Many people live busy lives with an increasing level of demands and responsibilities. Without clear goals it’s difficult to lead a fulfilling life over the long term – you’ll find yourself constantly reacting to short term pressures and demands rather than prioritising the things that are important to you.
Having goals enables you build some purpose and direction in your life. Committing to a clear set of goals that are important to you provides a new perspective and enables you to better decide how to spend your time.
Goal setting exercises
When a new client comes to see us, we give them an opportunity to go through a few exercises which help them define their goals. For more details on how we do this, contact us and we’ll explain the process in more detail.
One part of the exercise is creating a ‘bucket list’. Make a list of all the things you’d like to do before you ‘kick the bucket’. Set a target of at least 40 things that you’d like to do – they don’t need to relate to money but could revolve around experiences or relationships. If you need some inspiration, Google the term ‘bucket list’ to get some ideas.
What’s important?
Once you’ve created your bucket list, the next step is to decide on the importance of each goal. You can look at the must-do’s, the nice-to-do’s and the should-do’s.
Work out a way to prioritise your goals that suits you. Ideally you want to get to a position where you have some goals that are very important to achieve and others that would be nice to achieve.
Define the goals
In this step you get very specific about your goals. We use the SMART formula where goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.
Let’s look at an example.
Say one of your goals is to travel to Europe. Using the formula above, we’d ask the following questions.
Specific. Where specifically do you want to travel to?
Measurable. How will you know when you have achieved it?
Achievable. Can you afford to do it?
Realistic. Is it likely you will be able to do it?
Time Bound. When do you want to do it?
Based on these criteria we’d suggest you re-state the goal as something like ‘By the end of 2015 I will have spent at least one month in France, Germany and Italy on a holiday that will cost approximately $20,000.’
If this was your goal, you’re now a lot more focused – you’ve set a time-frame, defined where you want to go and decided how much you will budget for the trip. Once you decide on these details, we’re able to help you plan your savings for the trip.
Keep at it
Like New Year’s resolutions, it’s easy to set goals but hard to actually follow through and do something about them. As part of our service we’ll meet with you at least once a year for a full review where we look again at your goals and help you see the progress you’re making towards them. If your goals change, your plan remains flexible enough to change with them.
The Payoff
Very few people have clearly defined, written goals. Imagine how different your life could be if you had a set of written goals, and an action plan to achieve them?
If you’d like to find out more, contact us on 08 8364 0066 and we can help you begin to plan for the rest of your life.
Impact Financial Coaching is a financial planning business in Adelaide, South Australia.
Photo credit Kokorowashinjin
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