Are you struggling to manage your finances and reach your business goals?
Maybe you’ve read several posts about finance tips, but you haven’t managed to put anything into practice yet.
What you’re missing is purposefully setting financial goals Goal setting is essential for any business to achieve its objectives.
By having visions of where the company should be and feeding the desire to see it grow. is a powerful motivating factor for any individual and business.
However, you need to have the financial capacity to make such things a reality. For this, you will need to create a roadmap that details how you will get there.
What you come up with when planning should make it possible to track the progress you make. But then you need to set goals so that you know what to track. Nothing beats the joy and excitement of achieving an objective or something you set out to accomplish. It fuels your drive to aim for something bigger and better.
Given this, your money should work for you; It should make you more money. That is why you set new financial goals every time you achieve one. Nonetheless, you need the drive and desire to accomplish every set objective.
But how will you go about the right way?
Keep To The 3 Rules Of Financial Goal Setting
The journey to securing your financial future and that of your business demands you to set goals. You will need to keep three things in mind when doing this and these are:
1. It Should Be Measurable
If you can’t measure your financial goal, then how can you gauge your progress?
You, therefore, should state what you want to achieve, clearly defining, why, when, and what you need to see you accomplish your objective.
According to the team at Driveway Doctor, a driveway restoration business, setting precise goals that can be tracked has helped boost performance, saying that “when you can physically see your numbers increase and inch closer to your goals, your motivation skyrockets and makes the last sprint so much easier”.
2. It Should Be Realistic
Avoid aiming for the unattainable as this will just damage your motivation.
Setting goals cannot be undermined, but what you aim for should challenge you positively. It should get you out of your comfort zone but without pulling you down.
Setting stretch goals is a good way to do this. If you want to earn $10,000 this month in profit, set a stretch goal of $20,000. Even if you don’t hit it, you’ll have the boosted motivation to make the original goal easier to achieve.
According to Margaret Milne, a marriage celebrant from Melbourne, setting stretch goals has been life changing, saying that “we were able to achieve goals we never thought possible and take steps beyond that too. Always aiming to improve yourself both increases your confidence in yourself and speeds up timelines to achieving goals. The secret is to truly aim for your stretch goal and make it your real goal”.
3. Write It Down
Pen down your goals. It is a simple, but very powerful habit.
Write down what you desire to accomplish so that you never let it out of your mind. When you pen down your objectives, they are likely to be more significant to you when you see, read, and internalise them.
Add this to your daily ritual, wake up in the morning and write down your goals. Before you retire for the night, write down your goals.
Make Your Financial Goals Easy To Achieve
Success is a step by step process, that means there has to be notable progress which signifies you are headed in the right direction regarding accomplishing your goals.
However, such a thing is easier said than done. When you inevitably encounter obstacles along the way, you need to remember that this is supposed to be hard. Work through it, learn from your mistakes, be flexible and be ready to make adjustments where necessary so that you can keep moving towards your goal.
According to the team at MT Medical, a cosmetic and beauty therapy clinic in Australia, making quick decisions and pivoting where necessary has helped grow their business and achieve their financial goals, saying that “some financial goals we made were extremely difficult to achieve and not worth it in the slightest. By analysing our goals and re-adjusting our course, we have set easier to achieve goals that deliver greater results. This has boosted the teams motivation and actually allowed us to achieve our financial goals over and over”.
Focus On Your Plan Not The Deadline
Setting a deadline and trying to meet it may complicate things and put you in unnecessary stress. It may make things seem far fetched when you have limited time, and this may make you push the work aside because of a lack of motivation.
But if you create a plan and keep to it, you will accomplish your objectives.
But you need to break down those big goals into smaller chunks, tasks that you can do daily, weekly, or monthly. Such a strategy makes it easy to track your progress and accomplish your goals without too much of a hassle.
Focus On The Actions, Not The Performance
In getting to where you want, you have to put in the work. But keep in mind that your actions will weigh more than your actual performance.
Why is this the case?
This is because while your performance may not be perfect, being consistent in what you do (your actions regarding, setting a budget and trying to find a way of saving money when doing tasks) will count the most.
Over time your performance will improve. Quantity develops quality.
Stay Motivated When Working Toward Your Financial Goals
Thinking of a goal and setting it is not that hard, the real test is in achieving that objective.
That is why you need to stay motivated so that you have a reason to fulfil your ambitions and maintain the drive to keep going when things get tough.
You need to appreciate the fact that setbacks and failures may be part of the process. You can use them as a source of motivation by learning from them and making them a stepping stone to get you to where you want.
Below are some tips that will help you stay on track and focused even when you encounter obstacles along the way.
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Create a Reward System
Do not be lured into the trap of working excessively hard to achieve the financial goals you set for yourself. Do not lose sleep over such, nor let them push you to disregard other essentials like your health.
You need a break from work to enjoy yourself. Indulge in some weekend games, food, shopping and entertainment. Such activities will help you feel rejuvenated when you feel spent after working hard. In short, work hard but remember to give yourself rest.
Burnout is real. It’s better to pace yourself than face weeks or even months of set back by overloading yourself.
Devote a portion of your budget to a splurge now and then. The week passes as you strive to achieve your financial objectives; you have put in the work, so you also need to reward yourself for your efforts.
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Seek Out Personal Finance Information
Rather than stick to trial and error, you need to read some books that touch on finance management. Learn how to invest and manage your money, and how you can make the most of your mistakes. You should do your best not to learn the hard way. Grab finance books and start learning from the mistakes of others.
While the primary objective is to make money, you need to steer your focus away from how you can make more; instead, be vested in what you are doing. That will see that money becomes a byproduct of your goal. According to the team at Peak Performance Massage, a remedial massage clinic, focusing on passion has been a powerful financial boost, saying that “by putting our energy into our passion for helping our patients, instead of focusing on just money, the money started coming naturally as people enjoyed our services and promoted it to their friends and family”.
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No Shame in Starting Small
In a way, tackling your biggest debts first may make sense since it lessens your financial burden. However, doing it in reverse may also be beneficial for your psyche. You will get to celebrate the small wins since they will be easier to accomplish.
For example, learning more about your credit cards can be an easy place to start.
Moreover, small wins offset your overall debt amount, and helps motivate you to keep working and go after more substantial financial goals. As you set those large objectives, make sure they will see you reap the motivational benefits of accomplishing them in small wins.
Set your financial goals the right way. Be clear about why, how, and when you want to achieve them. Stay committed to accomplishing what you set out to complete, and you will attain your wildest dreams or even be surprised by your achievements.
