Frugal Friday: Goal Setting
If you have been to my coupon class - you have heard me talk about tracking your spending, analyzing it and then, creating a budget so you can achieve your goals...but what IS a goal?
This is RIGHT up her ally - helping others set goals!
Enjoy this post and make sure you check out her site -- she's doing an AMAZING job saving for her wedding, paying off her school loans and having a lot of fun through it all.
=)
I'm super excited that Dannelle invited me to write a post on goal setting! As a social worker, a key part of my job is to help the people I work with figure out their goals. It can definitely be easier said than done!
The first of the year is always a great time to set new goals for the coming year. It’s a fantastic time to take stock of what you have and what you want out of life. People often times take make haphazard resolutions at the New Year, but they don’t take the time to really think about how they can realistically meet these goals.
There are a few simple rules to remember when setting goals and I hope to teach you these rules so that you can move forward in achieving your goals. I will use money as an example from here on out, but the basic features of goal setting can be applied to anything you may want to do.
The first thing one must do is clearly state the problem. How can you change something if you haven’t defined what the problem is? Example: I have $5000 credit card debt. No need to over think the problem, you can just simply state it.
Now that the problem is defined, we must figure out what we want to do about it. There are 5 key elements to goal setting and they’re easy to remember because they spell SMART.
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound
Specific: You want your goal to be as specific as possible. I’m sure we can all relate to making vague, half thought out goals and ultimately those goals are never met.
Measurable: How will you know when you’ve reached your goal? How will you know if you’re on the right track?
Attainable: Is this really something you can do? Is your goal based in reality?
Relevant: Does this fit into your current life style? Is your goal going to solve the problem?
Time- bound: How long are you expecting to work on this goal? What time limit are you going to give yourself?
How do these 5 pieces look together?
Problem: I have $5,000 in credit card debt and I feel like it is weighing me down.
Goal: I will pay off my $5,000 credit card debt by December 30, 2012.
While that goal meets all the criteria of SMART, it still seems pretty lofty and possibly overwhelming. Now it’s time to break that larger goal into a few more management, “bite sized” goals. These bite sized goals will help influence how we reach the larger goal and will also use the SMART criteria. Think of these smaller goals as the “how” of reaching your goal. These will provide some direction and some concrete ways you can reach your goal.
Problem: I have $5,000 in credit card debt and I feel like it is weighing me down.
Goal: I will pay off my $5,000 credit card debt by December 30, 2012.
1) I will pay $450 every month toward my credit card in order to pay it off by December 30, 2012.
a. I will stop buying coffee out to save an extra $20 per month and will apply that $20 to my credit card payment every month.
b. I will only eat out 1 time per week in order to save $30 per week to apply toward my credit card payment monthly.
c. I will cancel my gym membership and apply the extra $50 per month toward my credit card payment monthly.
2) I will review my progress toward my goal on the 30th of every month and adjust as needed.
Do you see how these smaller goals influence the larger goal? Don’t they sound much more attainable and manageable than the bigger goal?
It’s also important to review your goals and your progress toward them. If you made your goal SMART, you should be able to easily see if you’re making the appropriate progress. If you’ve fallen behind, it will be easier to see how you can catch up and adjust.
One word of caution: Try not to take on too many goals at one time. It can be very difficult to change everything at once. It’s much easier to gain momentum on one problem and goal and add on to that as you feel more confident. I’m sure we can all relate – we want to get our finances under control, eat healthier, exercise more, lose weight, get a better job, make more money, find new hobbies…There are plenty of changes we probably all want to tackle, but taking on too many at once might lead to failing at all of them. Try to pick one problem and goal and go from there.
It can also be helpful to make a list of why you want to achieve your goal(s). When you feel your motivation lacking or your will power wavering, you can refer back to the list of reasons and remind yourself why you’re doing this in the first place.
Good luck everyone J
Emily
Comments
Post a Comment