Hello everyone and welcome back! We are on part 3 now of getting yourself financially fit and I am wondering, how’s it going? Learning anything new? Anyone have a clearer picture of how they want to be financially fit? Well, I have! I already had a good sense of finances down but I also know I can always learn something new so I love doing research. In addition, writing these blogs have helped me look at finances from a different angle, not just my own which has helped me add to my knowledge as well. I love it!!
Back to you all! Your homework assignment, how did it go? So far, you got your goals written down, you revamped them and then put them in order. Time for the next step, the “why”. I want you to take another look at the goals you wrote down and ask yourself “What is the reason behind setting these particular goals?
Why do I want these goals??
The “why” is very important when it comes to any goal you set, whether it’s a goal to control your weight, eating healthier, strengthen your financial status, get your career on a new path or increase family bonds. The “why” is the motivation behind your goals. Knowing the “why” is what will help keep you on track to successfully completing your goals and even keeping yourself on track long after you have completed them.
Oh, and this part is the one area I say that it is completely okay to keep to yourself! Some people do well on their own, others need a support group in some form, like a FB group, friends, Meetup group, to help them get on and stay on track. When it comes to support, letting them know your plan will help you out. However, they don’t need to know your “why”, that can be very personal to some. All they need to say to help you out when you are fluttering is: remember your “why”?
What is the recipe for my goals??
In the beginning, I had you list your goals using S.M.A.R.T. which is a great way of narrowing down a goal to something very specific. Now, you need to break them down even further. Having specific goals will help keep you focused, but they don’t tell you how to achieve them. It’s like a picture from a cookbook of a delicious baked good that has the ingredients off to the side. You know what’s included in the baked good, but the picture doesn’t tell you how much of each ingredient you need, if there is an order of how to put them together and what to set the oven at…you need the recipe for that. Breaking down goals into smaller steps is like creating a recipe for that goal and it will make achieving that goal easier.
Yay…homework!!
Homework time! (I need to come up with a fun way of saying that…if you guys have any suggestions, let me know!! I’d love to hear them!) Anyways, what I want you to do first is to sit down with your goals and write down the reason or reasons behind them. Next, I want you to ask yourself “How am I going to achieve these goals?” Take some time to think about it then write down a few steps of how you are going to achieve each goal.
Once you have done that, it’s go-time! Is there something today or this week you can do that will get you one step closer to achieving one of your goals? You don’t need to focus on all your goals at once, in fact, focusing on too many goals at once can be overwhelming. Also, some may have a longer time frame and by that, I mean, you may not be able to start something for a few weeks or months. Focus on what you can do now.
For those who like to listen to podcasts, I found a new one I am liking so far called Popcorn Finance. He keeps his podcast to the time it takes to eat a bag of popcorn. The ones I have listen to so far ranges between 5 and 12 minutes, so he gets to the point, no fluff. If you like that style, check him out. If there are other financial podcasts you like to listen to, let me know as I’m always looking for some new ones!
If you have any questions, or would just like to share your goals and plans with me and/or others, please email me at bodyandmindstrong@hotmail.com or you can message me on Facebook. (I will NOT use your email for any type of mailer list or spam!!)
See you next week!
You can find Financially Fit Part 2 here: https://www.bodyandmindstrong.com/post/financially-fit-part-2-your-goals-and-order-of-operations
You can find Financially Fit Part 1 here: https://www.bodyandmindstrong.com/post/are-you-where-you-want-to-be-financially