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Goal setting – what does that phrase mean to you? Have you ever set goals in any area of your life, and then worked to make them happen?
“Goal setting” is one of the most powerful tools in directing the course of our lives.
Our goals may relate to money, our career path, the adventures we want to take on, the life we want for our children, or advanced education. But unless we sit down, grab a piece of paper and a pencil and write them down, they may get lost in the everyday activity that is typical of our lives these days. Live deliberately by setting your goals early and coming up with steps to achieve those goals. If your goals are in agreement with your values, you will work and sacrifice to achieve those goals. But only if you are conscious about them. Write them down. And write down a plan to achieve them.
Goals represent the hopes and dreams we have for our future.
They can be Immediate (within 6 months), Short-Term (6-12 months), Mid-Term (1-5 years) or Long-Term (Over 5 years). Goals may include saving for emergencies, paying off the balance on a credit card, buying a car, taking a trip during spring break, or saving for a deposit on our first apartment. A Long-Term goal may be saving for a home, to advance one’s education or even to begin saving towards retirement. With pensions disappearing and Social Security at risk, this is also an important thing to consider. And the sooner the better.
Project C.A.S.H. has a handout Reaching Your Financial Goals that can help you to begin this process. Once you have identified some goals, set a date when each goal will be reached. Determine the total dollar amount for each goal. Maybe you have some savings already to apply to that goal. If so, subtract it from the estimated cost. Then to get the approximate cost per month, count the number of months from now to the target date and then divide the total dollar amount by that number of months. You now know the approximate amount of money that is needed to be saved each month in order to reach each goal. Especially while in school, make sure your goals are reasonable. If you become frustrated with too many goals, and not enough income, you may give up altogether.
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