Posted: January 29th, 2010
By Jeremy Walter – Bare Financial Services
Eleven more months to go in 2010 – and studies show that as many as three out of five of us will have already broken our New Year resolutions. That said, maybe your own resolutions need a tweak or two.
Stephen Covey demonstrates in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, that those who win in life begin with the end in mind. Said differently, if we want to be successful in life, we need to know what we’re aiming for. This is the reason why I’m personally such a fan of goals and resolutions, even if we find ourselves not meeting all of them.
When it comes to finances, goals are critical. Retirement goals, education goals, freedom from debt goals, lifestyle goals – these are what puts a purpose behind our money and our income. We want our money to accomplish something, right? And it’s with this mindset that I’d encourage you to consider setting a 2010 financial goal for your home.
This goal is going to be highly individualized for your unique situation. Maybe you’re just starting out on your own, and you want to save a certain thousand dollars to use as a down payment on your home. Or maybe you’re outgrowing your first home, and you want to pay down the mortgage to a certain point that you have so much equity to use for your next home. Or maybe you’re near the end of your mortgage and if you hit it hard enough, you’ll be able to knock it out a few years early. Or perhaps it’s time to explore that rental property you’ve been contemplating and you want to have the home purchased by the end of the year.
In business school one learns about setting SMART goals. Be Specific with the 2010 home goal. Set a certain dollar or percentage amount that is Measurable. Be realistic and make the goal Attainable. Envision the accomplishment of this goal and be sure it’s Rewarding to you in its fulfillment. And set a specific date you want to achieve this goal to make it a Timely one.
Determine your end result – and put it in writing. Print multiple copies and go to Staples and get them laminated. Hang them everywhere. For me personally, I have my 2010 goals hung in my car, in my office, as my bookmark, and in the shower. “Out of sight out of mind” the saying goes – so keep your 2010 home goal in front of you.
We’ve got 11 months to the end of year – let’s try to be the minority and achieve what we set before ourselves.
Great post Jeremy! You can’t stress enough the importance of having written goals. Very few people actually do this, but they are the most successful people.