Illustration

Money Goal Digging for the Win!

Are you ready to do a little work. It is only 6 tasks. We are going money goal digging step-by-step and making a plan to get a little dirty before we clean up and achieve what we really want.

All you need are these simple tools to get started:

    Your favorite beverage of choice.
    A quite relaxing spot.
    A piece of paper, your journal, and a pen. Or open up notes on your phone, or open a document on your computer.

The First Task

Is simple enough to do but will require you to think about 3 money goals you would like to achieve this year.  
Just to help you along here are a few questions to help you narrow in on your thoughts. For each goal you have chosen write or type your thoughts. They can be in point form or sentences, whatever allows you to zero in on each one. 
1. Why this goal is important?2. What purpose it has?3. What you will gain from achieving this goal?

The Second Task

In this task we are going to break it down a little further so pick just one [1] of three goals you chose.
After you have chosen which goal you want to work with think about what you need to achieve this goal. Write or type as many tasks as you might need to do in order to accomplish the end result of which you are seeking.

The Third Task

It's sorting time. Give this a little thought because the order in which your tasks are in will aid you in creating a plan to achieve your goal.  
I like the 10-step method where each step you complete gets you closer to the top. You can't skip a step because you might fall backwards and then have to start all over again.
For each task you have established you need write down the 10-steps you will need to do to accomplish that task.  

The Fourth Task

This task is all about timeline. Even though we want everything yesterday and get frustrated when we still don't have it today because we didn't think about the time it would take.  
Now that we have our tasks in order of how they should be completed it is important to determine how long each one will take. Will it be something that you must attend to each day, every week, once a month, or quarterly.
Beside each step you have decided you will take write or type the timeline you will require.

The Fifth Task

Time to review your thought process. Look at the one goal you chose and review the tasks, the order you will do them in, and the timeline you need for each one. Ask yourself the following and be sure to write or type your answers.

    Is this goal still important enough to complete the tasks that you decided were required to be done?
    Do you have the commitment to work on those tasks to reach the end goal?
    Are the tasks you have chosen to do achievable if you put the work into it?
    Can you complete this goal within a year or do you need to break it down more?

The Sixth Task

Remember how you original chose 3 money goals at the start. Well now it is time to do tasks one [1] through [5] with your remaining two goals. Take some time perhaps over the next couple days to do this.  

In Summary

The six tasks above provide you with what you should do to find goals that you are willing to do. Goals which are achievable and will provide results. Most times when we turn over a new year it is so great. We are going to do this and that but then the momentum is gone after the first week. It is like oh well I'll get around to it at some point. But time passes and we still haven't given it another thought.
This is why we started out simple with just picking three goals you think you want. Then we took just one of those goals and broke it down step-by-step to see what transpires from that potential goal. Continuing to work with that one goal we establish a clear understanding of what needs to be done.  
What is involved, like when you go to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Everyone can make one, but all the tasks required to do so you can actually eat it are the key. Same goes with a goal. All the tasks involved in your goal are all a part of what you need to do.
In this particular case you have all the tasks of what you believe you will need. This makes you stop for a minute and ask yourself. What order do these need to be done in? Now you will take all those tasks that you need and put them into a systematic order. One where you do them and actually get things accomplished.
Most times there are 10 steps required to do something. But what most people do is step 1, step 2, skip to step 4, jump to step 8, and reach step 10 only to find out it didn't work. That is because there is a systematic order for everything and goals are no different. 
When you take your tasks and put them in order of requirement it allows for each step to be completed one at a time. Your results will be so much better. However, it is still necessary to factor in a timeline because not all tasks can be completed just like that. Sometimes they might take a day, a week, a month, or a couple of months to do. You have to take that into account when you are setting a goal because you can't expect results otherwise.
With your one goal set to take action now it is a matter of rinse and repeat for each and every goal you want to achieve. Simple goal setting involves nothing more than making a conscious decision on:

    This is what I want for my money!
    This is what I want to do with my money!
    This is how I'm going to make my money work for me!

This exercise was a minor trip into goal setting. Want to take it further? I invite you to take my 4-module program with videos, session notes, and workbooks. It is a good program to get your money goals set-up and your money vision clear. You can finally start working on what you really want for yourself.