For this year's financial series, we are going to focus on different aspects of financial wellbeing and provide strategies to make sure that your future is clear in 2020 and beyond.
January is the time for new goals and resolutions for the upcoming year. However, diving head first into multiple goals at once isn’t the most effective strategy into achieving them. Setting clear, concise goals will help you focus on what you want to achieve and learning how to prioritize them will allow you to actually achieve them. Here are some tips when it comes to prioritizing your goals.
WRITE THEM DOWN
Studies have shown that writing down goals make you 42% more likely to achieve them. This is because two things happen when you write something down: external storage (where you write your goals) and encoding (storing things in your long-term memory) The more detail and description you include with these written goals, the better.
ORGANIZE BY TIME LENGTH
When setting goals, they can most likely be categorized into three different types: short-term, medium-term, and long-term. Long-term goals should work in tandem with the majority of your short and medium-term goals. For example, let’s say your long-term goal is to save money for a big purchase, like a home. If your shorter-term goals are all about saving for a vacation, spending time with friends, and having more fun, this contradicts your long-term goal.
CHOOSE WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT
Now that you have a nice list of organized goals, now is the time to start prioritizing them. This prioritization will depend on what is most important to you. Start by selecting one short-term goal, one medium-term goal, and one long-term goal. Once you reach a goal, go back to your list and select another one to take its place. After getting into this routine over time, you can continue to create goals and add them to your list.
SHARE WITH SOMEONE
Once your goals are set and you're ready to start working on them, share them with a friend or family member. This will not only help hold you accountable to the goals you set, but provide additional support towards achieving them from those around you.
