Author: cbarney.45

SMART Goals for 2022

Have a SMART goal in mind.

S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym standing for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. These goals are designed to keep you on track and motivated to achieve what you want in life. They work because instead of just having a general idea of what you want (i.e., “I want to retire early”), they make you think about the path of how to actually get there.

For example, if you want to retire early, how early? Does retiring early mean retiring at 60? 55? 45? You need to set an end date to create a sense of urgency. This will also help you reverse engineer your goal to see if it’s realistic/attainable. You’ll need to figure out how much you need to live off of per month or per year and then can use cool tools like the 4% rule to see how much money you need invested to hit your retirement goal. Are you ok living off of $40,000 per year ($3,333 per month) or do you need $80,000 or more? What expenses will you have when you retire? In addition to basic living (food, water, transportation, cell phone), will you still have a mortgage payment? Don’t forget you’ll likely need to pay for healthcare. Using the 4% rule, you’ll need $1,000,000 invested if you want to live off a $40,000/year income.

The good news is that if you’re young, you have a lot of time to make good financial decisions and allow those good decisions to compound over time. The bad news is, it’s a long time to stay focused on a goal. So Instead of taking a straight line to where you want to go, it might be more of a winding road.

How do you stay focused for 20 years? To do this, you have break it down into more manageable chunks (having “milestones” to look forward to), celebrate the wins once you achieve those milestones, review your goals regularly, have an accountability partner to make sure you’re not straying too far off your path, understanding that sometimes you’ll have to delay gratification, not worry about what others think and stop comparing your life to theirs, and have a strong reason for wanting what you are stating is your goal. Do you want to retire early only so you can sit in front of the tv all day or do you want to enjoy life with others? If it’s the latter, who’s to say you can’t do that now?

Here’s to the new year!

Today is New Year’s Eve.

Recently, I’ve talked a lot about looking forward to the next year – about setting goals, overcoming new challenges, and bettering every aspect of your life to become the best version of yourself.

But as you have free time today, instead of being so future-focused, take time to reflect on the previous year. For some, 2021 has been the best year of their lives. For others, it’s been the most difficult year of their lives. But regardless of the year as a whole, look back in your calendar. I’m sure you’ll be able to find events that contributed to your happiness (like going on vacation, meeting up with friends, etc). Be grateful for the people, circumstances, and your own thoughts/attitude that allowed you to really enjoy those moments. And vow to yourself to have more of those moments this year.

So today’s plan, other than reflecting on the past year, is to ask yourself the following…What events did you do that brought you the most joy last year? Which events brought you the most stress? How can you incorporate more of the good and less of the bad into your schedule for 2022? For things that you love doing, but won’t do unless it’s planned, paid for, and on the calendar, get those scheduled now. It’s too easy to just keep going with “everyday life” and forget to have fun and live a little (especially if you’re a workaholic).

Lastly, end 2021 the right way. Be safe. Be healthy. And try not to start the first day of 2022 hungover and unable to start your goals/resolutions.

Be focused, not finished

Some of us set goals (or have New Years resolutions) and feel like we did something just by writing them down.

Some of us start out with good intentions to accomplish the goals we wrote down, but when motivation wanes, when things get tough, or life gets in the way, we conveniently forget about our goals or discard them.

Some of us accomplish our New Years resolutions early in the year, not because we’re overachievers, but because we set the bar too low (almost like a checklist that has “brush teeth” on it).

And some of us achieve our goals and then relax or return to bad habits to celebrate the accomplishment. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating wins (big and small), and I actually think it’s important to note how far you’ve come. But don’t get complacent. Don’t celebrate too long or get too far off-track. It’s time to get back to work. Just because you’ve accomplished a goal doesn’t mean you’re finished. After all, you’re still alive, right? Everyday, you can get better. Strive to be better than who you were yesterday.

On winning

Part of winning is not being afraid of losing, of looking dumb, of not being “the best” at something…you have to keep pushing your limits. If you want to continue winning in life, you must always be learning and improving. You may be naturally good at certain things, but if you don’t work to improve your game, everyone around you will catch and surpass you.

Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Don’t let fear overcome you. Just go out and get to work.

Phrases to cut out of your life

1) “You always/you never”…Usually, when we use this phrase, we’re blaming someone for something. You always do this thing wrong. You never do this thing right…when in reality, that’s just not true. They may do something that irritates you, but you need to do a better job of explaining to them why it upsets you. If they don’t change (and even if they do, they’ll still likely forget from time to time), do your best to let it go. You’ve said your piece. You can’t force someone to do something.

2) “Why do you/why are you”…I’m only referring to using this in an accusatory tone of voice. “Why are you ___?” instantly puts whomever you’re questioning in a defensive position (much like the “you always/never phrase above). Instead, try to ask them how they’re feeling, if anything is wrong, what their thought process was that caused them to feel/act that way, etc.

3) “I have to”…You technically don’t have to do anything. You get to do that thing. Work on being more grateful for the opportunity to do it. You get to go to work today – to earn a living, to accomplish a task, to pay for food/water/shelter, etc. Change your attitude.

4) “I can’t”…Your mind is a powerful thing. If you constantly tell yourself you can’t do something, you’ll believe it. Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.” So while you may be unable to do something right now, that doesn’t mean you won’t always be able to not do it. Instead of saying “I can’t,” ask yourself “how can I?”

5) “That’s impossible”…See the paragraph above for “I can’t.” There are some things that don’t seem possible, but if someone else has achieved it, you already know that it is possible. Plus, how many times has the human race done something that most people thought was impossible (like sailing around the world, flying in an airplane, going to space, etc)?

6) “You make me”…Once again, this is a very accusatory statement and will likely escalate the argument rather than diffuse it. But you should also remember that you have to take responsibility for how you feel. If someone “makes you mad,” do you not have any control over your own emotions? If not, you can be easily manipulated by anyone who knows how to push your buttons. Change your attitude/perspective.