Tag: future

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?

Being proactive

Do you know the worst part about trying to be proactive?

You can’t quantify the results. How can you say that you saved “x” dollars or “y” lives for an event that didn’t happen because you took action to prevent it from happening? And how do you absolutely know that if you hadn’t acted the way you had, that an event would have played out the way you thought? There are no guarantees.

But you can’t look at it that way. You have to take the best action you believe possible with the information you have at hand. Because what’s more expensive? Going to the doctor AFTER you got sick? Or NOT having to go to the doctor because you took care of yourself?

You might as well pay a little more right now to use a gym membership, to pay for and eat healthy foods, and to sharpen your mind. At first, it’s more expensive than sitting on the couch, eating potato chips, but what are your future costs? Try to be proactive and make the best decisions not only for the now, but also for the future.

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with…Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.” – Jim Rohn

Does your environment support your goals? Are you hanging out with success-minded people? Are they fair, open-minded, and a positive influence? Take a look at who you spend the most time with. Do their behaviors align with what you have in mind?

When trying to determine what path you and your friends/colleagues are on, you have to look at the big picture. Don’t only look at monetary successes. Money doesn’t make someone happy. It’s one part of the equation, but you also have to take into account family/social life, physical and mental health, etc. Are your friends on the same track as you or are they heading down a path you don’t want to go? If it’s the former, they may be further ahead or further behind you, but if you’re all working towards a common destination, you can all learn, grow, and get to your destination together. If it’s the latter, you should try to help them get back on track (if that’s what they want) or you may need to let that relationship go.

Lastly, don’t make this transactional. Life is about relationships. You should love hanging out with these people! If you don’t love talking with them and spending time with them, why are you doing it? Don’t abuse your relationships or try to “trade up” who you’re hanging out with just to get further ahead in life. Ideally, you will be hanging out with some people who are already where you want to be heading. They can almost serve as a mentor to you (but don’t call them that unless you want to freak them out). You should also help to guide those whom you are in front of, trying to pave a path for their future success. Being at both ends of the spectrum (being the mentee AND the mentor) will keep you motivated, inspired, and still focused on giving back rather than only trying to take from those ahead of you.