Setting Financial Goals
Identifying what you want
from life and what dream do you have. Don't laugh
at anyone's dreams, people who don't dream don't have
much.
A
study done by Harvard University way back in the 1950s
asked graduating seniors what their goals were. Only 3
percent of the class actually could discuss their goals
and dreams. At the twentieth reunion of this class,
Harvard followed up and discovered that the 3 percent
who had been able to formulate their dreams actually put
performed their classmates. Interestingly, that 3
percent carries over to the population as a whole. It is
estimated that only 3 percent of Americans plan
seriously for their futures, and of that 3 percent, only
20 percent ever develop a written plan and follow it
through to a conclusion.
To start your
financial-planning process, you need to set your goals so you can
then get the process in motion.
To
get where you're going, you've got to know where you're going.
That's what setting goals will do for you. Goals give you direction
and a destination---they quantify what you want. Together, we'll
work on realizing those goals. I'll help you plot your course and
help you stay on that course.
Here
are some questions you might want to ask yourself as you start this
process:
You
have the power to achieve your goals, and the first step
to achieving them is to put pen to paper and write them
down. Writing your goals down stimulates a part of the
brain called the reticular activating system. This
system begins a filtering process and, when activated,
begins collection information and routing it to the
conscious part of your brain. So, when opportunity
knocks, you will answer the door. That's the technical
reason why writing your goals down works---because it
makes aware of them. So this wonderful thing that sits
inside your skull works to help you achieve your dreams
even as you grocery shop or sleep.
