You want to reach your financial goals, but for some reason you just can’t seem to get momentum. Ever feel that way?
What’s tripping you up? What keeps you from overcoming those hurdles to financial freedom? Have you thought about what is holding you back?
If you want to reach your goals, you have to evaluate what needs to be done to get there. Usually there are some underlying reasons why you are not hitting your targets that we need to call out on the carpet and address.
Here are three things that are (probably) sapping your momentum and keeping you from getting ahead financially. Deal with these properly, and you’ll start reaching your goals.
Procrastination
Do you keep putting off making that budget , signing up for that 401k or calling the credit card companies to negotiate rates so you can get rid of your credit card debt faster!
Are you really good at coming up with a To-Do list, but horrible at checking things off?
Have you been thinking about reviewing your investment allocation and risk, or figuring out which retirement account is right for you?
Don’t put off til tomorrow what you can do today. I know that’s easier said than done – especially with the things you don’t particularly enjoy, like personal finance. We tend to put off what we don’t like or don’t want to do. Until you deal with your procrastination, you will not reach your financial goals.
My guess is that some of you will read this and say, “Yeah, I need to overcome that” and then keep reading while totally forgetting about the very thing you need to do. If you have to come back to this post at a later time so you can go call the credit card company or go review your personal financial budget, by all means d0 so!
Undefined Goals
So you want to save money, pay off bills and retire early. Ok, join the club. What does that look like for you though? We often don’t specify exactly what we want to accomplish. Writing down your goals, stating dollar amounts or percentages and setting dates for when you would like to achieve your goals is key to getting there.
Don’t fall prey to dealing with generalities. Get specific. What exactly do you want to accomplish? By when? Debt free? Great – write it down, put a date next to it and come up with a plan on how to get there. Retire early? Ok. When? Why? How much will you need. Get specific. Get detailed. Write it down. Now you’re getting closer to reaching those goals you have.
Discontentment
This one is hard because we all suffer from discontentment to a degree and oftentimes don’t even realize it. Do you find yourself dreaming about what you don’t have rather than counting your blessings and being thankful for what you do have?
Why is it that our stuff usually looks worn out and old, while other people’s looks nice and new. We want what other people have so often, don’t we? Maybe it’s just me.
Discontentment robs us of so much joy, energy and money! It’s a major roadblock to reaching our goals because we get consumed with buying more “things” rather than being content.
If you’re consumed with what you don’t have you may go into debt faster, easily spend more than you make and ultimately destroy your financial goals sooner. Discontentment is one of the greatest dangers to killing your financial goals. Contentment is a rare jewel found these days, but one worth fighting for!
What else needs to be overcome to reach your financial goals?
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Photoby MAJH12
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Procrastination and lack of determination. Bill Gates was the one who once said that “most failed entrepreneurs gave up just a breath away from success”.
Jason, well said. I think having accountability when trying to attain financial goals is important and helpful. It could be a friend, counselor or family member. Sometimes this is hard as you have to open your personal finances for others to see. But, if you say you’re going to build an emergency fund with X dollars by the end of the year and you’ve identified steps to get there; you may need someone to ask you tough questions when you get off track. “Why didn’t you fund your savings that month?” “Why did you draw upon your savings?” “No, you shouldn’t use your savings for a vacation until you’ve reached your goal and have saved more.”
Undefined goals is a killer. You need some real goals to make real, measurable improvement!
Sam
The Yakezie
All of 3 of these sound like me. Thanks for the post. It was a great eye opener.
your articles are eye-openers.Bravo!
Dave,thanks to you . I have acheived three of my goals such as paid of few debt ,cut off credit cards ,increased my auto insurance deductable and decreased my premium without my second half to fully anderstand what do you think I should .?