How To Set Goals You Can Achieve

Well it’s that time of year again when most people are challenged to review their life and set goals for the coming year. With top financial goals to save more money, spend less money, reduce expenses and invest more, there’s no time like the present to change your approach to setting goals and aim for the best in life.

That’s all well and good but stats show that although 73% of Aussies planned to set goals in 2024, approximately 70% don’t succeed in pushing through to achieve these goals (Finder.com.au).

Why do we fail so easily?

One of the key reasons we fail at achieving our goals is a lack of motivation therefore we need to think a bit deeper about why we want change in our life and the meaning behind our goals.

Most of us will have heard of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound) goals but the real success in achieving your goals is to understand the WHY behind them and HOW our mind and emotions work in achieving our goals.

So, if you are sick of setting new years resolutions only to realise 6 months later that nothing has changed then please read on!

Determine the price to pay

A colleague of mine often reminds me that achieving our goals is about determining the price to pay then… paying it! Many people want the nice car or the house near the water, but these things usually come to those willing to pay the price. What this means to most of us is that we need to align our goals with our deeper values – if our goals have a high price tag then we will often have to pay a larger price in time and effort to achieve them.  

Top Tip: Assess what it’s going to take to achieve your goal and align this with your determination to pay the price!

Change is tough

Anything worth achieving usually requires us to change something significant in our life, though we all know that change can be difficult. I like to remind people that change does not usually occur unless we become convinced that the pain associated with not changing becomes greater than the pain associated with the actual change. This also requires us to make decisions that avoid instant gratification to that of delayed gratification.

Top Tip: Keep at the top of mind the pain of not changing!

Visualise your goals

I have a great memory of a friend whose goal from his late teens was to own a castle in Scotland and run this as a hotel. I remember him sharing his visual reminders he kept on him and eventually he did achieve this goal. Another friend kept a picture of his dream boat in his wallet and eventually achieved his goal. Don’t be afraid to use all your senses in “dreaming” for your ideal future – engage your emotions in visualising the end result; how do you feel achieving the goal, what does success sound like!

Top Tip: Engage all your senses in visualising your goals

Chunk your goals

Big, hairy, audacious, goals and complex goals can seem out of reach and unachievable. It’s important to chunk these down to bitesize steps or smaller goals as part of a larger goal. I remember a time I wanted to complete my masters degree; I was a late bloomer so started in my 30’s when I had all the time pressures of raising kids and leading an organisation full time – I decided to study a Graduate Certificate as part of the bigger picture goal of achieving a Masters. This meant I chunked the larger goal into two bitesize achievements which helped give me satisfaction along the way to a larger goal.

Top Tip: Set smaller shorter-term achievements and goals as part of a larger goal

All in all, it’s great to set goals and resolutions, though if you’ve found yourself always starting off great in January then by June you’ve totally lost the plot then you need to try something different!

By determining the price to pay, rationally understanding the pain of not changing, visualising your goal as well as chunking your goals, you’ll increase your chances of success and have a much better chance than last year’s unmet new years resolutions.

Finally, many people can dramatically increase their chances of succeeding with their life goals by engaging a mentor or coach. Whilst we often make this choice naturally with sport, the same concept applies for money and finances. A great Financial Adviser acts as a coach and mentor, guiding your money and investment choices and acting as a sounding board holding you accountable to the goals you are wanting to achieve.

Making great money choices has never been more important, so feel free to reach out to the team at Progressive, where we’ll match you with one of our experienced and qualified advisers.