Enough with this new year, new me rubbish! Don't waste your time with another new year's resolution that will be over in 60 days for 80% of us. A goal without a plan is merely a dream. In this article I’m going to show you how to turn 5 goals into an action plan which can dramatically turn your life around in 2019.
PERSONAL PLAN
Let’s get this one out of the way now, because it’s probably the first thing most people go to when they think of their goals. This is the selfish goal, but don’t get me wrong, with this plan, it’s ok to be selfish.
What do you want to do for yourself this year? Increase your income? A trip overseas? A new car? Some time off to learn a new hobby? Think about what YOU want to do this year, above all else.
Everyone needs their own personal goal they that can work towards as a reward for putting in the hard yards. Some might already have this mapped out, for those that don’t, I suggest putting a plan in place now on what your selfish goal is and then outline the steps you need to do to achieve it.
Now, write down your PERSONAL GOAL.
Write down what you need to do each month to make this goal achievable.
FINANCIAL PLAN
Remember every dollar counts. Firstly, before we look at the bigger goal, I want you to assess every dollar going in and every dollar going out and make small changes to cut off loose ends and refine your position.
Re-evaluate your debts – When was the last time you refinanced? Are you getting the best rate, lowest fees? What about any personal loans? Or credit cards? Would you be better off using a redraw facility and paying out the cards/loans? Are you utilising your offset facility in conjunction with your credit cards?
Sit down, run the numbers on your debts and set a simple plan to get them reorganised and/or refinanced. Talk to a broker or an advisor to get a 2nd opinion. Then make the changes needed – this could save you thousands.
Assess your expenses – Let me tell you a quick story – On my last overseas holiday, I recently “misplaced” my debit card. After frantically calling the bank and cancelling my card I had to wait for a new one. Now I’ve had the same card/account for many years and had a few direct debits on this card. Once I got the new card, I managed to move the direct debits over. It wasn’t until the following months I got a whole heap of emails notifying me that a heap of other direct debits had stopped and reminding me to update my bank details. After reviewing all the emails, I didn’t even realise who was actually charging me and I was able to cancel over $300 worth of unnecessary expenses (apps, subscriptions, memberships, software) I was paying each month – simply because I forgot they were coming out. Moral of the story – assess all expenses and cut off the unnecessary ones now!
Examine your income – What are you on track to earn in 2019? Is it going to cover all expenses and give you excess to put towards something personal? Can you increase your income? Is there room for career/business growth? Or do you need to think outside the box? (ps. we teach clients ways to increase their income, simple & easy)
Assess the 3 points above
Write down your FINANCIAL GOAL for 2019
Write down what you need to do each month to work towards this goal
INVESTMENT PLAN
We believe investments should never be viewed in the short term, although, you should assess your position regularly and identify your direction.
Are you happy with what you have? Are you in a position to expand on your portfolio? Are you looking to transition to retirement? Hows your Super performing? Should you be focusing on capital growth or should you be focusing on cashflow? Or are you simply going to try to add more to your offset account this year?
If you don’t have a strategy, you need to get one. You can talk to one of our property strategists for a consultation, it costs you nothing and it can definitely help point you in the right direction.
Write down your INVESTMENT GOAL
Write down any monthly steps you will need to take to make this goal come to life
RELATIONSHIP PLAN
In my household it is definitely a case of happy wife happy life. We don’t just plan with money and rewards in mind, we believe you should plan to keep your mind and relationships in check too.
Do you want to get married this year? Maybe add to the family with a new baby? Take your other half on a small getaway? Maybe catch up with a family member? Help support your family more?
Identify your number one goal and each month set in place a plan to work towards helping the relationship between your friends, family and partners.
Write down your RELATIONSHIP GOAL
Write down monthly steps to action this goal, or one to work on each month
HEALTH PLAN
Think positively, eat healthy, exercise regularly and worry less. A healthy mind, body and spirit can be life’s most powerful tool. Therefore, you should plan for this too.
What are you going to do this year, to get fit, stay active and maintain good health?
NB: if you always put a goal to diet and you constantly break it, then try to ease into it. Try cutting out sugar for a week, then 2 weeks, then a month, etc - you get the point.
I want you to write down one big goal to help improve your overall HEALTH
Next write down your month to month plan that will work towards achieving that goal.
PUT THE PLAN IN PLACE
Right now, you should have 5 major goals to achieve this year:
Personal
Financial
Investment
Relationship
Health
You should have also written down monthly plans to action these goals.
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The last thing I want you to do, is write down a REWARD and a PUNISHMENT.
Each month you have 5 smaller goals (one for each topic) – that will work towards your 5 large goals.
If at the end of each month you can tick off all 5 goals – then give yourself a reward. Eg; An expensive dinner night
On the other hand, at the end of the month, if you can only tick off 3 goals – then find a punishment for yourself. Eg; training with no music/headphones.
In fact - go one better and break these 5 major goals into weekly goals.
Start off with the big picture, break it down to monthly and then weekly and your goals break away from a simple dream and quickly turn into an action plan. This is a tried and tested method.
If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. So try something different. Write it down, stick it on your wall and give it a crack!!! What’s the worst that could happen?
If you're having trouble assessing you financial and investment goals, feel free to have a chat to one of our property strategists for an obligation free consultation. Getting an opinion from an expert can save you tens of thousands of dollars - Contact Us.
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