Setting Resolutions...better yet, Goals for the New Year

Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success. ~Stephen A. Brennan

It is a new year and a chance to start over again. It is during this time that many people try to make "New Years Resolutions" only to realize that a month into the new year that the same old habits are still prevalent. Whether it is exercising, controlling spending or reducing debt, many of us find that we have good intentions when we start, however it is hard to stay consistent with our intentions.

At the beginning of 2008, I decided to set goals to improve my life (financially, physically and other ways). After spending about a week figuring out some of the things I wanted to accomplish, I decided to write them down. Now in retrospect, coming into this new year, I have looked at my previously written goals and feel a great sense of accomplishment due to the fact that I have completed most of the goals that I set for 2008.

During a recent conversation with my sister, I let her know of my sense of accomplishment due to the status of my goals for 2008. We discussed the idea of writing down these goals and she agreed 100% that writing down goals for the new year was the way to go. I know that sounds amazingly easy, however, there was a very meticulous procedure that was followed in order to ensure success in obtaining these goals. Below is the procedure followed:

1. Write the goals down.
• Writing down your goals helps you remember what exactly you want to accomplish.
• It allows for accountability of the goals.
  
2. Write a tangible metric to measure success on obtaining goal.
• How do you know when your goal is reached?
• Write down an expected outcome to measure the expected results once the goals has been met.
  
3. Give yourself a deadline.
• Just writing down goals without any deadline can make that goal last forever.
  
4. Write possible steps to obtain your goals.
• Jotting down some typical first steps for your goal can provide an immediate action plan to start on your goal.
  
5. Share your goals with a friend for accountability.
• Sharing your goals with a friend can help you facilitate discussions to double check that proper progress is being made on the goal.
• Your friends can offer a different perspective on obtaining your goals.
  
6. Check your goals monthly to note the type of progress being made.
• Always check your progress monthly to make sure obtaining your goal is on track to meet the deadline.
7. Remember, "It is Easy as P.I.E."
• Plan, Implement and Evaluate.

*Extra: Choose a theme for yourself that represents your ideas/goals for 2009* (My Theme: "No Excuses")

Creating goals can help you finally reach your financial situation that you have been wanting to achieve in previous years. In addition to your personal finances, settings goals can help with obtaining a more fulfilling life with accomplishing things that you set your mind to.

When discussing the previous year, a lot of my close friends looked back at 2008 and are very happy that it is over. In order to prevent experiencing the same feelings for year 2009, we have made sure to set appropriate goals, share them and go about the proper steps to accomplish them.

What are some of the recommendations that you have for setting goals? What other recommendations do you have to improve your life for 2009? Leave them in the comments below.

Stay disciplined!

The Investor's Mindset (Introduction)

Getting in the mindset to invest has been a challenging experience. Dealing with the challenges of wanting to keep up with the Jones's, being able to gracefully accept a gain in stock and dealing with the humbling effects of losing half of my total investment (in that very same stock) has caused me experience a roller coaster of emotions. The most important thing to note during this experience is that through each of these times, one goal has remained in my mind:

"Retire comfortably by age 45"

Before investing, I find that one needs to set a goal. Whether it be to purchase your dream home, become a millionaire or just retire earlier than the "status quo", a goal is needed to keep the focus during the times of emotional instability caused by the ups and downs of life. This mindset is taken from the motto, "It's easy as P.I.E."

• Plan
• Implement
• Evaluate

Basically, as long as you "Plan, Implement and Evaluate", you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to. With that said, I have decided in my mind that my goal is to retire comfortably by age 45.

After deciding what your goal is, you must define it. "Reitre comfortably" to me means to be able to have enough money to sustain a lifestyle that is comparable to my life now. Understand at the moment as a 23 year old bachelor, I do not have much responsibility. However, with a wife, children or whatever other responsibility I may have, I want to be able to spend money using my debit card without having to check my bank statement every month and possibly overdrafting my account. With this understanding, I decided to look at my current allocation of funds to all of my expenses and calculated that "comfortable" at age 45 would require me to have at least be 130% of that per year for at least 40 years.

Now although there is little rhyme and reason as to why that number was chosen, it gives me an actual tangible figure that I can set as my goal. To determine how I will reach my goal, I used sites like BankRate.com to calculate different scenarios and figure out how much money I need to save per month in an investment suitable for my goals. In addition to that, I have read books (Investing for Dummies), countless blogs and magazines and have literally surrounded myself with investing and finance. After putting all of this information together, I finally developed an investment plan and have come up with my means to reach my goal.

I will begin to detail my saving strategies as well as provide other information that I find useful in the journey to obtain my financial goals. This blog will also continue to have the notes from each of our meetings and may even have a special guests to contribute their own personal finance goals and means to obtain them. Overall, I hope that you are able to use the information here to assist with obtaining your financial goals. Stay tuned...