You don’t see the words “finance” and “exciting” used in the same sentence very often — personal finance can seem like a pretty boring topic. Because of that, it’s easy to neglect our financial goals. To build momentum and stay motivated to achieve those goals, make them small and exciting.
Australian currency picture from Shutterstock
We’ve told you that it’s important to set smaller milestones for your goals. This helps break them up and make them a bit more digestible. But Trent Hamm of the Simple Dollar takes this tip a step further and makes his goals exciting ones, too. He explains:
When I first truly realised how deep our financial troubles were, the first thing I did was go to the library and check out a small mountain of personal finance books. Those books were full of great advice, but the pieces that really stuck out at me were the ones that really spoke to my situation of someone earning a solid income yet still struggling with debt. What did those books tell me to do? Set relatively short-term goals with exciting outcomes. The first thing I did was spend a week or two cleaning out my closet and selling off my unnecessary items. This was a very clear goal with a very clear outcome — less stuff, more cash. That cash would be used to get my head back above water and pay down some of the bills that I was behind on. Since I sold some vintage baseball and trading cards, I ended up with enough to actually pay off one of my credit cards! It was a clear, attainable, and exciting personal finance goal.
When drafting your financial goal, it helps to define it in those terms — clear, attainable, and exciting. There’s nothing exciting about cleaning out your closet and selling stuff on eBay. But paying off a credit card when you’ve been in debt for a long time? That’s exciting.
This excitement is a great introduction into a more financially savvy lifestyle. Instead of seeing finance as a boring chore, it becomes an exciting series of small wins. Over time, these small wins will help you reach your larger goals.
For more detail, check out Hamm’s full post at the link below.
Setting Attainable and Exciting Financial Goals [The Simple Dollar]
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