Visualize Wealth
What does it mean to 'visualize' my future?
I think everything starts with a vision. I'm a huge supporter of figuring out where you are today, but even more importantly, figuring out where you really want to be in a year or five years or ten years. It's the vision that really propels us, that gives us the inspiration and the motivation to move forward. We have to get crystal clear on what it is that we truly want, because once we know that, getting there just a whole lot easier. That's what visualizing your future is all about.
What are some common mistakes when setting financial goals?
I think one of the biggest mistakes some people make in setting their financial goals is that they just don't! There's so much talk about setting goals, but I think there's a lot of talk but there's not a whole lot of doing. That's the first mistake. People just aren't thinking about what it is that they really want. That's the first hurdle - coming up the things that I want from life: what I want to own, accomplish, and be. Another mistake is not coming up with really specific goals, and goals that are attainable but not easily attainable; things that move you and push you and really inspire you. If you have a list of goals that are really easy to do, you're going to look at them and think, "Big deal" - you're not going to be motivated. You need to have challenging goals, things that make you want to get off the couch and do something. That's the thing that separates mediocre financial goals from good, powerful goals.
What holds people back from setting financial goals?
I think the biggest fear for why people don't set financial goals or any goals for that matter is the fear of failure. I mean no one wants to think that they've lost or that they've failed. And if you think about it, if you set a goal or financial goal you're almost setting yourself up for failure. You're verbalizing, you're writing down, this is what means most to me and this is what I want and this is when I want it and this is how much I want. Well now all of a sudden it becomes really clear whether you've achieved it or not. So success and failure become very very clear. And I think it's easy for people to just have some random thoughts about what it is they want because then if they don't get it, well you know what, it's not so obvious. So if that's kind of the fear that, you know, if I write it down I might not achieve it and if I don't achieve it I'm going to feel like a loser. But you know what, the difference between winners and losers is that winners actually fail. Not that losers fail, but that winners fail. And they fail because they set the bar just a little bit higher than the losers. So by setting the bar just a little bit higher eventually you will fail but that's ok. Because it's all about moving on to the next one. About pushing yourself a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit more.
How many financial goals should I set?
Everyone should have sixteen and a half financial goals. No, there's really no set number. It's like asking someone, "How many calories should I consume a day?" It just depends. I've seen people with literally hundreds of financial goals. It's a beautiful thing. I truly think the more financial goals you have, the more in touch you are with your vision for your life. The more you have, the merrier, in my opinion.
