Setting Goals

I love sitting down with Justin about this time of year and talking about goals. We always look back at last years goals and set new ones too. Here are a few tips that we found work really well for us:

• Write out your goals. Justin likes to use an Excel spread sheet to set goals out in categories. He makes a column of categories such as Personal, Professional and Financial. He then makes a column for the next year, five year and ten year projections. If that doesn't work for you, then make a simple list! I like to make the list on my computer so that I can print it out and put it above my desk on my bulletin board and I don't need to worry about loosing them!
• Make your goals measurable and specific so that you can reward yourself when you reach them! They can be lofty but be sure they are specific. For example, instead of "travel more" your goal should be "take a trip to a Presidential Library."
• Write your goals in the positive. For example, write out what you want to do (Save $1000) not what you want to stop doing (Stop spending so much).
• Share your goals with your close friends or family. If you know that someone else knows what you want to do, you are more likely to do it!