Marilyn asks: “I’m about to set my goals for 2016 and was wondering what you though was the best way to set goals that I would actually achieve? I’ve heard about “SMART” goals but is this the best way to define my financial goals?”
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Q&A 58 – How Should I Set My Goals? – Shownotes
This question comes from Marilyn and was actually asked around a month ago, but I decided to save it for today as it seems incredibly relevant with people setting their new goals for 2016.
Marilyn asks:
I’m about to set my goals for 2016 and was wondering what you though was the best way to set goals that I would actually achieve?
I’ve heard about “SMART” goals but is this the best way to define my financial goals?
A Longer Interview On Goals
Unusually, I’m actually going to refer to a podcast that I’ve previously recorded with Stacking Benjamins, but rather than adding the link into the show notes, I thought I would add a replay of this interview which fully explains why I set goals.
This interview was from January 2015, but don’t worry, the theory behind setting goals isn’t going to go out of date in just one year.
Also, there are some references to the “2015 Moneystepper Savings Challenge”. As regular listeners will know, this is now an ongoing challenge and we are getting ready for the start of the new calendar year for 2016. If you join the challenge before the end of 2015, you can join for the reduced entry fee of £39 (standard entry is £99) and you will receive an additional 10% discount if you use the promo code “podcast”:
Anyway, enjoy this extract and I hope that it explains my thoughts on goal setting and why I think goals should not only be SMART, but in fact they should be SMARTER!
More Thoughts On Goals
One last suggestion. If you want to understand why we chose the goals we did for the Moneystepper Savings Challenge (financial dream, net worth annual improvement and average savings rate), then head to the show notes for a link to our “Gargantuan Goals Are Great” article.
Ask Your Question
This show runs three times a week and answers all of your personal finance questions. If you have any questions, please don’t be shy to ask. You can ask in three ways:
- Leave a comment on any of the Q&A podcast shownotes (including this one)
- Email me at moneystepper@gmail.com
- Leave a message on the Speakpipe App which you will find below and on our “submit a question” page:
Jayson @ Monster Piggy Bank says
SMARTER! I like this idea more. And, I think we need to review our goals once in a while to make us reminded of our status and whether we are on the right track to our goals or not. Nice advice Moneystepper.