Hi pal,
It’s that time of the year again where we’re expected to have resolutions and set goals. I thought I’d offer my perspective on goals by sharing an adapted excerpt from my forthcoming book, FINANCE FOR THE PEOPLE, which is available for pre-order now (finally!) and ships on Feb 1, 2022. It’s easy to see why goals get all the glory. They’re aspirational and sexy.
Goals can give us hope, the feeling of progress, and they can provide the
aimless a sense of direction. Reaching a goal is social media-worthy. It’s an
opportunity for attention and recognition. In our current vernacular, it’s
widely acceptable to compliment people by just saying “goals.”
But being too focused on an outcome in every situation is limiting and rigid.
It’s a one-dimensional perspective. It’s inflexible; it kills the possibility of a
different result. Deviating from the path or the goal might be considered a
failure. And this is a big flaw in the goal-setting system. When you don’t
arrive at your intended destination, you’ve failed— a common experience
we all have. Failure can start to feel like a feature of goals and not a bug.
When thinking about goals like this, it forces us to ask if this is a good way
to facilitate meaningful achievement in our lives.
Goals can be elusive and challenging for many reasons. At the core of
achievement, goals require us to change our behavior, to act in the face of
our fears and navigate circumstances outside of our control.
What I had observed over the last few years of actually having had
successes was that achieving a goal seemed to require a paradoxical
approach. An approach where the goal is not an outcome with a distinct
finish line. Instead, a goal could inform a process or system I’d need to
commit to that would typically precede reaching my goal. So, for example,
instead of having the goal to save $10,000, I’d commit to saving 20 percent
of every inflow . . . indefinitely. And when I did this, I tended to exceed
whatever my previous goal had been.
I realized that instead of a goal being the ultimate endpoint, it should
actually be the starting point. I feel like a cliché saying this, but I realized my
approach had become less about arriving at a destination and more about
loving the journey. And it’s made making progress more fulfilling and
sustainable.
When you think about your financial goals for the new year, how can you view them through the lens of processes and systems? What are the behaviors that precede the goal you are trying to reach? Don’t be shy, hit reply!
Your favorite finance friend,
![🍾 If you’re looking to start the year off with the right financial footing, preorder FINANCE FOR THE PEOPLE. ✊🏾 “…a zippy guide to ‘see[ing] your relationship with money in a new light.’” - Publishers Weekly Link in the bio. #financefriend #financeforthepeople](https://gallery.eocampaign1.com/cfe09cbb-865b-11eb-a3d0-06b4694bee2a%2F1641399308449-IMG_1995.JPG)
