As the end of yet another year approaches, the time to get intentional about your goals is NOW.
While I don’t necessarily think new year constitutes the need for intentionality, it sure doesn’t hurt! Not to mention, my Virgo nature loves the thought of a fresh start!
Since this can be a great time to think about what you’ve accomplished up until this point and what you still want to accomplish, I’d like to share 6 tips for setting intentional money goals.
As we constantly level up our money situation, there should always be new goals to strive for. Get ready to set your most intentional money goals yet!
6 Tips for Setting Intentional Money Goals
#1 Before setting your money goals, visualize your dream life
I love this exercise – especially if you’ve never done something like this before! Close your eyes. Take a deep breath in, then out. Imagine your dream life if money was no object.
Forget about what you’re dealing with now and just visualize what you’d like your life to look like. What do you see?
Visualization is a great way to manifest the things you want most. Not only does your brain register that dream life as something that’s possible for you, but studies show that you will then make decisions that help you get there.
Even if nothing does come from the exercise, what’s the harm in imagining yourself living your dream life?!
#2 Make sure your goals include a timeframe and specific amount
You probably already know this, but the best goals are the ones that follow the S.M.A.R.T criteria. Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time specific.
As long as the goals you create follow that criteria, you have everything you need to succeed.
As you think about your money goals for the new year, make sure you follow the criteria above so that you can set goals that can be reached.
Not sure which money goals to work on first? Check out the article 5 Money Goals to Set for the New Year.
#3 Review your budget to make sure your goals are realistic
Wondering how to confirm if the goals you’ve set are realistic or not? Review your budget!
Your budget should give you a good idea of what you can reasonably afford to put towards your goals each month. If your goal is too aggressive, your budget will let you know.
As you are divvying out your profit, make sure you’re putting money to the side for some fun every month. If you’re all work and no play, you may end up splurging – and that doesn’t help anyone!
You can also get creative with ways to make more money to ensure you reach your goal. Just be realistic with your efforts!
#4 Don’t stretch yourself too thin when setting your goals
Make sure that you’re not working on too many goals at once, which prolongs achieving them. Also, make sure that the amount you contribute to your goals isn’t cutting it too close.
This will help you avoid falling off track if something pops up and throws your budget off.
Give yourself a little wiggle room and grace when setting your goals. We want them to be realistic and attainable. To ensure that happens, you can’t stretch yourself or your resources too thin during the process.
#5 Give yourself a specific “why” for each goal
Take it from me – the day-to-day grind can be rough. Avoiding the temptation to eat out. Turning down an invitation to go out. Skipping Amazon Prime for a month.
All of these things can be worth doing when you know “why”!
As you think about your money goals, make sure you have a very clear “why” for each of them. Why do you want to achieve the goal? Why is the goal important to you?
Having that why will help make the day-to-day grind of working towards the goal so much easier.
#6 Review or write your money goals down daily
To help ensure you never lose sight of your goals, review them daily or write them out every day! This helps keep your goals front and center.
When your goals are top of mind, you can make the best choices to reach the goals. You’ll also think twice about doing things that don’t help you get closer to the end goal.
I personally do both! I have my goals written down on a dry erase board in my office, that I can see daily. I also journal daily, and part of my journaling process is to write my goals down.
Since you’re not focusing on too many goals at once, this is an easy exercise that makes all the difference!
Related: The Best Way to Set Your Money Goals for the New Year
Setting goals can be an exciting process if you let it! Focus on how great life will be when you reach the goal and put a plan in place to achieve it! You’re capable of setting and reaching money goals, you just have to be intentional.
Have you set your money goals? I’d love to hear your money goals, whether they’re new or you’ve been working on them for a while. Drop your comment below to share!
1 thought on “6 Tips for Setting Intentional Money Goals”
We covered a lot of these tips in the latest 2022 Financial Goal Planning Workshop. These are definitely important points to keep in mind when setting your money goals!