I only truly discovered the power of goal setting later in life. And if I think back to all the goals and progress, I could have made, I realise I have two choices: Get up, start moving and play catch up or sit back, regret what I could have had and allow life to pass me by. If you are in a similar boat, then decide right now what are you going to do differently to make your life better. Author, Robin Sharma says, “Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.” So, if you want a different life, make different decisions. If your life isn’t where you want it to be or hasn’t turned out the way you would have liked, its an indication that something is not working. It’s time to take different actions.

Goal setting is a powerful tool that will help you to get to your dream life. It won’t happen overnight, but it is a step in the right direction. It’s worthwhile to remember that progression always moves you one step closer to where you need to be. So how do you go about setting goals? Life coaches use various tools and techniques to help clients set personal goals that help steer them towards success. One such tool is the wheel of life which allows individuals to set goals in various aspects of life such as physical, relationships, career, growth, spiritual and financial.

Money Messages focuses on financial wellness and helps their clients to identify and implement plans to achieve their financial goals. We share some tips on how to set financial goals so that you can have a financially successful 2022. What we do ask of you, is to spend some time reflecting and crystallise your goals and make sure you do this through journaling and putting pen to paper.

Tips to identify your money goals

  1. Begin by thinking ahead. Close your eyes and transport yourself forward to the future. Imagine it is the 31st of December 2022. Another year has flown by. What does your life look like? What would you have achieved financially? Visualise the details. Whilst you want to dream big, you also want to be realistic in terms of what you can achieve in 12 months.
  2. . Write a letter to your future self, date it 31st December 2022 and list all the financial goals you desired in step 1. Write your letter in the present. Express gratitude for having achieved your goals.
  3. Use our Financial Wellness Wheel below to set financial goals. Remember to choose realistic goals that can be achieved within the year. Next month we will share tips on how you can create your action plan. For now, start with identifying your financial goals.

Financial Wellness Wheel

Appreciate: Success begins and appreciates with gratitude. Being thankful for the money, assets and income you currently have will allow you to attract and see more opportunities to create wealth and wellness. What you choose to focus and give attention to will grow. Giving enables us to express gratitude for what we have and offers the opportunity to improve others lives. The more we have, the more we are able to give.

Build: Work towards building an emergency fund: Your goal is to save towards a lump sum that would cover a minimum of 3 to 6 months expenses (expenses not income). The more savings you have access to, the more months it buys you. This is especially important in times of loss of income. The larger your savings, the bigger your piece of mind.

Grow: Accumulating and growing assets helps to increase your net worth and create wealth: Consider which assets you would like to acquire during the year such as property, shares, and other investments.

Increase: Focus on ways in which to increase your income and returns. Learn a new skill, improve your qualifications, update your CV, apply for new career opportunities, or start a side hustle.

Plan: Meet with a financial planner to draft your financial plan, review your tax planning, top up your retirement contributions and file your taxes on time to avoid penalties.

Protect: Protect your assets and income. Accumulating assets and then losing it is a sickening feeling. Insurance offers protection to some degree. If you have existing insurance in place, reviewing and updating this is beneficial. If you are self-employed, protect your income against illness, disability, and death. If you have dependents, make sure you have sufficient risk cover to protect them in the event of your death, disability and or illness.

Reduce: Every year, try to reduce and pay off debt. This helps to increase your net worth. Determine the value of debt you wish to reduce or pay off by the end of the year. Create a spending plan to help you manage your expenses. Identify ways in which to spend money wisely. Review any fees or taxes you pay and try to find ways in which to reduce them.

Save: Your short-term goals should not be funded by credit as this makes your goal more expensive. Save towards your short-term financial goals such as your December holiday, luxury items or new gadgets.

The wheel gives you an idea of various financial goals you can consider to achieve financial success. Whilst each spoke in the wheel is important in your holistic financial plan, focus on those that are of extreme importance to your own personal life and circumstances. You can set longer term goals for the remaining spokes.