Goal Setting for People that HATE Thinking About the Future

Hi guys,

So, truth be told, my mindset on goal setting is beginning to change.

I’m starting to think there may be a better way of setting goals. Maybe planning for the next year, five years, or even ten years is a bit outdated.

I mean, who can predict the way their life goes? What if you decide that what you wanted five years ago is no longer what you want today?

Sound familiar?

It did to me too.

That’s why this whole concept of setting small (90 day) goals and focusing with everything you have might make more sense.

There’s actually a strategy that I learned and have been implementing since November.

This is from Todd Herman’s program, “The 90 Day Year.”

Full disclosure: I did not join Todd’s program, and I’m truly bummed I didn’t. But, I have been implementing strategies from his free training course.

Here’s what you do:

Write down your outcome goal

An outcome goal is a pretty specific outcome that you would like to have accomplished at the end of 90 days.

An example outcome goal might be: Pay off $900 credit card at the end of 90 days.

Determine your SPIs

Now that you have your outcome goal set, you need to create a few milestone steps to help you achieve your goal. These milestone steps, or sub-goals, are called strategic performance indicators (SPIs). The SPIs are ideally broken down into about 2 weeks goals. Let’s work on an example assuming today is January 1.

An example SPI might be: Pay off $300 towards credit card by January 15.

Figure out your action steps

Now that you have your outcome goal, and SPIs, you need to figure out how the heck you will achieve your SPI. The way you do this, is by creating tasks that you can accomplish that directly support your SPI. Think of this like your to-do list.

Some example action steps might be:

Work 10 hours extra in overtime.
Bring lunch to work three days per week for the next two weeks.

Isn’t this a beautiful process?

It takes into consideration intense focus on one goal, and breaking that down into supporting goals that will ensure you higher probability of achievement. It also recommends you only work on one project at a time until it is complete. From following this process, I have achieved more in 1 month than I did in 3. No joke!

This is just in time for New Years, because I know you will all be enjoying a few beverages and thinking about what 2016 holds for you.

Happy New Years Eve! Be safe!

Forever livin’ debt free,

Whitney

PS. Is one of your resolutions is to get a good grasp on your financial life? If so, I invite you to join the Manage Your Money Like A Boss community. The most practical personal finance class that will guarantee you results with paying off debt, increasing your savings, and being a rock star with your money.