Last week, we began working on our money mindset. Definitely go through Week 1 if you haven’t done so already!

This week, we’re focusing on setting financial goals. 

Now, if you’ve never experienced my version of goal setting, you’re going to LOVE it! It’s not your typical, set a SMART goal and hope you accomplish it. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of smart goals, but I find that they don’t work as well as the strategy we’re discussing today. 

So let’s dive in. Here’s how to set better financial goals.

Step 1: Get clear on what you actually want

While this sounds incredibly easy and straight forward, I find that this is the hardest place to start for us all. There are so many cool things to do and amazing choices that it becomes quickly overwhelming. This is why it’s so important to get clear on what you personally want- not what your mom wants for you, not what society tells you you should do. 

I used to think that all I wanted was a bougie lifestyle with a fancy house, nice cars, and high quality clothes. After really getting clear on what matters to me, I actually realized that at this moment in my life having a nice house with several thousand square feet didn’t mean as much to me as I thought. Instead, having a house that is 100% paid for by the time I’m 35 is much more enticing. And the super nice car that I thought I wanted– actually doesn’t fit my active, outdoorsy lifestyle. Instead, I opted for an older SUV with seats that fold totally flat so I can car camp and explore in comfort. 

This doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate the finer things in life; it just means that when I weighed out the opportunity costs and realized that in order to have that nicer home and fancy car meant not being able to travel as frequently and having an additional layer of financial stress on my business and life, I realized, it actually wasn’t that important to me. 

You might be totally different is what is truly important to you. 

Step 2: Focus on the Core Four 

The Core Four was introduced to me by one of my favorite podcasts, Good To Be Home. The concept is simple. There are four areas of our lives that we should be working towards– Body, Being, Balance, Business.

♥ Body- what you want your physical health to be like

♥ Being- your own level of spirituality

♥ Balance- what your relationships with loved ones and others looks like

♥ Business- how do you make money

I try to focus on these core areas. Now, I truly don’t believe in a balanced life, but I do believe that actively working towards balance is better than saying, “screw it. I’ll never achieve balance so I won’t even try.”

Your life will always be a little lopsided, but it doesn’t have to feel completely out of balance. 

Step 3: Set daily intentions for the Core Four

I have a waterproof shower notepad that I jot down my shower thoughts on. In the shower one morning, while waiting for my face mask to work its wonders I asked myself, what is one daily action item I could set in each of these four areas. 

That way I’m always doing at least one thing towards bettering my overall life. 

So jot down one small thing you can do every single day to better each of these areas. 

Step 4: Set a 90 day outcome goal for yourself

Now that you are clear on what you want, and aware of the four areas, first and foremost, focus on one incredibly actionable, you know if you accomplish it or not, goal. DO NOT try and set a goal in each of these areas your first 90 day goal. Remember, the man who chases many rabbits catches none. 

An outcome goal is something that you might not be overly familiar with. This is a concept that rocked my world. Instead of focusing on a goal of going to the gym everyday

Bad Goals: Go to the gym everyday. Pay extra towards debt. Make more money.

Better Goals: Run a 10K in 40 minutes. Pay off my $3,000 Chase card. Earn an extra $1,500. 

See the difference? If we just said pay off debt, and you paid an extra $50 over 90 days, are you really happy with that? You didn’t technically fail that goal. But loosey-goosey goals are not helpful for propelling you forward.

They must be an outcome goal.

• Listen to this podcast episode for more on setting better financial goals 

Step 5: Break your 90 day outcome goal into actionable KPIs

Once you have a better idea of what ONE outcome goal you would like to accomplish in the next 90 days, you can then start to set two small daily action items in each of these areas.

If you are trying to earn an extra $1,500 over 90 days, you would need to bring in $16.67 extra per day or $116.69 per week. That metric broken down into daily and weekly targets become your KPIs (key performance indicators). They allow you to unbiasedly see if you are on track or need to up your game. I find KPIs to be incredibly helpful.

Now that we know exactly how much money we need, we can start to get creative with how you might bring in an extra $16.67 per day.

Look at your 90 day goal and ask yourself, if I could only do two things every day that would result in my accomplishing this goal in 90 days, what would they be?  What two small things can you do every day to bring in an extra $16.67?

You might be wondering why on earth we have the Core Four if we are focusing on financial goals. Well, research shows that if you are incredibly unbalanced in all areas of your life, you will have a much harder time finding true success with money. 

The person who is skipping the gym, will very likely not have the energy needed to sustain a thriving business, Just like the person who doesn’t actively work on Being and express gratitude for others, might have crappy personal relationships. 

In a nutshell- we can’t compartmentalize our life. It all trickles together and every area impacts the other areas of our lives.

My Personal Action Plan

Based on the action steps above, here is my personal action plan for the next 90 days. 

Step 1: Clarity-

 I want to live a life that I’m content with emotionally, have a business that impacts hundreds of thousands of people, and always feel financially in control. I don’t care about material items. I want to be productive, work on projects that excite and challenge me, and be able to explore within my career. I also want to take 1 week trips once per quarter.

Step 2/3: My Core Four Daily Action Items- 

Body- Drink 100 oz of water, eat at least 1,600 calories per day

Being- Meditate using Calm app, write down my gratitude of the day

Balance- shut my phone and computer off by 8 PM

Business- 4 productive Pomodoro sessions

Step 4: 90 Day Outcome Goal

Bring in an extra $2,500 (not from business income) and save towards an investment property. 

Step 5: 90 Day Outcome Goal KPIs

Daily Income Target: $27.78 

Weekly Income Target: $194.46

How might I earn an extra $27.76 per day or $194.46 per week? 

~4 Uber Eats trips, flip 1 cell phone per day, collect 3 scooters for Bird, sell 2 bundles on my Etsy Shop

You get the idea. 

Now it’s your turn! Take your goals and wishlists and start putting them through this goal setting system. Remember, to focus on just one 90 day outcome goal at a time and take daily action steps to help you accomplish one amazing thing for the next quarter.

Comment below and let me know what your 90 day outcome goal is. Or ask for help if you are stuck and need some brainstorming assistance. 🙂 

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