It is not enough to say simply "I want to live in a big 5 bedroom house with a heated swimming pool", or "I want to drive a shiny, red Ferrari". They may be the material things you desire but to ensure your goal is effective you must state exactly how getting those things will make you feel. In fact when planning and stating your goals the best place to start is with the emotion you want to feel. It's no good having big houses, fast cars, and all the money you need if they don't bring you the inner fulfillment that is essential to your life.
So as you decide upon your goals begin by focusing on the emotion. You should consider exactly how or what you want to feel and let that shape your goals. If you find it difficult to define which emotions or feelings are important to you, think about how you feel right now and establish what it is you would like to change. Identify the real driving forces within you and what it is that you want to feel each day when you wake in the morning.
Being able to define your own emotion based goals will genuinely give you the best chance of ever achieving them and these five steps will help you to get off to the best possible start:
Step #1
Make some time and space available for yourself, grab a pen and some paper, and simply list the words that represent the emotions or senses you really want to feel. For instance the following may well feature in your list: Love; Happiness; Contentment; Peace; Satisfaction; Healthy; Fulfilled
There are probably many more that apply to you and your own circumstances so ensure that you take the time to make that list as complete as you can.
Step #2
Focus on those emotions on your list that are the most important and re-list them in order of priority. You must be able to give this your full concentration so that you can get to the factors that will truly drive you onwards.
Step #3
Think carefully what it is that would actually enable you to feel each emotion or sense and alongside each word write an accurate description of it. It may be getting that big house or fast car, but equally it could be finding a new job or developing a new relationship. Be totally honest with yourself and don't be afraid to aim high. You may well find that what you really want in life is entirely different to what you have become conditioned to believe.
Step #4
For each element you have identified list the actions that you will need to take to achieve it. To be meaningful your goals need to be realistically achievable and so it is essential that you know exactly what you will have to do and, crucially, be sure that you are able to do it.
Step #5
Combine the emotion, the material aspect and the actions you have listed and you have the basis for your goal. But it will only help you if you write it down and start working towards it.
They may seem simplistic steps but they will genuinely give you a great start to setting truly meaningful goals. To achieve them will need proper planning, determination, and total commitment, but one day you will reap the reward and you will feel exactly the way you want to feel.
It is never too late to build a financial wall around you and your family that nothing can get through. This would be referred to as financial security. We call it your Financial Freedom Day! It is the day when you have enough assets that pay for all your expenses now and in the future. The quicker you identify your financial freedom day the better. It does not have to be 10, 15, 20 or even 30 years down the track. It is not unrealistic to have a Freedom Day of between 3-5 years. It is the day that you can travel with your family when and where you like with no restrictions, afford the home you want, put your children into the schools you desire and teach your children there are no limits.
Financial freedom is having an asset base which generates the income to not only meet your needs but to create a lifestyle that you dream of. You do not want to be relying on anyone for your financial freedom, the government, your employer, your partner, your husband, your family. Financial freedom changes your life!
So now you ask; how? How do I set a financial freedom day? How do I achieve fianancial freedom? Ask yourself At what age would you like to be financially free?
To achieve financial freedom you need a system. A proven, step-by-step, time tested system that will get you on the path to building wealth. This system is called 'Building Your Wealth Cycles' comprising of 8 fundamental steps to building sustainable wealth. All entrepreneurs have a system to build wealth.
The 8 fundamental steps are as follows: -
1. Financial Conditioning One of the first areas that must be looked at is your mindset with regards to money. Your mindset is a result of your financial conditioning, you must be aware of your conditioning and the impact it has on your potential to create wealth. You must be able to make the changes necessary to bring money and wealth into your life. We have been conditioned about our money beliefs from a very young age from people around us that loved us very much, like our parents, grand-parents, teachers, coaches, peer support leaders and other family and friends. They only know and understand what they have been taught about money from the family that raised them.
Start to think about the language that was used in the home when your were growing up. Was it "money doesn't grow on trees" or "no, we can't afford that" or "Do you think we have a money tree growing in the yard" or "I'll put that away for a rainy day" or "Money isn't everything" and finally "Money is the root of all evil". These are just some of the beliefs that have been handed down generation to generation in countries all around the world.
We encourage you to sit down and write down some of your beliefs around money. Also, ask your children whether they hear your limiting beliefs around money and what are they.
2. Financial Baseline Your financial baseline is all about identifying where you are right now with your finances. You must take a look at the reality of your present financial situation. Start today, from where you are right now. It might be a little scary or fearful. You cannot get to where you want to go without knowing exactly where you are today. Start asking some very basic questions like How much money do you currently earn? How much money do you spend? For how much, and to whom are you in debt? Do you have anything set aside in savings?
Just remember, what you did yesterday, last month and last year does not have be indicative of what you are capable of doing in the future. The most important thing you can do is take stock of where you are right now!
Also, how do you keep your financial records. Do you keep things in a shoe box and only empty it out once every year. Do you have piles and piles of paperwork everywhere. Do you have a filing system set up? If you don't have your finances organised then you will not have a good clear picture of your financial baseline.
3. Financial Freedom Day Millionaires always have a plan. They determine their financial goals and take action to make them happen. Your Financial freedom Day is the day when you've reached your financial goals. To determine when your Financial Freedom Day is you need to know what your vision is. Your vision is a picture of how you want to be living sometime in the future. In order for you to be motivated and move towards your vision it must be exciting, realistic and must never compromise your valuues. You must also excercise no limit thinking. There are 3 things you need to clarify in order to declare your Financial Freedom Day. They are your monthly cashflow, your total net worth and the day, month, and year that you want this to occur.
4. Managing Your Lifestyle Choices Managing lifestyle is all about managing your debt levels. It is about creating a debt elimination plan that will eliminate credit card debt. There is good debt and bad debt. Bad debt is debt associated with lifestyle choices. It is where you're using your income to increase your liabilities. Good debt is debt that is acquired through the purchase of assets, assets that are then invested to produce passive income.
5. Foundation of Your Wealth Cycles A wealth cycle is a process whereby you are paying yourself first before paying anyone and anything else. This ensures that money is being allocated to your asset column. It is something that is ongoing and the purchasing of assets does not just happen once. A wealth cycle also includes an understanding of entity structuring for the purpose of protection and tax. You must also make a decision about the type of investor you are whether you are active or passive. You must also develop some money rules and stick to them.
6. Acceleration fo Your Wealth Cycles This is all about education. You must educate yourself in the areas you want to invest whether it be stocks and shares or real estate or international securities or commodoties or collectibles. Seek mentors and coaches that specialise in those areas of wealth creation.
7. Leadership of Your Wealth Team No-one creates wealth without a team around them. No more 'Lone Ranger' you must surround yourself with team. Leadership of you wealth team is one of the most under-discussed areas of leading your wealth. Make no mistake, you are the leader of your wealth team, whether you realise it or not. Your job is to inspire, motivate, hold and communicate the vision to all of those on your team.
8. Creating Sustainable Action Keep taking action each and every day. You must every night right out a list of revenue producing activities. You must work towards your Financial Freedom Day, every day. Even if they are small action steps it does not matter.
Expand your knowledge in these 8 fundamental steps through education, mentoring, coaching and acquiring specialised knowledge and it won't take you long at all to achieve levels of wealth you never thought was possible.
Both Tony Hall & Trish Davies are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Tony Hall has sinced written about articles on various topics from self improvement and motivation, Public Speaking and self improvement and motivation. This article was written by Tony Hall who runs his own business dedicated to helping individuals develop their personal and business skills. You can learn more about how to develop your own life skills and get your complimentary copy of "The Process of Su. Tony Hall's top article generates over 14800 views. to your Favourites.