The Importance of Setting Goals

I have been working toward improvement in several areas of my life: losing weight, gaining health, keeping a cleaner house, paying bills on time, etc.  But when I tackle all of these growth areas at once, especially without a plan, I get easily overwhelmed, and pretty much nothing gets done.  What seems to help is setting goals.  In my work with young children with special needs, we set goals annually that we work toward on a daily basis.  Quarterly reports state how close to the goal we have come, and all the wonderful things the child has learned to do in the process.  In my own goal plan, or Individualized Life Plan (ILP), I have addressed the areas needing growth as stated above, but planned small steps.  I want to continue progressing in the area of cleaning the house while I'm losing weight, so my expectations have to be somewhat low.  In this way, I am successful with little accomplishments, and can find the motivation to keep going to the next goal level.

Some people find that rewards help them stay focused.  I have found this helpful, but not for the tiny steps (losing 5 pounds, for example).  What I have done in the past is reward myself with purchased things: a new bathing suit for losing weight, a night out for keeping the house clean and tidy, etc.  However, my new mindful attitude changes all that, and I need to incorporate new ways to celebrate victories.  Here's my list:

• Music night at home with friends (playing instruments is one of our favorite things to do but doesn't get done enough)
  
• Trip to the western part of the state (2 hour drive) to check out the mountains, the museums or the towns
• Hike by the river
• Family bike ride
• Girl time with my friends over a cup of tea
• Visit to Boston to see a show or museum (with a pass)
  

Setting goals cuts work into small, manageable pieces, where looking at the whole experience would be challenging and less attainable.  We do it all the time at work without thinking about it, and we teach our children how to do it as well.  So it makes sense to incorporate it for our own ILP's.

What would you put on your ILP?  And what would your rewards be?

Money Money Money Money

It's time to declare financial independence!  Well, to be more accurate, it's time to plan for how to become more financially independent - but the first way sounded much better.  I challenge you to do the same!

A new month brings me to a new decision.  I am adding "Taking care of finances" to my 'to do' list below.  I have spent a good part of this morning looking over personal finance blogs and various websites designed to help the layperson configure their finances.  I read a really inspiring blog about a woman working her way out of bankruptcy on her own.  No, we 're not considering anything drastic like that at all, but it is really hopeful to read how others are dealing with this economy after making mistakes.  I have that great feeling when I want to try something new, inspired by someone else's experience and successes.  You know how you wake up in the middle of the night and ask yourself, "Why am I so excited (happy, in love, anxious, or something else)?" - well, this happens to me.  

I have decided to treat financial freedom like a game.  If I think of it like work, it won't happen.  We have a few personal debts that need to be dealt with, on top of a monster mortgage and student loans, and though I won't go to the extreme of listing their amounts as we pay them off, I will periodically post our successes.  I have recently learned the difference between the snowball and DOLP methods of paying down debt and though they pertain mostly to credit card debt, of which we have none, we do have these enormous loans that need to be annihilated.  

The first step is to prioritize our debt.  After listing our balances and deciding who gets paid first, we will budget how much money goes out altogether.  Then, the first, largest payment goes to the top loan, while the others get the minimum payment.  You know how this goes...then the first loan gets paid off and the next in line gets the larger payment and gets paid off faster, etc.  

In  order for this to work for us, I have to set the following things in action:

• Set up our payment plan on the computer so it runs on it's own - it's much more fun if the game doesn't need constant attention
• Take a percentage of any 'extra income' and put it toward the top payment - nowreferred to as the apatosaurus or APS, for it's size and age
•  Clean out the basement and have a yard sale in the Spring.  All proceeds go to APS
• Start charging our sons rent (just kidding - but we may start charging for peanut butter)
• Do not take on any additional debt (duh)
• Lower the thermostat to 62 during the times we are home
• Look into moving to a rental to decrease our 'overhead' (a bit extreme, but possibly worth it)

How about you?  What are you doing to increase your financial independence?