How Do Your Financial Goals Affect Your Financial Boundaries? (Read Time: 3 min.)

When it comes to your finances, what are your goals?  

What would you like to see happen in 1, 2, 3, and 5 years with your money?

Lots of people read those two questions and stop right there... At this point, things are so tough financially that they can barely imagine what it's going to look like in a year let alone five (and many of them don't really want to know).  Right there, this kind of doom-and-gloom, "I make just enough to get by" mentality is setting up unhealthy financial boundaries like:

• I never have enough money so why budget? (unhealthy boundary: not budgeting)
• I'm so in the hole, I'll never get ahead so I stay in debt because that's the only way I can cope with my life (unhealthy boundary: overspending on things that don't really matter)
• This is the best I can do so I might as well stay in this job and keep making this level of money (unhealthy boundary: accepting pay as unchanging & taking no action to progress financially)

I could go on and on but you get my drift.  Without a vision, people perish.  In the same way, without a financial vision, without telling your money what to do (as Dave Ramsey puts it), you're under the control of finances and not IN control of them.  

Right now, it may seem impossible to set financial goals.  Money might be tight.  Your job might be tenuous.  You may be unemployed.  Your business might be brand new and you have no idea what to expect.  No matter what the circumstance, NOW is the time to set financial goals for the next 12 months.

Why?  

To get where you want to go, you have to know where it is you're going.  Begin today. 

Develop 3 financial goals for the next twelve months.  Here are four coaching questions that will help you do that:

1) In the next twelve months, how much money would you like to have saved in the bank?

2) In the next twelve months, how much debt would you like to have paid off?

3) In the next twelve months, what major purchases would you like to make?

4) How much would you like to see your income increase by in the next twelve months?

Answer those questions and you've got a financial vision.

Goals = a tangible dream.  Go after it!