I know that goal setting is something that normally happens at the beginning of the year, but given that I’ve just been to a mid-winter Christmas party and it’s the beginning of a new financial year here, it does kind of feel like a good time to have a look at some setting some goals.
Whether they be financial or personal, setting goals is a great way to keep yourself accountable and actually give yourself the best shot at achieving the things you want.
SMART goals
I know that this is nothing new, and we’ve all heard about SMART goals a million times before, but it’s amazing how quickly and easily we forget. The single biggest thing you can to sabotage your chances of success is setting unrealistic or unachievable goals. That is where the SMART goal setting technique really helps, so here is a quick refresher. I'll use my go-to example of weight loss.
S – Specific
Goals need to be specific. i.e. not just ‘I want to lose weight’ but ‘I want to lose 5kg’
M – Measurable
Goals need to be measurable. No point in saying you want to lose 5kg if you don’t own scales or don’t know what weight you were when you started.
A – Achievable
They need to be achievable, for you. Just because the people on The Biggest Loser, can lose 5kg in a week, doesn't mean it's achievable for you. You’re just setting yourself up for failure otherwise. If you’ve got a really big goal to achieve why not try breaking it down into smaller, more achievable chunks?
R – Realistic
As above, keep it realistic. Remember to take into account what else is happening in your life and how this might impact on what goals you've set.
T- Timely
There needs to be a clear start and end time to the goal.
Some other things that can help when setting goals:
- tell someone about your goal, this will help with your accountability, and it's great having someone to help keep you on track.
- write it down and put it somewhere visible to that you are reminded of your goal every day.
- depending on the type of goal, consider giving yourself some sort of reward when you achieve it
A big part of what our consultants do every day is help our clients set and achieve their own personal financial goals. If you’d like to speak to one of our consultants about how changing to New Zealand Home Loans could help you achieve your financial goals just fill out the form below.
The information contained in this article is of a general nature and should not be taken as advice. It reflects the opinions of the writer only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of New Zealand Home Loans.
