If you have ever been to a Financial Planner, you’re usually faced with the task of describing what you want out of life. Easy right? Many of us, myself included, have plenty of dreams and ideas of what we want but we often lack the detail and plan to attain them.
So what am I crapping on about? I believe that we need to take stock and identify what our needs and wants are in life. We need to think big but we also need to be specific. Get into the detail.
When you get into the detail and start to itemise and confirm how much money you need to achieve what you want out of life, there’s a real possibility that these goals aren’t as out of reach as you may have initially thought.
It also challenges where you place importance and value and whether these goals are in fact the right ones for you.
When we work out how much we need to fulfil a lifestyle we are craving, you can then divide that into a yearly expense, monthly expense, weekly and then a daily expense. To put it simply, how much money do you need per day to live your desirable lifestyle? You might be pleasantly surprised with this answer and it may not require millions of dollars to achieve.
Remember Swabbin’ the Decks Cleaning Services from Episode 8 of the Self Starter podcast? Owner Michelle said that her and husband Stephen’s goal is to earn enough money from their cleaning business to be able to able to support their holiday plans and not have to worry about their income.
Their vision is not to scale the business dramatically but rather build stability that the whole family can get value from. This awareness of what they want would take away some of the anxiety of running their business but also understanding that their goals are very realistic and highly attainable.
The mansion, the boat, the car, and the luxury items may be our default responses when asked what we want out of life. Spending a little more time however writing out what your ideal life would look like and doing some simple maths could make all of the difference with your happiness and measure of success.
If you want to learn more about this approach and pick up some great case studies and exercises, pick up Tony Robbins book Money – Master the Game. Tony goes through a number of examples of how you can break down these goals financially and identify with clarity what you need to do to achieve them. In my opinion, the book is a financial bible and well worth picking up regardless!
So what are some of your goals? Did you discover any surprises about yourself and the things that you truly want from life? Leave a comment below and share your story.