Meet my client, Bill (not his real name).
Bill and I were on the phone this past week reviewing this year’s successes.
“Did you reach your financial goal?” I asked him.
“Well, I hit the money goal,” he said with hesitation.
“But…?” I wanted to know, wondering why he was reluctant to celebrate his achievement.
“Well it didn’t happen the way I thought it would so I don’t know if it counts,” he replied.
Here’s what’s happening because Bill isn’t the first to sound uncertain of his accomplishments.
Many of us think we are setting financial goals when really we are setting financial expectations.
When we put attachment around the exact way our financial goals are met, we set ourselves up to be disappointed by the outcome regardless of whether or not we hit the money goal.
Leaning into that kind of energy guarantees we’ll never be happy with our results.
As we think about setting our goals for next year, think about setting them without emotional attachment to how they are accomplished.
Here’s the 3-2-1 on getting set for your next goals:
3 TRUTHS
- If we want to hit a money goal, we need to leave out expectations (the ‘should have’ and ‘I have to’) and when we do, we’ll find that money more easily can flow to us because we are being flexible in how it is achieved.
- When we are happy with our results and say we want to push further next time, we get more momentum. So look at the things that went right, the results we are happy with because those are the things we want to replicate and take into next year.
- Regardless of if or how our money goals are achieved, whatever was accomplished should be celebrated. Where there is celebration there is joy. Where there is joy, there is money.
2 ACTIONS
- List the original financial goals you set for this year. Audit them. Identify which you achieved.
- Then, reflect on whether you celebrated them because you reached the amount or judged them because you achieved them not in the way you expected to.
1 QUESTION
- What expectations do I already have around my goals for next year?
Send me an email, [email protected], and share those expectations with me. Let’s give them a name so they have less power going into 2021.
To your impact and legacy,
