Stop setting goals

What happens to you when you hear the word “goal?” For some, it generates excitement. Others, however, shut down. Everyone has a philosophy on goals; what is yours?

After reading a recent blog post titled “Stop Setting Goals” by Gene Hamilton, I started thinking about my own philosophy on goals. In a nutshell, Gene recounts his desire to become a top mountain biker, but when he finally accomplishes his goal, he feels empty rather than fulfilled. Why? Because he focused so hard on pursuing his dream that he ended up neglecting (and losing) a great girlfriend, friends, family and a home. Years later, he decided to take a another stab at being a top mountain biker, but this time - while his ultimate goal hadn’t changed -  he focused on experiencing success daily by acknowledging small milestones along the way and trusting that they would lead to his ultimate goal. For Gene the small milestones included interval training, hill climbs, and distance days, at the end of each them he would celebrate his accomplishment. What happened the second time around? Sure enough, Gene enjoyed accomplishing both his smaller goals and the big one of being a top-ranked mountain biker. 

How can this lesson help us on our journey toward financial success? Maybe an example might help. Let's say that your goal is to have a million dollars, but you have not yet started working on getting there. You can break down this goal into many, many small parts that can be celebrated along the way (just like Gene). Step one might look like opening a savings account, step two set up an automatic payment of $10 a week to that account, step three read a book about investing, step four to be determined…Once you figure out what the big goal is and break it down into the smaller pieces, forget about the larger picture and just focus on living out the smaller, timelier successes. The big goal will then naturally follow the regular attainment of the smaller goals. 

Feel free to give me a call to talk more at 980-275-1627.

Ed Coambs

Edited by Reena Arora of Arora Media, connect on Facebook

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Losing perspective on the value of a dollar

It’s funny how your perspective on money changes as you get older. As an adult, I often tell myself that spending an extra $20 on a toy for my son won’t really affect my budget.

Yet, I remember when I was...

·      Five, and I thought a dollar was a lot of money; 

·      15, and I thought $20 was a lot of money, 

·      25, and I thought $100 was a lot of money.

Now that I am in my thirties, it feels like I don’t actually pay as much attention to expenses that aren’t “big” – ie., larger numbers. But here’s the problem: Once we start moving upward in our careers and our income goes up, we forget how hard it once was to make a dollar. 

It’s important from time to time to slow down and remember the true value (and meaning) of a dollar. Perahaps on its own, a single dollar is not going to change your financial picture at all - but what happens when we put many dollars together? That’s when we see a significant impact on our life. 

My challenge to you is that, whatever level of income you are making, stop and take a few minutes to really think about how far a dollar can carry you. Try this simple exercise. 

1. Think of an amount of money you regularly spend without thinking twice, whether it’s $30 on dinner or $150 on clothes.

2. Multiply that value by 12. 

3. Are you surprised by how much that is? Not yet? Okay, keep going...

4. Multiply THAT number by four. 

5. Still not surprised? Buckle your seat belt!

6. Multiple that number by two.

7. If you are still not surprised, then I don't know what it will take! According to this formula, you will spend some “small” amount of money 96 times without thinking in just one year. 

Here are my numbers.

$20 x 12 x 4 x 2 = $1,920

I’m honestly shocked that I could spend this much money without thinking in 12 months!

If I take one more step and multiple this number by 10 (years), I get $19,200. Could this amount help me accomplish a significant goal? Absolutely. How and when you spend your money may not make a big difference in the short term, but in the long run, it will definitely have a significant impact. 

Feel free to give me a call to talk more at 980-275-1627.

Ed Coambs

Edited by Reena Arora of Arora Media, connect on Facebook

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Making The Most of Your Marriage and Money Relationship

What are you doing to increase your effectiveness in your marriage and with money? Both of these areas require continuing effort to increase your level of satisfaction with either one. It is my belief that if you improve your marriage you financial position will improve, and that if you improve your financial position you will improve your marriage. Marriage and Money issues are linked. They both require attention.

We to often see education as an expense and not an investment. Sure you often have to give up some time and pay some money to learn, but what you learn in return should pay you back in spades. When you study and apply healthy marriage and money habits over time you build a deep resource pool to draw on when you face the challenging times. The best time to prepare for challenges is when there are none.

In no particular order here are 5 of my favorite books that address either marriage or money topics.

1. The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. Why you should read it, to learn how your spouse receives love differently then you do and how to respond to them in a way so that they will feel loved.

2. Love Talk by Drs. Les & Leslie Parrot. Why you should read it, practical guidance on creating time and space to talk with your spouse.

3. Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. Why you should read it, to understand the cycle that often leaves you in conflict.

4. The Millionaire Mind by Thomas Stanley. Why you should read it, to disspell many of the myths you may have about what it is like to be rich.

5. Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach Why you should read it, this is the most practical book on everything from getting organized, to managing debt, to investing. Start here if you don't know where else to start as a couple.

When you take time to understand how your marriage and money can work together, then you not only impact your life, but the life's of many others. Let's face it, wether you love, hate or are indifferent about money it impacts your marriage. You might as well make the most of it, and make it meaningful.

How do you make the most of your marriage and money relationship? Please leave a comment.

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Creating Vision, Just like a Polaroid Photo

Have you ever wondered why it is so hard to clearly develop your vision for the future?

There are many moving pieces to developing your vision for the future, it can be confusing to determine which pieces should take priority. I was recently reflecting on this issue myself and thought about it this way. Clarifying your values is like taking a polaroid photo, (for those of you born in the 80's and earlier)  when you take the picture you hope that you got everyone smiling and in the right pose. The picture comes out of the camera and you shake it for clarity. Then after a few minutes you realize you didn't quite get the photo you hoped for, so you start over. You get everyone lined up again, take another photo, shake it, nope still not a good enough photo. One more time you get everyone lined up, take the photo, shake it and realize nope still not a great photo. But by now you and everyone else is frustrated and ready to just get on with the activity of the day, and so you live with the photo that you have taken.

This can also be how you develop your vision. You get everything lined up again, take a snap shot, shake it, realize it is not perfect and keep on going, knowing that in time you can start the process again. We don't often get the right picture on the first try and it takes effort to get the final shot we want.

In this modern day of digital technology with instant feedback, we expect the rest of our life to work that way. We take a digital photo and we instantly know whether we are happy with it, or if we need to another photo. But in our everyday life, we seldom get that quick of feedback, sometimes it takes days, weeks, months, or years before we can become really clear about where we are headed.

So take your time, take multiple shots at it, and realize that when you get frustrated you can take another shot at your vision later. Allow your vision to develop over time. It will evolve as you get more information.

How is your vision developing? Please leave a comment.

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