Actionable Financial Goals
I have launched the Wealth Creation Club (“WCC”). The idea sparked from a highly beneficial experience I’ve had with a few friends:
Background
Since 2022, I've been engaged in a practice with a few friends where every Sunday morning, we check-in via text message with our weight, our weight goal and any commitments we are inclined to make, which will help us achieve our goal.
The check-in creates accountability without judgement. The feedback we experience occurs when we step on the scale to record our weight. Sharing it amongst the group helps us to do this consistently during weeks that feel victorious and weeks that feel challenging. We also find it beneficial to share our triumphs and struggles with the group, because we are always met with a supportive environment. We avoid unsolicited advice.
The practice has been so beneficial that I've wondered for the past couple of years, how it can be used to help support the achievement of financial goals. That’s why I’ve created the Wealth Creation Club (WCC)! Instead of weight goals, the WCC is focused on supporting financial goals.
Goal Suggestions
I suggest each member of the WCC set two goals:
The first suggested goal is to spend less than your income for the week.
The second suggested goal will be one of the three following goals:
Increase savings and/or investment basis by x (or to y) by xx/xx/xxxx
Decrease debt by x (or to y) by xx/xx/xxxx
Increase Financial net worth by x (or to y) by xx/xx/xxxx
The purpose of the first goal is to motivate members to engage in financially constructive behavior on a day-to-day basis.
The purpose of the second goal is to celebrate the tangible wealth development that comes from the behavior.
Rationale for the Goal Suggestions
Ideally, the goals will be bite-sized and specific.
Bite sized goals
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. I have no idea why someone would want to eat an elephant but I get the point of this saying. Another way of saying bite-sized goal is “short-term goal.”
The ideal goals to track during the weekly meetings are short term goals. Here are a few examples of long, mid and short term goals and how we suggest members goal-set for weekly meetings:
Long term goal
“Become debt free.” When he graduated college, Percy had over $60,000 in school debt and over $4,000 in credit card debt, plus a $12,000 car note. His long term goal was to be debt free.
Mid term goal
“Eliminate the credit card debt over the next twelve months.” Until now, Percy’s debt was growing each month. He not only wanted to stop creating new debt, but he wanted to begin the process of eliminating his debt. As such, he set a goal to pay off the credit cards, which was the highest-interest rate debt.
Short-term goal
“Pay off $75 of credit card debt per week.” This will allow Percy to accomplish his mid-term goal of paying off his credit card debt within the year and make meaningful progress on his long term goal of becoming debt free.
In this example, we would suggest Percy focus on his short term goal while reflecting during the weekly meetings.
Percy’s Example Goal for WCC:
Spend less than my income and pay off $75 of credit card debt by Saturday of each week
Specific goals
Making goals more specific enhances our change of achieving them. “I want to be debt free,” is inspirational and a very worthy long term goal. However, inspiration doesn’t stick with us every moment of every day, which is when we need to make choices that are aligned with our intentions. As such, a specific goal is beneficial. Note Percy’s goal above. Not only does he specify the amount he will pay each week, but he will do it by Saturday of each week. As such, he will be more likely to check in with that goal when he is considering a purchase that might throw him off his plan.
What about my long term goals?
Your long term goal is most likely most closely tied to your “why!” The “Why” is what will motivate you over the long term. We encourage you to revisit your why often! It is very powerful to zoom out and reflect on your why, and them zoom in and reflect on your behavior through the monitoring of your short term goals!
How do I join the WCC?
The WCC is currently invite-only. Please express interest in acquiring a future invitation via this link