Category Archives: Goals

Money Mission: Lose Your Excuses!

Goals, , , , , , ,

We’re now at the halfway mark in the year, and it’s incredible that six months have already passed us by. Time marches steadily on and it certainly isn’t waiting on us to join the parade! The year 2013 will disappear before you realise it; how successful have you been at keeping your resolutions?

In assessing the actions you have taken thus far towards achieving your goals, how would you rate your progress? Are you enthusiastic about your development, underwhelmed with your results, or have you simply resigned yourself to yet another year of missed opportunities?

Six months to succeed
The good news is that you still have the ability to make this year count; there are still six months left to pursue your objectives. It’s now a great time to identify the recurring issues which may prevent you from moving forward, and refocus your energies towards success. Continue reading Money Mission: Lose Your Excuses! →

Creating a Time Budget

Budgeting, Goals, , , , , , ,

This month, the focus has been on getting organised so that you can be better equipped to accomplish your goals. If you study the habits of successful people, you will recognise that they all learned how to effectively organise and control their resources to achieve great things.

One of the most important skills that will be required for goal attainment is time management. Your plans for your future will not be realised unless you have a proper time utilisation strategy to carry out the necessary tasks. One way to accomplish this objective is to create a time budget.

Design a schedule for your time

To budget your time, you should first design a timetable that lists blocks of time on the left-hand side in half-hour increments, and the seven days of the week along the top of the page. To make this process easier, you can simply download a time budget spreadsheet on www.financiallysmart.org. Continue reading Creating a Time Budget →

Money Mission: Get Organised

Goals, , , , , , ,

Each month we have been addressing a specific task that will allow you to become more efficient in carrying out your financial objectives. Goal accomplishment is not attained by isolated spurts of activity; it’s the little actions that you do every day that will eventually help you to be successful.

This month’s money mission addresses a major problem that can hinder your effectiveness in your personal, work and financial lives. Many people find that they are not able to achieve their best, not because they lack the desire or skills to do so, but because they are completely disorganised.

Disorganisation brings distress

Marcia awakes each morning with an optimistic outlook. “Everything is going to run smoothly today,” she vows. Marcia operates a small wholesale and also makes gift baskets that she delivers to her customers. She juggles the two activities hoping that the combined effort will pay all her bills. Continue reading Money Mission: Get Organised →

Get Mad and Get Going!

Goals, , , , ,

“When will this ever end?” Martha groaned in frustration. “If I have to face one more tirade from Mr Johnson for a mistake I didn’t commit, I’m going to scream!” Martha reflected on the practice of her dishonest supervisor to blame his junior staff for his own errors of judgement. Since Mr Johnson got promoted six months ago, he had made her job a daily nightmare.

For the third time that day, Martha daydreamed about what her life would have been like if she had followed her heart. Doing administrative work was not her real desire; in school she had excelled in home economics and had wanted to pursue a career in catering. However, she doubted that she could have earned a living at it, and had studied business at the community college instead.

Twenty years later, Martha was amazed at the developments in Jamaica’s food industry and a little envious of all the persons who had risen to stardom in the field. She still treasured baking as a hobby and enjoyed the praises of her friends who encouraged her to go into business using her talent. “What’s the point?” she sighed. “I’m too old now to make a change.” Continue reading Get Mad and Get Going! →

Money Mission: Discover Your Motivating Force

Goals, , , , , ,

Recently I spoke to students in the Young Entrepreneurs Society at my former high school, showing them simple strategies to earn income even before they graduated. I encouraged them to learn how to establish viable enterprises in the future, reminding them that small business is the engine for growth that can turn around our country’s ailing economy.

After my talk, we had a brief question and answer session, and one of the students had a very interesting question for me. “What drives you to be successful?” he asked. Usually I am quite speedy in providing responses, but this question made me pause. To be able to give an honest answer, I had to really get introspective and consider my true motives.

I have always said that when you are establishing a goal, you need to be certain about what you want out of life and focus on why it is important to you. Don’t worry too much about the how it will happen. You only need to formulate the initial strategies that will get you started on the journey to your dreams; the rest of the pathway will reveal itself over time. Continue reading Money Mission: Discover Your Motivating Force →

Money Mission: Earn Your Own Income

Goals, Income Creation, , , , , , ,

The goal-achievement race is more like a marathon than a quick sprint; unless you continually focus on the finish line, you might get discouraged by the long journey and give up along the way. Our Money Mission columns are aimed at challenging you to accomplish a specific task each month that will help you persevere with your dreams.

Previously, we addressed two of the stumbling blocks that can prevent persons from making progress on their plans – procrastination and the inefficient use of time. Another major drawback that many people face in their quest to attain their goals is that they don’t earn enough money to save for important financial objectives such as buying a home or retirement.

Independent earning is important

The reality is that with the rising cost of living and the inability of most employers to pay increased salaries, you will have to change your outlook on earning if you want to have more money. You can no longer expect a job to supply you with all the income you need to create your desired lifestyle; you have to learn how to generate other sources of earning from your own efforts. Continue reading Money Mission: Earn Your Own Income →

Money Mission: Make Time for Your Money

Goals, , , , , ,

The month of January has already bid us a swift farewell. We have all heard the old adage, ‘Time waits for no man’ and the days, weeks and months of 2013 will not delay their passing for any of us. How successful have you been in getting started on the resolutions that you were determined to accomplish this year?

For our monthly ‘Money Mission’ columns this year, I would like to focus on strategies that will help you keep your dreams in the forefront of your minds. Don’t accept the mistaken belief that it is impossible to accomplish your resolutions; with clarity about your goals and the right attitude you can adopt new habits that will help you to be successful.

What do you do with your time?

Many people find that even though they are desperate to make changes to their financial situation, they just can’t get the time to do what they need to do. We often let work pressures and trivial events distract us from our goals. We stop thinking about and carrying out the daily steps required to maintain our progress; thereby relegating our future to the back burner.

It’s pointless to say “If only I had a little more time, I could really get going with my plans,” as we all have the same number of hours, minutes and seconds to utilise each day. Wealthy persons and successful achievers don’t have some secret stash of time that puts them ahead of the pack; they accomplish exceptional things with the same amount of time resource as you do.

What should you be doing with your time?

There are several essential activities that you need to accomplish if you want to be financially successful. You need to be efficient at budgeting, practice smart spending habits, be cautious with debt, save consistently, invest for future goals, put money aside for your retirement years, and make adequate provisions against life’s eventualities. Continue reading Money Mission: Make Time for Your Money →

How to Become a Goal-Getter

Book Review, Goals, , , , , ,

Last week we discussed the importance of focusing on one major goal at a time instead of attempting to carry out all the items on your money to-do list. The idea is to concentrate your efforts on the activity that would have the biggest impact on your finances right now. By breaking down that task into smaller steps and doing something every day, you would be more likely to succeed.

As simple as this plan sounds, I know that it can be difficult to stay on track when distractions and disappointments come our way. When it comes to goal achievement, it really is a case of ‘easier said then done.’ If you want to make the most out of 2013, you need to learn some practical strategies to help you persevere and press on until you accomplish all your objectives.

Don’t kill your dreams

To become an effective goal getter, you will need to overcome one of the biggest dream defeaters that prevents people from actualising their plans. Victor Kiam got it right when he declared that “procrastination is opportunity’s natural assassin,” as many dreams die a slow and painful death simply because persons failed to take action on them. Continue reading How to Become a Goal-Getter →

Money Mission: Just Do It!

Goals, , , , , , ,

It’s the beginning of a new year, and like most people, you may have prepared a list of things that you want to accomplish for 2013. Whether you hope to get fit, lose weight, save more money, read a book each month or spend less time on Facebook, you probably have a strong desire to finally see your plans through to completion this time.

The reality is that the success rate for keeping New Year’s resolutions is usually very low for many persons. Despite our best wishes and firm declarations of change, somehow it is just easier to continue along the familiar highway of ‘same-old, same-old’ than to traverse the often challenging pathway that leads to progress.

If you are one of those faithful readers who have followed my column for almost seven years, you might have seen me confess my own limitations with following through on important tasks. In the past, there have been several missed opportunities and projects that have been left undone, because of my lack of courage, determination, or patience. Continue reading Money Mission: Just Do It! →

2012 Money Mission Review

Goals, , , , , , , , ,

This year, we started off on an optimistic note, asserting that it was possible to make 2012 your best financial year ever, despite the challenges that you may have been facing. To guide you along the way, I outlined a Money Manifesto with 12 commitments that were essential if you wished to achieve financial success.

Recognising that many people abandon their new year’s resolutions by the end of January, I thought that it was important for us to make more regular declarations if we really wanted to improve our financial well-being. My monthly Money Mission suggestions were designed to help keep you focused on carrying out your money goals.

If you have been reading my recommendations every month, how successful have you actually been in carrying out the advice? Has your year been a ‘Mission Accomplished’ or has it been yet another 12 months of ‘Mission Impossible’? Let’s review all the money objectives that we proposed during 2012. Continue reading 2012 Money Mission Review →