Thanks! That may actually be the answer to my question above.

You say that in the past you used to be lukewarm about goals and never seemed to meet them. Do you think you’re better at following through today, and what did you do differently that did get you at your financial goals?

That would be an interesting story!

(I am aware there are already many tips in your post, such as using an accountability partner, etc., but is that really all that is needed, in your experience?)

May you enjoy and relish the moment of your success!

Its as simple as that.

I think finishing such a tough task is overlooked by too many people. It definitely effects how you view every other goal in your life.

I did a half marathon on Sunday and will post video of my advice on how to finish during a race. You may want to check out Tuesday!

Dave
LifeExcursion

Suddenly, I was working and had no real goal. Sure, there’s always that nebulous “career development” but when you have a career of 30-something years stretching ahead of you, that’s not a very SMART goal and I’m not sure I will ever sit back and think I’m finished developing my career.

So, I decided to find goals outside work. To learn a language, to get into some new sport. I now play a sport that involves very intensive training for 4 months of the year to play national championships, so I have that to work towards each year.

Another cool thing I have recently picked up from another blog is the idea of listing 101 things you would like to do in 1001 days. You can list all sorts of things – financial goals, fun goals, fitness goals, personal development goals. I found writing out that list made me stop and think of all the things in my life I wish I would be able to do and articulate a whole of things I should work on over the next three or so years. Some are easily achievable and just need me to get over the procrastination and others will take a concerted effort.

Sigh….

There are old readers who’ve followed you from your humble beginnings, and then there are newer readers who know you as the titan of PF bloggers (or at least that’s how I view you!). The old readers will tend to know the JD as someone who has a very modest income compared to the newer reader, who has a different perspective. It’s harder for the new reader to believe you could ever struggle in your finances again b/c of your stature and likely large income stream now. Hence, for the newer reader, we scratch our heads sometimes when you talk about building up a $10,000-$20,000 emergency fund when your income can afford much more.

I absolutely think it’s right of you NOT to disclose how much you make from GRS. Good point about the subscriber angle too, which ironically let’s people read your posts by not coming to GRS.

Take my feedback for what it is. Nobody will fault you for being successful, if it’s measured by income. I think this is a fascinating topic to address, when one crosses over to the super successful realm, how to keep relating to old and new reader alike.

Thnx

(removed my comment about Financial Samurai’s math as J.D. answered)

First, since subscriber counts have almost nothing to do with revenue, that’s a poor way to extrapolate blog revenue. Let me assure you that GRS would make far more money if it had no subscribers at all. If people were forced to come here every day, it would generate significantly more revenue.

That said, GRS does make money, but I don’t share how much. You’ll find that, in most cases, public bloggers never share their income figures. My attorney, my accountant, and my wife have all advised me not to discuss financial specifics about the site, and so I don’t. But I can say that if I were earning anything near $102,000 a month (holy cats! what a number!) I wouldn’t still be writing this blog…

I’ve been quite clear in the past, though, that I’m making more than I’ve ever made in my life. That’s one reason I was able to quit my day job and go full time. But most of this revenue jump occurred after I met my financial goals. There’s no question that the increased income helped — and that’s why I’m a proponent of people doing whatever they can to earn more — but it’s not the sole reason for accomplishing the goals. It wasn’t “rocketship” income. It was more like Cessna income. And again, if folks have static “glider-like” income and are unhappy with the situation, then they should see what they can do to boost their earning power.

Anyhow, I’m a little puzzled as to how there can be an “asymetric standard” regarding goals. What does this even mean? GRS readers are not homogeneous. Some make more money than I do. Some make less. The income doesn’t really matter. We all still need to set financial goals and work toward them. Not all of our goals are the same, but we still must have them if we want to succeed. (In fact, it’s because of setting these goals that I have the income I do today.)

Thanks,
Doug

Also liked the way you tied personal values to financial goals. As you suggest, when your goals (financial or otherwise) are tied to your deeply held beliefs, they are easier to achieve – and so much more satisfying when complete!

Congratulations again. Ami

I have a friend who has 1,000 subscribers and makes about $1,500/month from his blog through ad revenue. With 68,000 readers on GRS, maybe you don’t make 68X more than $1,500/month or $102,000 / month, but I have to imagine that you’re doing quite well no?

Hence, even if you’re making “just” one quarter of $102,000/month, it’s still a lot of money, and should you/we be talking about different goal standards? Don’t get me wrong, JD. You have one of the most successful PF blogs out there, I just wonder if there is an asymetric standard now b/c not all your readers or fellow PF bloggers have done as well as you, and hence face a very static income stream with the same amount of debt vs. you’re very non-static and perhaps rocket-ship like income stream vs. your debt?

Best.

The reason why is that it is the goal that provides the motivation to get things done. If you pursue motivating goals, you will figure out a way to get there sooner or later. If your goals do not motivate, you will piss away any advantage that comes your way.

I don’t believe that people should pursue an old-age retirement as their saving goal because I believe that it is too distant to provide much motivation. I prefer to pursue goals that can be achieved within five years. Goals farther out than that just do not seem real enough to influence day-to-day decisions.

I ran a marathon once with my wife. Our official motto was: “Always At Least One Step Ahead of the Straggler Bus.”

Rob

It occurred to me while reading this great post that I need to apply this same approach to two high-priority areas in my life currently: my MARRIAGE and my WEBSITE (which is incidentally is about marriage). Goal setting, especially awesome goal setting like you have outlined here, works and can be applied in so many ways to improve our lives!

I guess I need to sit down and figure out where I want to be long-term and break it down into smaller, more tangible steps. This post was terrific, can’t wait to see the rest of the core tenets series.

First, @Financial Samurai (#33), yes goals are different for different people. If you want to get debt free, your timeline is going to be influenced by the amount of debt you have and by your income.

In my case, when I set my goal, my salary was near the median for men in the United States ($42,000). My efforts at cutting costs freed money from this salary that I could use for repaying debt. But at the same time, I took steps to increase my income. I’ve tried to stress this over and over at GRS, but I never feel as if I’m being clear enough or forceful enough. Yes, frugality helped. But the bug strides were made by increasing my income. If I hadn’t done that, it really would have taken me five years (or longer) to meet my goals. This meant a lot of sacrifices (time and friendships) and a lot of hard work, but the increased income was vital.

@Kevin M (#25), your question is fantastic. Yes, goals are more difficult in the Third Stage. I still have all of my saving and investing goals, but by now those are sort of a habit or a reflex. Beyond those, I’ve learned to set savings goals for things I want. Previously, I would have financed these things with debt. Now I save up to purchase them. For example, I’m expecting that the new furniture I saved for will be delivered later this week. Then Kris and I will save for our trip to Europe next year.

But I think that other people in the Third Stage begin to set goals beyond themselves. Some look at how they can use their wealth to help the community around them. I’m just beginning to think about this sort of thing, but I can see how one would set goals here…

@Foxie (#36)
I’ve never wanted a tattoo, but I’m tempted — very tempted — by “nintai”. Did you get that on the inside of your wrist or the outside?

Perseverance is the one thing I’d like to keep near and dear, if I were to have to choose just one thing. It’s why I got the kanji for “nintai,” perseverance, on my wrist. I see it everyday, and am reminded that I get up and do the things I’m doing now to get somewhere better tomorrow. While I got it to remind me that I won’t get good at racing if I don’t keep at it, it’s applied in so many more ways than just cars and racing.

Can you talk about your income goals a little more? Elimating $35,000 in debt in 39 months is a great achievement, and especially difficult if someone only makes $40-60,000 a year.

However, what if you are making $35,000 a month, or close to $500,000 a year, would the time frame of the goal be altered? Isn’t everything relative?

Thnx