Goals are the gateway to financial success
This is the second of a fourteen-part series that explores the core tenets of Get Rich Slowly.
Yesterday I completed my first marathon. It didn’t happen exactly as I’d planned, but it happened. Instead of running 26.2 miles, I walked the entire course. Some might view this as a failure. Not me. I’m ecstatic to have finally, at the age of forty, met one of my life-long goals.
Though I had hoped to run the marathon, training injuries the past two years thwarted me. Instead, I walked the Portland Marathon in six hours and 54 minutes. Chris Guillebeau (who wrote The Art of Non-Conformity) walked the first nine miles with me, and Mac joined me for the final 8.2 miles. Though it didn’t happen the way I intended, I accomplished my goal.
What does my marathon experience have to do with personal finance? Everything. The journey to financial success is not a sprint — you are not going to get rich quickly — but a marathon. It doesn’t matter how swiftly you pay off your debt or save for retirement. The important thing is to actually make the effort. If you don’t start, you can never finish. To know where you’re going, you need to set goals.
Goals are the Building Blocks of Success
I used to be lukewarm about goals. I’d set them, but could never seem to meet them. They seemed so far away, so difficult to reach. Or a few months would pass and the goals that had once seemed so appealing no longer really mattered to me. So I stopped setting goals. I lived life without intention.
As a result, I came to view myself as a failure. I had always wanted to be a writer, but I rarely wrote. I wanted to retire early, but instead I was deep in debt. I wanted to be fit, but I was only growing fatter every year. Without goals, I wandered aimlessly through life.
Over the past few years, however, I’ve come to understand that goals are the building blocks of success. Goals provide direction. They help you steer your life toward the things that matter most.
Since starting Get Rich Slowly, I’ve set a variety of financial goals. In nearly every case, I’ve met or exceeded my own expectations — often by a long way. For example:
- I set a goal to pay off my non-mortgage debt within five years. I eliminated all $35,000 in debt in just 39 months.
- I set a goal to build a $10,000 emergency fund in one year. Instead, I saved nearly $20,000.
- I set a goal to make $1000 a month from my website. Instead, I made enough that I could quit my day job and blog full time.
- I set a goal to fully-fund my Roth IRA every year. I’ve also been able to set up and fund (to various degrees) a self-employed 401(k).
Setting these goals was not enough. I had to work at them. Sometimes the work was hard. But without having set the goals in the first place, I would never have been able to achieve them. I would still be wandering blindly in the financial desert. I would still be working at the box factory, deep in debt, spending my entire salary, and wondering when things would get better.
Review: Since I’m researching this subject right now for my book, let’s review what makes a good goal. A good goal is a SMART goal. That is, a smart goal is Specific (the goal is not nebulous, but indicates precisely what you intend to do), Measurable (the goal is quantifiable instead of vague), Achievable (the goal makes you stretch, but is not impossible to reach), Relevant (the goal is meaningful to you and your situation), and Timed (the goal has a specific time by which you intend to complete it).
The Power of Intention
In 1951, William Hutchinson Murray wrote the following about setting and pursuing goals:
Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.
I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets: “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!”
From my experience, this is absolutely true. I am no fan of the “law of attraction”, yet I do believe that when you commit your entire self to the pursuit of a goal, you begin to notice unexpected chances and opportunities.
The Road to Wealth is Paved With Goals
Setting financial goals is no different than setting other goals. It’s important to take all goal-setting seriously, to put some thought into the process. Here are some techniques — some of which I’ve shared before — for setting smart financial goals:
Determine what is important to you
Money doesn’t bring happiness; pursuing goals and experiences that are aligned with our personal values brings happiness. How can you be sure your spending is aligned with your personal values? By setting goals. I’ve had great success using George Kinder’s three questions to crystalize what is important to me. This, in turn, helps me set meaningful goals.
Look forward, not back
Base your goals on the future, on what you want to accomplish, not on where you’ve already been. This forces you to think outside the box. Don’t worry about past failures. Concern yourself only with what you want to accomplish in the future.
Take one step at a time
It’s vital to break large goals into smaller ones. If you focus too much on the Big Picture, you may become intimidated and give up. You eat an elephant one bite at a time. So too with goals. Once I decided to pay off $35,000 in debt, I shifted my focus from the big number to the smaller steps along the way. I made incremental progress. If you’re pursuing a big goal, break it into small components.
Keep your goal in mind
One way to do this is to advertise to yourself, perhaps using the techniques described at Take Back Your Brain. Regularly remind yourself of why you’re doing the things you’re doing — but don’t obsess over the Big Picture.
Use an accountability partner
In June, GRS reader Kinley shared her system for meeting financial goals. She and her sister serve as accountability partners for each other. They’ve shared their current financial situation and future goals. Every month, they review their progress together. An accountability partner — whether sister, friend, or spouse — can help you keep on track.
Be patient
Progress toward your goal can seem slow at first, but will accelerate with time. Things will get easier. You’ll learn new techniques. You may receive support from unexpected sources. Together, these things will help to accelerate your success.
Don’t let setbacks derail you
It can be discouraging when your goal seems to have been thwarted. You save a $5,000 emergency fund only to have your car totaled by an uninsured driver. You start a new busines and a big-name competitor moves in down the street. You get your debt snowball rolling and your credit card company changes your terms. When setbacks happen, don’t give up. And if you make mistakes, just get back on the right track. Persevere.
For more specific advice on pursuing long-term, medium-term, sort-term, and immediate goals, check out this three-year-old post about making a wish-list of financial goals.
Tip: I’ve recently become a fan of a specific technique for tracking short-term goals I learned from GRS-reader Erica. She keeps a list of daily goals in a spiral-bound notebook. I’ve modified her system for my own use. Every day I make a list of the things I want to do. As I complete a task, I cross it off the list. When I think of something new that needs doing, I add it to the list. At the end of the day, I copy all of the uncompleted tasks to a new page, listing them in order of priority. This simple system has revolutionized my productivity.
Goals Made Simple
I think maybe Chris Guillebeau said it best while we were walking the marathon yesterday. We were at the three mile mark when he remarked:
You should define your goals and align your spending around them. If you get clear about what you value — what you value, not anyone else — you’ll accomplish more and live a happier life.
I liked this so much that I stopped to write it down. (Yes, I carried pen and paper with me while walking the marathon. So sue me. I’m a writer.) Goals are important; they’re the gateway to financial success.
This is the second of a fourteen-part series that explores my financial philosophy. Other parts include:
- Tenet #1: Money is more about mind than it is about math
- Tenet #2: The road to wealth is paved with goals
- Tenet #3: To build wealth, you must spend less than you earn
- Tenet #4: Pay yourself first
- Tenet #5: Small amounts matter
- Tenet #6: Large amounts matter, too
- Tenet #7: Do what works for you
- Tenet #8: Slow and steady wins the race
- Tenet #9: The perfect is the enemy of the good
- Tenet #10: Failure is okay
- Tenet #11: Financial balance lets you enjoy tomorrow and today
- Tenet #12: Nobody cares more about your money than you do
- Tenet #13: Action beats inaction
- Tenet #14: It’s more important to be happy than to be rich
Look for a new installment in this series every Monday through the end of the year.
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There are 61 comments to "Goals are the gateway to financial success".
Goals, and to be FOCUSED on those goals. I know many who make great efforts to create goals, but then do not put the appropriate LASER focus into play needed to achieve them. I answer questions and frequently teach these three: goals, focus, discipline.
You are 100% correct, it is a marathon, not a sprint. Too many people want success NOW, and don’t realize that it is long term mindset and process.
Brent Riggs
http://www.buildabetterlife.com
Just a heads up JD, check out your third paragraph, “The journey to financial success is not a sprint – you are not going to get rich slowly – but a marathon” …correct me if i’m wrong, but didn’t you mean to say, “…get rich quick(ly)…”? Just trying to help a brother out :).
Great job, JD! You have inspired me this morning.
Congratulations on the marathon! I ran a 10k yesterday in training for a marathon early next year and know how tought it can be (and I’m only 26).
Congrats on meeting your goal!
In this day of instant gratification, it is hard to step back and view progress in the long term. It is like when the pediatricians tell you to ignore what your child eats at each meal, but pay attention to what they eat over the course of the week to determine if they are getting adequate nutrition. We should step back and see how we have done over the past year, not just the past month.
CONGRATULATIONS on your marathon! I think the most important lesson from the marathon is that even if things don’t go exactly as planned toward your goal, you KEEP GOING. Sometimes we get so caught up in wanting the process to be “just so” that we forget the bigger picture. You didn’t. Way to go!!
As J.D. mentioned, I find that breaking down goals into specific steps helps tremendously. It’s easy for me to become overwhelmed with large projects or goals. When I take a moment to write out the steps, all the way down to, “what can I do TODAY to get started on this?” I’m much better off.
I’ve been surprised by what I’ve been able to accomplish just by writing things down.
This is an incredibly useful post, J.D. I found myself jotting down notes while reading it. Thank you!
JD, congratulations on the marathon. I did one several years ago and it’s a huge accomplishment.
Of all the steps you mentioned, having an accountability partner has the most impact – at least in my experience.
There is just something magical that happens once I commit to another human being.
Your “take one step at a time” reminded me of a mentor I had who described this process as the “chocolate elephant”.
How would you eat a chocolate elephant?
Some people might start at the end of the trunk, some with a toenail, some with the tail. The key is that everybody can visualise eating a chocolate elephant by eating a little bit at a time. Big goals are just the same. Different people attack them in different way, but the key is to do a little at a time, and eventually you’ll reach the end.
I’m really glad you mentioned the importance of HOW we make our goals. We can do all of these things and take all of these steps to reach what we think is success only to find more unhappiness if we don’t spend the time in the very beginning to, like Chris said, get clear about what’s really important to us.
You can follow any plan, but it will only work if if it’s the right one!
@Britt (#2)
Oops. Thanks for pointing out that error. It’s an embarrassing one! My typing reflexes took over and I wrote the wrong phrase. Fixed now…
No, you shouldn’t worry about past failures, but you should learn from them and use them to motivate you.
Love it, just love this type of reminders. And yes, JD, congrats on a marathon! You may have not run it as intended, but you didn’t back away! This year I achieved a dream to get into Hardrock 100 (tough lottery). I did, but was sidelined by injuries and personal life to train properly. I walked the damn course and kissed the Rock at the finish line! And that’s what counts:)
Congratulations on your marathon! Thanks for this inspiring post as well. I completely agree that setting specific goals that make a person happy is the key. Also, checking up on your goals is helpful, especially if you have an accountability partner, or someone who shares that goal with you and makes sure you’re staying on track. That’s a great tip.
thanks again-
Little House
Goals are a great way to monitor success and you have been successful. I think I may have to take a note out of your book, all my current goals are fairly low key like quit the day job and work from home which is open ended and not very focused – which is my working style but probably not very constructive or set in stone.
Congratulations on your marathon. I would feel great if I could only walk the marathon like you. After reading your post I am going to set goal of being able to walking a marathon.
Thanks very much
Norman
Congratulations! And also, you MUST watch Run Fat Boy Run…it’s a British comedy about a guy who decides to run a marathon three weeks before its held to show his ex that he can finish something. Hilarious movie…I think you’d like it.
Your post reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by Patañjali, who compiled the Yoga Sutras. I especially like the part about the mind transcending limitations:
“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and your discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”
I really like this post. I especially have to work on figuring out the smaller steps and organizing myself to do them. It really is amazing how much more I get done when I’ve actually written down these smaller goals as to-do items. (I prefer to check them off than to cross them out.)
Sometimes you do have to look back because your past actions affect what you can do now. People with different pasts have different options. I agree though that you should focus your efforts on accomplishing something new rather than re-hashing or feeling bad about something old.
The one part that doesn’t work for me is the accountability partner. Now, if I find someone with the same goals and we can work together, that’s the best thing ever (especially if it’s learning something like how to speak a foreign language). But just telling my best friends what I want to do doesn’t work at all.
First, telling them gives me the feeling that I’ve accomplished something in a way that makes me feel self-satisfied and quit actually working on the goal. I know, that doesn’t make any sense, but that’s what happens with me.
Second, I find guilt to be less of a motivator for me than imagining a post-achievement celebration. So I’m much better at working on the goal in secret with the additional goal of springing my accomplishment on my friends after it is done and thus after I do have something to be proud of.
Third, I may have some sort of problem with authority or being a control freak or something. I’d rather not have someone spewing useless advice at me, even though it may work for someone else. Sure, I can read that on blogs, but having my actual friends say things like, “You ought to …” is very unappealing to me.
I’m thinking that the way I should read that piece of advice is to see if I can find like-minded people to work with.
This is a very inspiring post. And I like your point that sometimes you can achieve your goals in a different way than expected (as you walked the marathon you had set out to do – congrats!). I always find that my goals stick better if I write them down. Then, every once in a while, I’ll come across where I wrote them down and remember how much they mean to me.
I also have the goal to run a marathon. I have been working up to it for some time now, and the most important part of my training is not to let one weekend off ruin my progress. In the past, just one hiccup in my training would stunt the entire process, but now I am taking another approach, without letting a day or two off set me back. I’ve come to find that many times what is holding me back is just in my head. For running, when I believe I can run further, I can.
I really liked this post! Thank you very much.
Congratulations on the completion!
I am glad that you decide to highlight “Take one step at a time.” Many of us fail because we take too many things at one time.
Congratulations on finishing the marathon and completing your goal. I’ve run 11 of them and I find that the whole process of training and completion is a great analogy for accomplishing many of life’s goals. Some marathons are easier and other’s grueling.
Completion is the point of a marathon–not time–just as getting rich slowly is the point. Your goals have shown that you can do this faster if there is a direct timeline involved. Keep up the good work, and the walking.
I hope you aren’t too sore today… Go for a short and slow walk. It will help your recovery.
Hey, good job. 🙂 You are an inspiration to me. Just wanted to let you know.
Congrats JD! I ran Cross Country in HS. I remember freshman year thinking I’d never be faster than maybe 28 mins for the 3mi/5K course. Heck, I remember feeling like I’d never be able to finish a race without walking for at least some portion of it. But I also remember the first race I ran all the way through. It was an invitational on the State finals course with a huge dip that you had to run down and up twice. It was slow but I ran the whole thing! After that I started getting faster and eventually ran in the 24-25mins. Not varsity and not even that great but it was a long acomplishment from freshman year.
I have a question though: Goals need to be spcific. I notice that you have a goal for completing a marathon along with the goal of getting out of debt. What do you think about focusing on multiple goals in multiple categories? On one hand, it’s necessary because we can’t focus on one sole thing to the exclusion of everything else in life. But on the other hand, having too many simultaneous goals would seem to be overwhelming. I guess priorities come into play at that point but even still it makes sense to me to have several goals that I’m working on simultaneously in different areas of my life. What do you think?
(I want to echo Kandace’s last thought and hope you aren’t too sore today.)
Congrats on the marathon. I seriously hope no one called you a failure for walking it. I’ve done four by doing the run/walk intervals and it’s funny how much I’ve applied that concept to other aspects of my life. I used to feel that if I didn’t run the whole time, it somehow “didn’t count”. Every little bit is something.
As for goal setting – I only set action goals since those are the easiest to control. My goal is to not stop for a latte this week or drink 5 glasses of water today. Saying I’ll lose 15 pounds in 3 months is not something I’m able to focus on. Too many things can happen between now and then.
When it comes down to it – we can’t do anything about what we did yesterday, we don’t know what will happen tomorrow so we have today to work on and that is more than enough.
Cheers!
Brigid
Having goals is great, but it’s not enough. You have to be to choose sensible goals. I remember a time when I *really, really* thought high-performance cylinder heads for my car were important. Or when I was in college, there were times when I was supremely focused on a new laptop computer.
I realized both of these goals, neither really improved my life much, and they both dug me deeper into debt.
Making a ‘to-do’ list and checking items off of it is only useful when the items on the list are useful. Simply checking things off has no real inherent value.
Having goals keeps you motivated. Without motivation it is very difficult to accomplish your goals or get much done. Whether finances or otherwise, having goals keeps thing competitive and fun..
Thanks for a wonderful, highly inspirational post. My financial life is on track these days (due in no small part to your writings here at GRS) but it feels like some of my other major lifetime goals (write a novel, master another language… or two!) have fallen by the wayside in the meantime. I’m going to print this article out and post it by my computer, to help remind me of how to be motivated while writing or studying.
Great job J.D.! You should be proud to have walked that far. So what if you couldn’t run? I think you are amazing and a definite inspiration. Keep it up!
I totally agree on having financial goals (and also fitness goals!). What works for me $ wise, is an excel spreadsheet with where I want to go for the year and progress so far.
For some reason, seeing the nice number in the bank that I want/could have at the end of the year really motivates me to turn down short-term gratification and stick to my saving plan.
I also like using Excel to set my budget because of the automatic calculations you can build in. For example, I deliberately “overbudgetted” for my monthly household spending—which means that every week when I come in under that I autocalculate exactly how much (more) I’ve “saved”, and also how much I would “save” for the entire year if I can keep my spending down to that rate! Pretty inspiring, and helps me keep a lid on it. I find that I need the feedback every week—once per month is too far between.
Oh yeah, big fan of the goals. Track my savings goals at least twice a month, track my networth at least twice a month (not really a goal, but tracking it keeps me motivated). Track my personal goals probably 5-10 times a week, these are small goals (think taking the stairs at work and spending 30 minutes a day on house chores) but small goals can add up to big results.
Yes, determining the goals is important, but for me the tracking is what gets me moving in the right direction. When we were paying off our non-mortgage debt I had a great Excel spread sheet that tracked each debt, with a bar and pie chart. I’ve got a similar Excel spread sheet for our savings goals.
Congratulations!! It’s an amazing achievement whether everyone out there running marathons would agree with that statement based on your time or not. I know. I did my marathon just under six hours and felt the need to throw out disclaimers just like you are. But then I decided, no one can take this away from me. Not even those who do it in half my time. I DID THIS!!! AND SO DID YOU! CONGRATS to you!
Congrats JD!
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
Congratulations on completing the marathon. It is also important to write your goals down. Better yet, post them. Look at them often and know how great it will feel when you complete them. How did you first establish and pursue the goals you mentioned? I’m guessing it was a pretty big step from thinking about it in your head to making it a concrete goal. I’d also guess that writing down was a big bridge between the two.
@JD – now that you’re in the so-called “third stage of personal finance” are you finding it harder to define goals? I know I am – we’re out of debt except our mortgage, we contribute healthy amounts to our retirement and continue to save outside those as well. Maybe it’s just that I’m not exactly sure what I want out of life right now. Or maybe this is a good sign that I’ve reached a point of “enough”? Or maybe it’s a sign that all the low-hanging fruit goals are accomplished and now I need to move on to bigger, less tangible things?
Grats on the marathon! I don’t think I could even walk that far at once… Maybe. I enjoy walking, running not so much.
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.
I haven’t done this in a while (busy busy busy!), but I’m going to take time out of the book-writing to answer a couple of questions. There are some good ones here.
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?
@JD – I think you said it perfectly, about how your saving/investing goals are now a reflex or habit. It feels damn good to be sending money to my Roth IRA every month instead of paying off a car note or credit card.
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.
I have used several of the tips and techniques you have outlined here in my previous financial journey toward debt freedom, and I have maintained this approach to our finances seamlessly.
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!
Goals are everything.
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
Hi JD – Thanks for your response! Maybe I can be more daring in my own questioning without fear of irking you? 🙂 I hear where you are coming from regarding when you set your goal, and your then income of $47,000 (thnx for sharing). However, your blog has clearly grown tremendously (congrats for this), so I must imagine you are making much much more than that?
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.
Outstanding job completing the marathon! You spent virtually an entire workday walking, that’s amazing. And by completing your goal – even by walking – you adhered to important values of honoring your commitment and not letting the quest for Perfect prevent you from achieving the Great.
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
JD: Well put. Having concrete goals that you focus on continually is not some magical thing but it seems almost magical in it’s power to accomplish your dreams. Your mind becomes attuned to opportunities and information that will lead to your success. I have practiced this for years and accomplished pretty much all the important goals I have ever set. In fact it works so well you need to be careful what you put down. Make sure it really is what you want.
Thanks,
Doug
Good questions, Financial Samurai.
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.)
Your friend Chris’s quote was right on. I prioritize my spending around travel to see friends and maintain a connection with them. I don’t care about a new car (I told my dad I’d love a mini but wasn’t interested in car payments, and travel is way more important to me than a car fund) but I DO care about seeing a friend and celebrating her life.
(removed my comment about Financial Samurai’s math as J.D. answered)
Thanks JD. You’ve helped piece together the missing puzzle i.e. your income growth was more AFTER you achieved your paying off debt goals, and you do not make “$102,000” a month, but still make more than you’ve ever made in your life. This helps explain away the “asymetric standard.”
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
Maybe today was just a rough day, but, continuing with the marathon analogy, I’m in a three legged race with someone who isn’t as “motivated,” shall we say?
Sigh….
I totally agree on the importance of setting goals, espcially as a working, independant adult. When I first graduated from university and started working about 6 months in had this funny feeling of…. “something” not being right. I realised that until then, goals in my life had automatically been set for me: Such as do well final year of school to get into university, then each semester there are more mini goals – work to finish the next set of exams, the look forward to summer break, then it was getting an summer internship, then it was graduating and getting a job.
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.
That’s awesome. Congrats! I have finished a few and it is always a great feeling.
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
Firstly, congratulations on finishing that marathon. Regardless of how long it took you, you did it and that is tremendous! For me, setting goals has not been enough…I’ve needed to change my life, surround myself with reinforcement (in the form of frugal friends, reading books about getting out of debt, and daily blog checks)…in a world that is geared towards conspicuous consumption, getting out of debt can be a lonely choice.
As an avid runner, goals definitely are essential to success. The key invariably is not allowing yourself to stray from your objective goals. And I cannot agree more with the analysis and the connection drawn in the post.
Great post–put simply, key #1 is to know what you want (as mentioned). Key #2 is to know how you want to get there (as mentioned). Key #3 is to let nothing stand in your way.
Its as simple as that.
Thanks for this post I needed a bit of inspiration today. And to the readers, all good points. I’ll admit I couldn’t read all 52 of them, though I know that each of them are appreciated.
May you enjoy and relish the moment of your success!
I’m ready to take on the world after this post! Very insightful and inspiring stuff, thank you!
J.D.,
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?)
Congrats on finishing the marathon! I ran a marathon two years ago and it was one of my toughest accomplishments on a mental level. You have to keep pushing yourself even if you feel like you can’t continue. The same mentality can be applied to personal finance. Also, I probably would never have gone through with running the marathon had I not told all my friends and there were people holding me accountable.
Running a marathon and achieving your financial goals makes a great comparison. In fact, sports and life in general have a lot in common. Set a goal, perservere through the valleys, stay focused on the peaks, and keep moving forward. That’s why I’ll always encourage my kids to participate in some sort of sports activity. You can learn a lot from athletics!
This reminds of the principle “Begin with the End in Mind” from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. It says basically the same thing you have said but through a different perspective. I remember the example it used was building a house. Before you even nail your first piece of wood, you create a blueprint. In creating that blueprint you think about all features you’d like to have in your house, perhaps a screen roomed for reading GRS on cool fall days. You basically create the entire house in your mind before its even embarked on. Goals should be formulated the same way, you should create the goal in your mind then imagine all the emotions and feels of reaching that goal. See the goal clearly in your mind. You can then create a blueprint, small accomplishments that lead you to your ultimate goal. I’m sure JD had very distinct milestones to accomplish before he performed the marathon. This is a simply, but important process. Visual, emotionalize, then realize your goals.
Finance Answers,
Thanks! That may actually be the answer to my question above.
Congrats on completeing the marathon!
Good advice. For me I need to make my goals really small (at first) – stepping stones. I find it difficult to achieve the goals I set (because I am lazy, I guess), so I need really small stepping stones that I can achieve with little effort but will make me feel proud of myself. Then I can see myself advancing towards my goal and I will become more motivated and feel like I can accomplish more.