Why You Need To Set Your Own Goals, Not Someone Else’s

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The Importance of Goals

It doesn’t matter what stage we are at in life, whether it be at the highest level of success or down and out just trying to get back up, we need goals in order to make progress and live up to our fullest potential. Humans are natural achievers and without purpose and meaning, our physical and mental health can quickly deteriorate.

So in order to keep ourselves at the top level of performance, we need to have goals to keep us on track, or how else do we know if we are making any progress? How many of you have had days where you feel like you can accomplish so much and conquer the world? But then the next 10 days you have little motivation and skip out on the most important things you need to do?

Well it happens to the best of us. Everyone who has ever lived. The difference between those people who are successful in achieving their goals and those who do not, is the ability to create the right habits and have perseverance in order to stick to their plan to reach their potential. When you set goals, write them down and then set up a system to remind yourself of them on a daily basis, something amazing happens.

If our goals are on paper and written down, they become real. They’re no longer just an idea in our heads. They have a deadline and a plan of action for how we are going to reach them. This ignites a fire within us that forces us to find a way to reach that ambitious milestone. Whether it’s getting in shape, saving money, paying off debt or starting a business, once we write that goal down and make it real, it pushes us in the right direction to find a way.

Even if we don’t tell a soul about what our goals are (but we should if we’re comfortable with it), setting and writing down our goals makes us accountable to the most important person…… ourselves!

Now this post isn’t about how to ACHIEVE our goals, but if you are looking for some tips, check out this post. More importantly, this post is about how to set the RIGHT goals so we don’t find ourselves going down the wrong path.

You can set the most ambitious goals in the world, but if they are not the RIGHT goals that lead you to what you want, then it really isn’t the best goal to set….

 

Your Goals Need to Be Your Own

The middle class is dying….

I know, probably a morbid way to think, but it really is true. Fortunately, it’s not the fault of anyone. Nothing that is happening is the fault of millennials, the parents who raised us, the government or anyone else. Over the last 20-30 years, the world has been changing, and it’s just the natural progression of time. There’s no point blaming anyone or anything for the fact that jobs are disappearing, college is expensive or that wages are stagnant.

It’s just the changing nature of the global economy.

Now you can think differently or disagree with me, but I see that the only truly productive option is to recognize the changes and simply adapt. We can protest and demand assistance, or we can adapt and work with what we’ve got.

The American Dream and the thriving middle class is for what so many people have been striving for well over 50 years, but now that the world is changing, our goals and dreams need to change as well. The generation of my parents got college educations, stable jobs, a house in the suburbs, and a retirement at 65. These were their financial goals. But they likely should not be the financial goals of the current generation entering the working world. Times are changing and so should our goals.

 

 

In the book Choose Yourself, James Altucher says:

“The reason they’re stalled is because the axis of the world has changed. We can’t rely on the job, the marriage, the relationship, the house with the white-picket fence, the college degree, the anything external for that matter. Nothing counts. Everything we dreamed for was an illusion.”

 

 

Basically you need to choose yourself as the vehicle for your success and happiness and not rely on anyone or anything else. The world is changing, and we need to set our own goals and strive for the best life possible. And if you approach this with the right mindset, it is the most freeing idea imaginable. No dependence on anyone or anything else for our happiness.

Your parents, teachers or even the “government” might want you to have a middle class job and a steady paycheck, but it probably just is not going to happen, or at least not in the way you may imagine. Automation and outsourcing are eliminating more middle class jobs than can be created, so set your own goals for success, choose how you want to live and use the means most readily available to get there.

Now it’s easier than ever to design your own lifestyle and reach financial security without a monthly paycheck or a boss telling you what to do. So what goals do you want for yourself?

 

How Do I Go About Setting My Own Goals

Setting the right goals is dependent on a few things. Those being:

• What do you want out of life
• What are you willing to do to get it

 

If you are struggling to really understand what you really want, check out my Free 5-Day Money Course, which can help you start to think in terms of what you want and not what everyone else wants. Because once you know what you want out of life, it becomes pretty easy to know what to do with your money.

 

 

Setting your own goals, financial or otherwise, is not just about a job, income or whatever, but figuring about what type of life you want to live.

Do you want to be debt-free? Self-employed? Spend your days living as you want, not controlled by a boss or a paycheck?

If you don’t want to work 60+ hour weeks in order to afford the mortgage on a large house in the suburbs, then maybe you should change your goal for what would make you financially successful? Make sure your goal is your own, not someone else’s.

I set a goal to get my finances in order to be able to spend 6 months traveling and take an extended time off from full time work. This was my financial goal for over 3 years while I saved and lived mindfully in order to be able to afford a mini-retirement.

Maybe true financial success is being able to spend your time and money providing support to friends, family or a cause that is important to you?

Start off figuring out the life you want and what you are willing to do to get it, then set your financial goals. You’ll be much happier, and it’ll be much easier to achieve them.

 

Choose Yourself and Reach Your Goals

In the end, you need to choose yourself and set your own goals. The world is changing, and we can’t just follow in the footsteps of those who have come before us and use the same model for financial success. If the world and global economy are changing, shouldn’t the path to career and financial success change too?

It’s just a thought….

 

Question: Do you think that there is too much outside influence on financial and career goals? What are your financial goals and how do you plan on achieving them?

Leave a comment or send me an email!

 

NYPFGuy