Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Wishing Wishy-Washy Wishes

ziggy wishy washy

I wish…

  • I have more money,
  • I have a new car,
  • I have a bigger house,
  • I have the best smartphone,
  • I win a lottery,
  • I get a windfall from distance relatives,
  • I get a pay raise at work,
  • I can travel more,
  • etc.

I wish…I wish…I wish…so many wishes, but unfortunately they will remain just wishes.

If you want to your wishes to come true, one of the first things you need to do is to change your wishes to goals. Some of you may have heard SMART goal setting that goals need to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely.

Specific – What do you want? Why do you want it? How are you going to do it? You need to be very clear about what you really want. For example, instead of wishing you have more money, you can set a specific goal of saving 10% of your income or Rp 1M a month.

Measurable – You can quantify your goal and measure your progress. For example, if you want to have a saving of Rp 6,000,000 in a year, then you can measure your progress when you save Rp 500,000 a month.

Attainable – You need to believe that you can achieve this goal. You need to set a goal that is big but not impossible to achieve. For example, if your income is Rp 10M a month, saving Rp 1.5M a month or 15% of your income is attainable. If you say that you will save Rp 5M or half of your income, it will be very hard, especially if you have a family to support. If it is too difficult you are not going to do it, so set a goal that will excite and motivate you to achieve it.

Relevant – How is the goal relevant to your life or purpose? For example, if you say that you want to save Rp 1M a month for a child’s education fund for 10 years, but you do not have a child…then it’s irrelevant. The goal must be meaningful and rewarding for you.

Timely – You set a timeframe for the goal. For example I have Rp 20M of emergency fund by 31st December 2013.

Transform your wishes into goals and start taking action today! 

If you do not mind sharing your goals with us, please share them in the comments! You will be more motivated when you make a public commitment!

Learn and Grow!

Inge Santoso, B Com, CFP®

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