Have you reviewed your first quarter goals? If no, you still have opportunity to do so now. Reviewing your goals after first quarter will enable you make some adjustment and to add new one, say experts.
You may have started off this year with lofty personal, family or business goals with passion and motivation. There is need you review them one after the other to know the areas you have recorded success and the areas that requires more effort.
Adewale Adeleke, managing partner, WA Professionals, Lagos, says it is a good thing to carry out budget monitoring with a view of evaluating the periodic performance.
Miriam Caldwell, personal finance specialist, says you can begin your review by choosing one goal and answering the following questions.
Have you reached this goal or reached the step that you wanted to by this point? If not, why? What can you change in order to reach the goal? If the goal was unrealistic how can you modify the goal?
If you have reached the goal what is the next step or mini goal in order to reach the larger goal? What changes do you need to make for this next step?
She said once you have answered these questions for each goal, you can look over your answers and write the specific goals down that you will be working on for the next quarter. For instance, if your goal was to increase your savings then stick to it in the next three months, employing all strategies that will enable you achieve that goal.
Caldwell, advises that you take time to reward yourself if you have achieved your goals. This should be a small reward that you can truly afford without throwing off your budget to the point that you cannot reach your other goals.
“Post your goals somewhere you will see them or share them with a friend who can encourage you to reach them this quarter. Financial goals are often private, and money is something that many people feel uncomfortable discussing with others. However, you can share your goals without revealing too much personal information. You can also post the goals on the forum and receive support there,” she said.
There is nothing wrong in setting goals because everything about life is about goals and the pursuit of achieving those targets, say experts.
They advocate that one must not look at setting short-term goals, one must look at the big picture of say, “What do l want to achieve in the next five to 10 years? One can however do a review every year to stay on course or to re-strategise.”
“There is a need for one to achieve a financial breakthrough in life, so one needs to plan one’s future, children education, construction of personal accommodation, car and retirement plan as one cannot work for ever. Since the government does not have plan for citizen’s future, one must start putting aside for the sake of tomorrow,” he posits.
Achieving your goals is not going to happen overnight. If you really want to achieve your goal, you have to do things that are convenient and have hope that you will achieve your goals with minimal effort,” one of the experts said.
HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE
