Reaching Your Goals

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

It may be a children’s book, but Dr. Seuss’s final work encapsulates so much of what makes us human. The fire in our bellies to keep us moving forward, achieving, reacting, altering course, and living our lives. One of the biggest challenges in your financial life, will be knowing what goals to set, how to stay accountable to them, and what to do when you achieve them.

What should the goal be?

Let’s get to Disneyland.

The first thing to know, is that your goal should be not strictly be about dollars or cents. Direct financial goals often end up as failures, as the mechanisms to reach them are often strictly financial as well. “I need to save $10,000 so I am going to put 10 dollars in a jar for 1000 days.” But what do you do when you forget? Does $20 go in the next day? No, more often than not you decide that you’re going to take the week, and start fresh the following Monday.

The Fat Guy and the Skinny Guy

In the E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber, Gerber talks about the “Fat Guy” and the “Skinny Guy”, two people that live in all of us. He describes the day we decide we need to get fit and the “Skinny Guy” wakes up. Hyper motivated and hyper focused. Diet, exercise, and yoga, the skinny guy has all his attention on one huge goal: a weight, a six pack, or a belt size. Over the short term, everything is amazing, new goals achieved every day! Then a day comes when you don’t meet that goal, and dejection creeps in. The “Fat Guy” is back, turning you against your goals, excusing reasons for their failures, telling you that maybe it wasn’t really a good idea.

The story is phenomenal, and we highly recommend a read, but the real takeaway here is that a goal needs to be realistic and attainable, and should be tied to your lifestyle. Do you want to take the family to Disneyland? Instead of asking how much to save, ask based on your current lifestyle, how long it would it take to go.

How to Stay Accountable

Accountable? To who?

Let’s stick to the example of getting in shape. Gyms all over the world are plagued with members that don’t show up. That “Skinny Guy” at the gym is long gone by June, usually feeling a resurgence under the: “Let’s just 10k five times a week!”. Still, you will see some people going in, sticking with their programs, often with the help of a trainer.

Whether it be a nutritionist, personal trainer, or class teacher, having someone keep you accountable just works. Maybe it’s the fact that you’re paying a premium and want to get your money’s worth. Or maybe it’s the fact that these people’s job is tied directly to your results. Regardless, their continued presence benefits your life. Long term, those extra dollars will allow you to actually reach your targets, instead of just throwing money out the window for that gym membership you use every January.

So Financial Planners?

This is the exciting part! Up until now, the financial system has been made up of individuals who profit based on the products you buy, rather than your satisfaction with their results. Think beachbody coaches on Facebook. You pay for the product, not for the result, and that just doesn’t make sense. It has left a glaring hole in the industry which is now being filled with Net Worth Managers, who are real financial planners with a focus on your wellbeing, rather than pocketbook.

The core responsibility of a Net Worth Manager is to help keep you accountable to your goals. They work out with you how that Disney trip gets funded, and make sure you are taking the right steps to make it. This is going to loop in everything, from your taxes, to your benefits, to your debt, and more. Net Worth Managers focus is on what you have, not what you need to get.

You’ve Achieved Your Goal

It evolves.

Once that Disney trip comes, do you stop? No, you keep going. Maybe it’s as simple as getting ready for the next trip, but more likely, there are other areas of your life that need attention. As you go through life, you are going to have an evolving view of what you want to do, and how you want to do it, and with a Net Worth Manager, you are not alone. Every time you meet, they will evaluate all your goals, and help you determine where your money should go. Maybe they are to small, and you have room to go bigger. Maybe life has taken a turn, and you need to pull back in favour of another expense.

It can’t be stressed enough. Your Net Worth Manager, is always with you.

At Your Managers, the Net Worth Manager lives in your world. They understand that your goals are going to shift, and priorities are going to change. By having someone who is immersed in your finances, you can be sure that nothing takes you by surprise, and your dreams can be met. No big products, no smoke and mirrors, just your cash flow, a great financial plan, and a fantastic person keeping you accountable.