A Path to Setting and Reaching Your Financial Goals in the New Year

What if you focused on your system instead of just your goals?

Setting goals for a new year can feel overwhelming.  We all know that resolutions don’t last, but we also feel the energy that comes with a new year of possibilities. Here’s a clearer path for setting and reaching your goals.

Many of us love complex processes. Intricacies of a large spreadsheet really get our brain going and we can spend lots of time deeply analyzing financial questions. Maybe.

But when we try to apply the same level of study to setting goals, it never works out. We try spreadsheets and software and Gantt charts to lay out goals in detailed sequences and it just doesn’t click. We never understand why.

What is Your System?

Maybe it’s time to try something different, like what is passed along in personal coach James Clear’s excellent writings on setting aside goals to focus on systems in which he discusses the difference between goals and systems.

“If you’re a coach, your goal is to win a championship,” Clear writes. “Your system is what your team does at practice each day. If you’re a writer, your goal is to write a book and your system is the writing schedule you follow each week. If you’re an entrepreneur, your goal is to build a million-dollar business and your system is your sales and marketing.

“Now for the really interesting question,” he adds. “If you completely ignored your goals and focused only on your system, would you still get results?”

Yes, says Clear, who can help spark new thinking in us regarding this year’s goal setting. Let’s create our own goal-setting template with just three short sets of questions.

Review Last Year’s Successes

What did you accomplish last year? Personally? Professionally? What were the year’s successes?

Large and small, all your successes build toward your long-term vision. Put your achievements on paper and remind yourself what you did accomplish last year.  We all dwell on what we didn’t accomplish more than on what we did, so take a few minutes to counter that natural tendency and prime your goal-setting mechanisms.

Plan This Year’s Successes

What would you like to accomplish this year? Personally? Professionally?

Give your imagination some space and think about what you want done by the time you sit down at your desk in the first week of the new year and look back at another successful year. Write down last year’s goals and think about how you’ll feel when those turn into accomplishments on this year’s success list.

What do You Need to Succeed?

What do you need to do to accomplish your goals? Skills to learn? Habits to acquire?

Put the first page on your left and put the second page on your right. Place the third page, with these questions, in the middle and let your brain connect your positive past to your envisioned future. What must you do to make those goals reality?

What habits and skills do you need to develop? What connections do you need to make? What activities should you try? Like Clear advises, focus on systems and habits.

Most of us love setting goals and thinking about the future. But our biggest area of improvement could be building systems that support those goals and the positive changes we want to make. Focus on building positive habits toward the goals that you seek for yourself, your family and your business.

Important Disclosures

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

All information is believed to be from reliable sources; however LPL Financial makes no representation as to its completeness or accuracy.

This article was prepared by AdviceIQ.

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Keri Pugh

Keri Pugh is a Wealth Advisor with Fusion Financial Group, an independent financial planning firm and fiduciary based in Denver, CO. Keri has over 20 years of experience in the industry, as both a financial advisor and Principal. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Northern Colorado and is an alumna with national sorority Delta Zeta. Keri holds a variety professional licenses, carries the esteemed mark of Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), meeting rigorous education and experience requirements in key areas of financial planning, as well as the designation of Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®), a symbol of her dedication to upholding the fiduciary standard for clients. As a wife and mother to two young children, Keri is particularly drawn to working with thriving families and women. This is not only reflected within her practice but also in her regular sponsorship of the local PTA and volunteer work with the elementary school. Outside of the office, Keri enjoys traveling, skiing, and the Colorado great outdoors with her family. She often lines up movie marathons for the family and, in line with many clients, is a beginner golfer and a wine enthusiast. To learn more about Keri, connect with her on LinkedIn.