If you’re working towards financial freedom, chances are you’ve planned how you’re going to get there. You’re going to save regularly, you’re going to invest wisely, you’re going to take advantage of the business opportunities which present themselves… the how is probably planned in minute detail.

But have you thought of the why? Why are you working for financial freedom? Which goals do you want to realise? Do you know why you want to achive them?

Know What You Want

Not many people really think about their goals. Having a vague idea doesn’t count. Maybe you want to pay off all your debt, or buy a house. Perhaps you want to start a business or retire early. I don’t know why you want to take control of your finances, but do you? It’s all very well getting your money and savings working hard, but without something to work for you’re not going to have any direction and it’s likely your best laid plans will come crashing down around you.

Years ago, I was saving money in an ISA. I knew I needed to save money, so I put a hefty chunk of cash aside each month for several months. I didn’t know what I was saving for, just that I needed to save. As I was hoarding more and more, I was missing out on more things. In the end I started taking money out of the ISA to buy crap, to be frank. Soon enough I’d blown all my savings – just when I found myself needing to pull together the deposit for a flat (I’d been kicked out of my student flat). Buying a flat had been a vague goal in the back of my mind, but I’d never thought about it properly until it was too late.

It Only Takes an Hour or So

If you spend an hour or an afternoon thinking about your goals and how much you need to achieve them, you’ll be ahead of most people around you. Think about short/mid-term goals and long-term goals. Think about how much it will cost to achieve. Think why you want to achieve this goal.

Example Short-Term Goal

Goal – Pay off remaining Credit Card debt.
Why – It’s my last piece of bad debt. Paying this off will leave me free to save for other goals and start working my plan
Cost – I still owe £1100, so we’ll say £1200 (to cover interest/any more charges)

That didn’t take long me long. If you do similar, but keep going for all your short to long-term goals, you’ll end up with a fair stack to work towards. Mine include buying a bigger house, starting my own business and learning to drive, if you must know.

You may be looking at your list of goals and thinking “I’ll never be able to afford all that!” You will. You just have to be realistic about it. It won’t happen overnight but with a little thought and hard work you’ll be able to achive all your goals quicker than you might expect.

Update 16:17pm – I just learned a fairly invaluable tip for this short-term goals process. Set a time limit; in my example above, this could be a time limit of 12 months. Breaking this down, I’d have to set aside £100 a month to achieve this goal. By doing this, I give myself further incentive to achieve the goal, and have more information about what I have to do to complete it.