Keep your eye on the prize…

When you’re working towards a big goal, it’s easy to lose focus and not follow through.  That’s why so many people make New Year’s Resolutions and never meet them.

In order to actually meet your goals, you need to keep the prize in mind.  Here’s an example… 

Lets say you want to lose 15 pounds.  To lose those 15 pounds you need to make some changes to your eating habits and you need to exercise regularly.  Most people will focus on the pain - not being able to eat what they want, having to get up early to go to the gym - and they won’t lose the 15 pounds.

But, what if you focus on how great you’ll feel when you lose those 15 pounds?  What if you focus on the new clothes you’ll get to buy, or how great you’ll look?  Do you think you’ll lose those 15 pounds?  You are much more likely to meet your goals if you focus on the end result, rather than the short term pain.

So how does this apply to a financial blog? 

Well… how many people do you know who are deep in debt?  What do they need to do to get out of debt?  They need to cut spending. 

Similar to dieting, many people fail to get out of debt, because they only feel the short term pain of having to budget and cut back on things they enjoy.  They don’t focus on the end result, which may be the freedom that comes with being debt free, the ability to spend money on things they want because they don’t have to make those credit card payments any longer. 

You get the idea.  The point is, no matter what your goal is - whether it’s to lose weight, to get out of debt, or to save for retirement, you need to keep your eye on the prize in order to meet your goals.