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If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else. - Yogi Berra

At first, I was thinking about this quote with the context of traveling, but as I procrastinated on writing my last post on financial health, I realized that the quote applies to financial goals as well.

If you haven’t read the first post in this series, I recommend starting there before reading the rest of this post.

Now that you have savings in the back of your mind, let’s get to the second basic money management principle that helped set me up for debt free living.

Basic Money Management Tip #2: Be specific with your goals and check-in with your progress regularly.

I turned 26 last week and, each birthday, I like to reflect on the lessons I’ve learned and the progress I’ve made towards my goals in the previous year.

Generally though, I love any excuse to reflect, course-correct, and set new goals and intentions for myself. This drive to keep leveling up and do better tomorrow is what gets me up in the morning, despite whatever is going on with my depression or anxiety, my personal or professional life, my bank account, or the world around me.

I don’t always know where I’m going. I don’t always accomplish the goals I set for myself. I can’t always control each and every detail of this life, but when I sit down with pen and paper to map out where I have been and where I could be in the next year, five years, or decade, I come out feeling grounded, centered, and ready to conquer.

By being specific with my goals and checking-in regularly, I give myself a timeline and a game plan to guide my decisions and actions to get me to that next level—and not someplace else.

Reaching your goals isn’t impossible, but the mindset and toolkit you carry with you matter, even if you don’t reach your goals.

Here are 3 ways I’ve shifted my mindset and toolkit for setting goals:

• Set SMARTER goals.

  You may have heard of SMART goals—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound. Well, SMART goals didn’t work for me until I added evaluate and reward or reframe to the process.

  I like to evaluate my goals and progress at least once a quarter, including New Year’s and my birthday. I do try to check-in with my goals each week and month, but I haven’t found a process that works for me yet.

  Now, the reward part has been a game changer to my goal-setting process. I find that treating myself like a kid who wants a shiny new toy helps me work hard to achieve my goals and also get that shiny new toy.

  Here’s one of my SMARTER goals: Pay off remaining student loan debt by May 2019, two years after graduation. The reward: a luxury wardrobe piece I don’t need.

  If you read the savings first post in this series, you’d know my last tip is save first, buy later.

  I had been wanting a new kimono forever; the one my aunt handed-down to me started tearing a few years ago. Five months after finding a brand I wanted to buy from, I paid off the remaining $2,225.75 on my loans just so I could, finally, reward myself with a new kimono.

That kimono elevates my outfit, my space, and my mood—and it feels even more luxurious because I know that I paid off my loans to own that piece.

You can have one too, and get $15 off, after accomplishing your financial goal. (Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored, but the referral link gifts me $15 off my next purchase if you end up making a purchase.)

• Clarify your why and reconnect to it, over and over again.

  After formulating a goal for yourself, it’s time to ask why you want to achieve that specific goal, again. If you followed the steps to setting SMART goals, you already asked yourself why the goal is important.

  That first layer of why gets your brain moving, but it’s surface level. Instead, I like to use a method I picked up from Marie Kondo: ask why three to five times.

  Let’s take my SMARTER goal for example:

  Why do I want to pay off my loans? I don’t want to let the interest grow. Why don’t I want to let the interest grow? I don’t want to pay more than I have to. Why? I want to save that money instead. Why? I want financial freedom. Why? When I have debt, I make decisions with a scarcity mindset which stresses me out and fuels my anxiety. When I have money saved and financial freedom, I am making decisions from a place of security and abundance.

  The why we want is a little deeper, and in the process of uncovering each layer, we start to visualize the life that is possible when we accomplish our goals.

  We also start to clarify what is vague about what we are trying to achieve when we keep asking why.

  What does financial freedom really mean to you? What does security and abundance mean to you? How does it feel, what does it look like?

  Ask those questions and go crazy with your imagination. Use all your senses to visualize the end result of achieving your goal. Write it down. Keep your vision somewhere safe and accessible.

  Feeling unmotivated? Reconnect with your why. Doubting your progress? Reconnect with your why. Goal isn’t resonating with you anymore? Reconnect with your why and ask yourself if the goal is serving your purpose or distracting you. Reframe the goal if needed.

• Make it fun.

  You set a goal and uncovered the purpose behind the goal. Now it’s time to have fun.

  Finances don’t have to be boring! Goal getting doesn’t have to be so serious.

  Make checking-in with your finances and goals a date with yourself. Put some music on, power up the diffuser, or light a candle. Make yourself a lovely latte or cup of tea. Dress up and go to a nice cafe. Get messy with some colored markers and pens. Get weird with a spreadsheet.

  Do whatever you have to do to make finances and goals fun.

  What matters is you are setting goals, checking-in with your goals, and enjoying the process. Whatever comes next is part of the journey.

I hope you found part two of my basic money management series helpful. If you did, please click the heart, shoot me a comment, send an email, or subscribe to my newsletter for more tips and tools.

See you next time for basic money management tip #3.

Disclaimer: I am not a licensed financial professional. Make money moves at your own risk.