Achieving financial freedom doesn’t happen by chance. It requires setting clear, meaningful goals and staying on track despite setbacks. If you’re aiming for financial freedom, start by defining what you want and why. Without a clear destination, you might end up somewhere you don’t want to be. It’s time to take control of your life and steer it in your desired direction.
WHAT REALLY MATTERS TO YOU?
You need to separate your goals from what you think people expect of you. Wondering what everyone else thinks or what they are doing and using that to measure yourself will not work. What is meaningful to one person might be pointless to another. When you are faced with hard choices and have to make a trade-off between two difficult decisions, the way to stay on track is to aim for goals that are really meaningful to you.
Some people have a deep need for financial security. They are anxious about money and want the security of having enough. The need for security overrides the need to impress others. Some might be more driven to provide for their parents, children or spouses. They want to ensure that their loved ones will not suffer financial hardship. Another drive might be the need to control one’s destiny. Some people hate being told what to do and don’t want to rely on anyone else.
It does not matter what drives you; it is important to be honest with yourself and understand what matters most to you. You don’t have to share this with others, so if you are less concerned about providing for your loved ones and prefer to be in charge of your life, don’t worry if that seems selfish. Your core motivation is irrelevant to anyone else; it is only relevant to you so that you can achieve financial freedom without harming others.
Write down your goal and ask yourself, “How will I feel once I have achieved XXX”. Follow this up with another question, “Why will I feel like this?”. It might seem strange initially, but it is worth exploring your emotional drivers and ensuring that your goals are meaningful to you. Try to be honest and accept the answer if you feel emotionally connected to the goal.
TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF IS NOT SELFISH
Many people struggle with the idea of providing for themselves when loved ones need help. We all live with economic constraints and are constantly forced to make trade-offs. Very wealthy people might be short of time as they spend all their lives working and creating wealth. In contrast, a retired person might have plenty of time but not enough money. Whatever your situation in life, it is worth remembering that you must be in a strong position yourself before you can help others. When you listen to the safety briefing on a commercial airline, you will note the flight attendant telling you to put an oxygen mask on yourself before you help anyone else. This ensures that you are in the best position to help other passengers if the cabin loses air pressure. Other passengers might desperately need your help; if you are suffocating from a lack of oxygen, there is no chance you can help them. Try to apply the same principle to your finances; don’t allow yourself to suffocate in debt because you spent everything on others and ended up needing help yourself.
GOALS SHOULD BE LIMITED, CLEAR AND SIMPLE
If you try to do everything at once, you will achieve nothing. This is a great lesson for leaders who rescue businesses, cities, or countries. Consider a President of a country that is in difficulty. It is impossible to fix everything at once. Instead, the leader should focus on the two or three most important goals and work to achieve them before trying to fix anything else. Your finances are no different: prioritise your first goal, and once you reach it, you can reset and aim for a new one.
Don’t set yourself vague, unachievable goals that have no clear timelines. Instead, aim for a few smaller goals that will lead you to financial freedom. Ensure your goals are simple, measurable, and achievable within a specific timeframe. I like annual goals because I can track my progress every month and, if necessary, act early in the year to change course if I am going off course. I also get motivated by progress and feel positive reinforcement when I see that I am reaching a goal.
CONCLUSION
Achieving financial freedom is hard because it requires discipline. You must be prepared to choose between some enjoyment now or a lifetime of enjoyment later. The secret is to give yourself small rewards for achieving a series of small goals that will end with financial freedom.
Warren Ingram is the co-founder of Galileo Capital and co-author of Small Changes for Big Results: How to improve your finances one step at a time
