Take aim.

Why are so many people lost when it comes to money?

If you want the short answer, people are lost because they have no money goals. If you want the long-winded answer, keep reading. 

Anyone who has attended or had a child attend college, knows that the summer before your first semester, you meet with your guidance counselor for some planning. In this meeting, they will go over your intended major and propose a rough plan of what courses you will need to take in order to attain a degree. Together they set a goal (a degree) and create a plan (a schedule) to accomplish this goal. Many things in life occur in this manner, you set your aim and then you figure out how you are going to hit the target. 

Money is no different. People are often lost in their personal finances because they haven’t set financial goals. They haven’t taken aim. As a result, they go paycheck to paycheck, paying their bills and not feeling like they have accomplished a thing. The key to stop feeling lost is to determine what your financial goals are.

How do you do that? - You can start by asking yourself one question: What are my values and how is money tied to my values?

Most things in life are tied to your values. From the person you marry, to who you spend time with, to the home you live in, and you guessed it - how you manage your money. When determining what your money goals are, you need to get clear about what your values are and think about what role money plays in these values.

Let’s take Glenda for example. Glenda is a 28 year old woman who works at Panasonic. Her values are centered around family. If Glenda were to ask herself how money relates to her values, she would tell you that she wants to have a home where she can raise her children. She would tell you that she wants to make sure her family is financially secure. She would probably tell you that she wants to make sure her children are financially prepared for college one day.

As you can see, Glenda is clear about her values and has taken the time to think about how money ties into those values. At 28 years old, she may have been confused, but after this short exercise, she is closer to achieving her goals. Simply by identifying them.

Now you have to ask, “well what are my financial goals?”

Personally, at 25, I would say my values are centered around being the best version of myself that I can be. What that means financially is, in five years I want to have a portfolio that is not that of the average 30-year-old. That’s my goal. That's me.

When you sit down to think about your financial goals, you may not be entirely sure about what they are. That's okay. Just make me one promise, that you won’t pick goals because society tells you to. You may feel the social pressures to get a home, and set that as your goal. However if you value the freedom to travel whenever you want, an apartment might make more sense for you. Your goal might be to always have cash on hand to take a trip whenever you feel like it. 

If you choose to try this exercise, please know that it doesn’t have to be perfect. Psychologist, Dr. Jordan Petersen said the following in reference to achieving anything worthwhile in life: “take aim, even badly”. The notion here is that in order to make progress, you need to set your goals even if they are flawed. This way you can get the ball rolling. As a perfectionist myself, I know some of us can create a million hurdles in our mind. Just get started. You can figure the rest out later and make changes along the way.

Take aim, even badly. But Please Take Aim.