Series 01 was about Financial Psychology. Developing the right financial psyche however requires 2 essential ingredients: Discipline and Goals.

SERIES 02: GOAL SETTING

This is not anything strange at all. Many of us have at one time or the other set a goal before ourselves, either consciously or unconsciously. It is simply a dedicated determination to execute something.

Such determinations include: making all A’s in your next examinations (educational goal setting), completing a 7-day fasting and prayer (spiritual goal setting), lose 5kg of weight within 2 months (physical fitness goal setting). These are goals that an individual can set for himself or herself at any point in time.

Have you ever thought of being able to pay for your first car yourself? Do you dream of owning and running your own business by a certain age? Have you ever thought of being a millionaire by the age of 30? These are financial goals that are important in the achievement of a positive financial psychology and in exhibiting financial intelligence.

Some of these goals may look lofty and probably unachievable but that is how goals often appear, until you achieve them. They are definitely attainable  just like anything at all is attainable only with some discipline, determination, and dedication to the right financial psychology skills necessary for exhibiting financial intelligence.

Whatever your financial goal(s) is, it should satisfy five (5) basic principles of goal setting: SMART

• Specific: Your financial goal(s) should be exact and clear. It should specify what you are aiming to achieve clearly. Avoid setting ambiguous or unclear goals. For example, set a specific goal like: ‘I want to save up for my first car with an Investment ’. It is clear here, that you are aiming to save for a car from your purse.
• Measurable: Your financial goal should be one that can be assessed for attainment. Everyone should be able to tell if you have attained it or not.
• Actionable: It is important that your goal is one that is actionable immediately or at some time in the future. It should even sound actionable. You should coin it in a way that it spurs you to action. For example: ‘I want to save for my first car’ as against ‘I will like to save for my first car’.
• Reasonable: Ensure your goals are realistically attainable. This does not mean that your goal should look or sound easy but it must have a reasonable chance of being attained.
• Time Bound: You should put the attainment of your goal within a time frame. This means you should set a time limit to the attainment of your goal. The goal to buy your first car next year is already time bound (next year). You are not just aiming to buy a car but to buy it next year.

This series will aim at helping you attain your set financial goals by exhibiting financial intelligence through simple principles of discipline. Watch out for series 03.