How Can I Set Financial Goals for the Rest of the Year?

Speaker A00:00:00

Summer is flying by and before you know it, guess what, it's going to be fall. And do you feel like you're drifting financially without a clear roadmap for the rest of the year?But what if you could set some powerful goals right now starting today to help you accelerate your progress and bring amazing clarity to your finances? Well, stick with me because that's exactly what I'm going to show you how to do on today's show. I'm going to show you how to make that happen.

Speaker B00:00:25

This is Financially Confident Christian, your daily dose of gospel, grounded insight and faith driven tips to help you break the cycle of financial shame with confidence.

Speaker A00:00:39

Hey there. Welcome back.This is the Financially Confident Christian show and I'm Ralph and I'm so happy to be here with you today as we endeavor to solve that problem. How can I become a financially confident Christian? And we continue in our series Smart Money for Back to School and Beyond.Now, if you missed yesterday's show, we really talked about how to make the most of your summer job income. Yeah, I give you some great ideas of how to maximize those summer or job earning. So if you missed it, I'm going to encourage you to go check it out.You can see all of our shows at financiallyconfidentchristian.com but today we're going to take a longer view. We're going to talk about how to establish meaningful financial goals.Hey, for the rest of the year, I want to help you build a clear roadmap for intentional progress. Hey, when we've got a map, we can get from point A to point B. Without a map, we're going to struggle.So today I'm going to answer this question and how can I set financial goals for the rest of the year? Hey, that's what we want to do. You know, if you're like most people, you set ambitious financial goals at the start of the year.Maybe you did those New Year's resolutions and you said, ralph, I'm going to save money. I'm going to track my income, I'm going to build that savings on, I'm going to pay down. Yeah, I'm already making myself dizzy with thinking about it.But you set those goals. But now that we've arrived in August, you're starting to think, yeah, you know, know what, Ralph?I've gotten a little off track and it's not hard to do. I don't want you to beat yourself up and I'm not here to judge you. It's so easy to get caught up in that daily Grind.And those unexpected events, hey, the truth is they derail our progress just like a derailed car on a train. And it creates this struggle. We've got this burden. We've got this diligent goals that we want to get to. We want to do those things we talked about.But we're slowly losing focus. And if we're not careful, we can become inconsistent in our progress. Yes, it feels like we're drifting financially.We're missing opportunities to make that significant progress. But here's the thing. I mentioned this a few minutes ago. Clear financial goals are the roadmap. You need these.They're the roadmap to help you provide direction and find that motivation. Well, let's look right at the scripture to talk about some biblical principles that apply today. Let's get right to the first one.And that first one I'm going to say is vision. Let's look at the book of Proverbs, chapter 29, verse 18.This famously says, and I've used this on the show many times, I love this verse of the Bible where there is no vision, the people perish. What's the scripture telling us? The scripture is hitting us over the head with a mallet. You've got to have a vision.You've got to have a plan, because if you don't, what happens? The people will perish. Well, what does that mean for you? Listening right now, you're sitting there thinking about Ralph, I made all these goals.I made that goal to save money. I made that goal to build that emergency fund. I made that goal to really plan ahead. I made that goal to be intentional in my spending.But my goals are perishing. Now, that seems like a dramatic thing to say, but if there is no vision, the people perish.So let's look at the second biblical principle, and that's what I'm going to call purposeful action. The this is the book of Habakkuk, chapter 2, verse 2. Commands us. Again, Ralph didn't say this. The Lord commands this. What does it say here?Habakkuk, chapter 2, verse 2. Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that your herald may run with it. Hey, this is a command. What is the Lord telling us to do?Write down the revelation. What does that mean? Have a vision. Write it down. Put it pen to paper. Put it plain on tablets. Now, we're not going around using tablets anymore.I'm picturing somebody out there listening right now that gets a big stone tablet like Moses, and he's paying a chisel in it, that's not what it's talking about. But what does it say? You can herald it and run with it. So now you're saying, Ralph, what can we do? How do we move from this financial drifting?And we know we're there right now. You're listening right now. You're like, ralph, I am so much into this today, but how do we move from that financial drifting to confidently?And I use the word confidently because that is an important word to use today, to confidently directing money with purpose. Well, here's the deal. It comes down to intentionality. A lot of things I talk about on the show are intentionality.So it comes down to intentionally setting, hey, one, two or three specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound. Yes, that's smart financial goals. I've talked about that on this show. And do those for the rest of the year. Because here's the deal.We want to ensure that we align those things with our core values and our overall vision. Where there is no vision. What did the scripture say? We fail. And this creates your clear roadmap for focused progress.So, you know, I always want to give you one action step for today with the goal for this. We want to set some powerful financial goals for the rest of this year. So how do we set goals?The first thing I'm going to encourage you to do, and this is kind of the fun part, reflect and brainstorm.Ask yourself this question, kind of alluded to this a couple times, it's this simple question, what financial progress do you really, and I mean really make that the bold thing in your mind. What financial progress do you really want to make by the end of the year? Those big, hairy, audacious goals.Just write down maybe three, four, maybe even five of those potential goals. Maybe for you it's build that three month emergency fund. Maybe you've got this credit card that's been your arch rival and nemesis.You just want to pay it off and be done with it. Maybe you want to set aside money for a vacation or something like that. What are those? Three, four or five? Just big, hairy, audacious goals.Now listen, here's the key. You got to make them smart. Now when I say smart, let me tell you what I mean by that. So take those 1, 2 or 3 and just make them smart.Well, here's how you do that. Make them specific. And I'm going to talk to you in a second about some ideas there. Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound.And you'll find this in today's show notes, but smart. Just remember that accurately. Here's an example. Instead of, hey, Ralph, I'm going to save more. That sounds great, but that's fluffy.You're not going to do it. Make it sound like this. I'm going to save $500 for my emergency fund by October 31st. Hey, it's specific. I'm going to save it.I'm going to save $500 in my emergency fund by October 31st. It's achievable. Yes, you can do this. You got till the end of October. Hey, that could be $5 a week. Is it relevant? Absolutely it's relevant.You said earlier, hey, one of my main goals is I want to have that emergency fund. So I'm not always relying on that credit card. Is it time bound? You bet it is. You set yourself a deadline. You drew that line in the sand. October 31st.That is a truly smart goal. But think about those top one, two or three things that you want to achieve by the end of the year and make them smart.Now, here's where the rubber meets the road. Now, you've got to integrate those into your budget. You're probably thinking, ralph, my budget's already packed. Okay, well, guess what?Budgets aren't meant to be cast in stone. We talked about those tablets earlier.Open up that budget, open up that budget app, however you do it and start to prioritize some of these things to make sure they're being funded. Hey, does that mean you take away from something else? Yes, it could be that. But these are important to you.These are the things that you said, Ralph, I need to do these things. So maybe that means less eating out and maybe that means cutting some subscription services, whatever that looks like for your budget.But you've got to integrate those into your budget. And then the final thing I'm going to recommend you do, hey, I'm going to give you that idea of those tablets. Write those smart goals down clearly.Put them somewhere where you'll see them every day. Hey, maybe put it on the fridge. Hey, here's an idea. I had a client tell me that he did this. Make it your phone background.So every time you look at your phone, you're seeing those three goals right there in front of you. And you're gonna be like, well, I can't forget these goals or put them in your budget app dashboard.So you're always looking to make sure you're reaching for those goals. Because here's the big takeaway today. If you do this, if you invest the Time to do this.You're going to stop that financial drifting and you're going to remove that uncertainty and you're going to transform those vague desires. Oh, I want to save money. I want to pay off debt. No, no, no. We're going to make it concrete and we're going to make it actionable with steps.We're going to build immense clarity and we're going to build immense focus and we're really going to accelerate our progress to what truly matters, to reduce stress and to boost confidence and really, truly find the financial peace that you've been looking so hard to get to. Well, how about we pray together now? Father God, we just thank you for the wisdom and for giving us vision.And we confess that we often drift financially without clear goals or we struggle to maintain our focus. And we just ask today that you would grant us wisdom as we set our financial goals for the rest of the year.Lord, as we build this roadmap for our future, help us to make them specific, Lord. Help us to make them measurable. And most of all, Lord, help us to align those with your will for our lives.Guide us towards consistent effort, Lord, and give us perseverance in the storm. And may our financial targets align with your will for our lives, bringing you glory and us peace. And we ask this in confidence in Jesus name, Amen.Listen, clear, smart financial goals are your roadmap to a stress free and productive latter half of the year. You can do this, so take that step today. Another thing I'm going to ask you to do is how about share this show with somebody?Maybe you've been getting a lot of value from this show. You're like, Ralph, I got to share the wealth here. I'm going to encourage you to do that.You can text somebody, you can call them, hey, send them a handwritten note. Just send them to my website. That's financiallyconfidentchristian.com hey, they can join the party with us.Let's help them build those financial goals for the rest of the year again. Point them to Financially Confident Christian. Now. Tomorrow we're going to do some spring cleaning. You're thinking, Ralph, you've lost your mind.It's fall time. No, we're going to do some spring cleaning in the fall. I'm going to help you organize, optimize and streamline your money life for greater peace.So tomorrow's show is one you don't want to miss. So make sure you join me. Now. Let's all go out there today and be financially confident Christians. You can do this. I have confidence in you.Have confidence in yourself. Stay financially savvy. God bless you. And you have a great day today.