Goal Setting To Live Your Dreams 1
CleverGirlFinance.com GOAL SETTING TO LIVE YOUR DREAMS Bola Onada Sokunbi CleverGirlFinance.com 2
Goal Setting To Live Your Dreams Visit CleverGirlFinance.com to browse more content and learn about my e- courses, webinars and The Clever Girl Finance Life Planner. Please spread the word about this book by using the hashtags #clevergirlfinance #clevergirlsplan on social media. Copyright 2016 Bola Onada Sokunbi Clever Girl Finance All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. All information provided in this book is strictly the author s opinion and does not constitute any financial, legal or other type of advice. 3
CleverGirlFinance.com CONTENTS HELLO DREAMER... 5 WHAT ARE YOUR DREAMS?... 6 SETTING GOALS WITH INTENT ALIGNED TO YOUR FINANCES... 10 SHARE YOUR GOALS, BE ACCOUNTABLE... 12 CONTINUOUSLY ASSESSING YOUR GOALS... 14 SHOWING GRATITUDE ALWAYS... 15 WELL DONE... 17 4
Goal Setting To Live Your Dreams Hello dreamer We all have dreams. Some of our dreams are little, some of our dreams are big but we all have them. It's easy to dream because dreams are free but in order to actually live your dreams, you need to be able to set life and financial goals that will turn your dreams into your reality. I've created this mini e-book to get you started on the path towards living your dreams. By the end of this book, you will have learnt how to: Eliminate limiting beliefs around your dreams Dream dive to identify your core values Set goals with intent Align your financial decisions to your goals Make your goals actionable and attainable Get on the path to living your dreams Setting goals is your first step towards investing in yourself and in your future. So open up your mind, get your pen and notebook ready and let's work on setting some amazing goals for your future! 5
CleverGirlFinance.com What are your dreams? What are your dreams? No really, what are your dreams? When you think of your future self, what do you see? A lot of times, our dreams are very general. We want a nice house, nice vacations, money in the bank, we want to look good, have a great career etc. While these types of dreams are great, you need to get more specific with your dreams. Your dreams need to be razor sharp in your mind. This razor sharpness will help you determine what you truly want and when you know what you truly want, your dreams are more likely to come true because you can align them to tangible goals. This is where "dream diving" to really take a closer look at those dreams of yours comes in: You want a nice house? What kind of house? Where? How many bedrooms? What does your kitchen look like? What does your backyard look like? You want money in the bank? How much exactly? Where will you keep it? How would you spend it? How will you give back? 6
Goal Setting To Live Your Dreams You want a great career? Doing what? In what city? Will you have a team? How do you envision them? What key values will you add to your business or company in this dream career? Exercise #1 Grab your pen and notebook and let's work on detailing your dreams. Think of everything you want in your life that you currently dream about and write them down paying close attention to the following: The what The how The where The why I recommend that you don't continue to the next section of this book until you have at least drafted out the details of your dreams. Once you are able to do this, you can move on. Often times, however, when we start to get more specific about our dreams, our limiting beliefs will set in. Thoughts like "I will never be able to achieve this" or "Why am I wasting my time, this will never happen" will start to run through our minds. In order to get past this, you need to train your mind to eliminate all limiting beliefs and replace them with empowering ones. *** 7
CleverGirlFinance.com One way to do this is by using positive affirmations and let me tell you, positive affirmations are powerful! Affirmation by definition is the process by which you declare something to be true. When you declare or affirm something, you are in conscious control of your thoughts because you focus on what you are saying. Whenever you say affirmations, you THINK THEM and you SEE THEM in your mind. Creating short powerful affirmations for your life will turn your "I can't" to "I can" and will in turn translate into your dreams and help bring them to reality. Exercise #2 Grab your pen and notebook and let's work on your affirmations. Below are some important things to note as you create your affirmations: Your affirmations should be short, concise Your affirmations are about your life and should be personal They should be in the present tense They should be positive Your affirmations should not compare you to anyone else i.e. "I will be better than so and so", they also should not focus on any negatives e.g. "I am poor but I will be rich" Some examples of affirmations are: I will excel in my career as {insert title here} Money is attracted to my bank account I am credit card debt free I make good money decisions and invest wisely I am healthy and fit 8
Goal Setting To Live Your Dreams My children are healthy I have my dream 6 bedroom home on the lake Once you create these affirmations, you want to refer to them often so keep them visible and accessible. Save them as your phone screen saver, tape them to your bathroom mirror, put them on your fridge. Remember the more you affirm the more you believe that you can! *** 9
CleverGirlFinance.com Setting goals with intent aligned to your finances Now that you know what your dreams are and your affirmations are in place its time to align those dreams to your core values and in turn align those core values with your personal finances. So what are your core values? Your core values are the things that are most important to you and your life. In other words, living the life of your dreams means you know what your core values are. Aligning your dreams to your core values will help you prioritize and identify what really matters most to you. For instance, if one of your dreams is to travel around the world, then one of your core values is experience. If you want to build wealth for you and your family (don't we all!) then one of your core values is financial security. If you want to build a school for less privileged children then another core value of yours is giving back. Once you've identified your core values, you want to prioritize them in the order in which you'd like to achieve them and you also want to start thinking about what your financial habits are today. Do your money habits align with your core values? For instance, if financial security is one of your core values, how much are you saving on a bi-weekly or monthly basis? How focused are you on paying off debt? If you value experiences, are you in the mall shopping each weekend instead of putting money in your travel account? 10
Goal Setting To Live Your Dreams Once you've done this self-assessment, you want to work on creating your goals around your values and your financial habits. This is what creating goals with intent is all about. You want to ensure that the goals you create are tangible and here is how you can do it: Start with your overall long term life goals then break them down to mid term goals i.e. 15-year, 10-year and 5-year goals. You then want to take it a step further and create your short term goals for the next year, the next month and the next week, all of which tie back to your overall long term life goals. Go at a pace that you are comfortable with. Identifying and writing goals takes time and that's ok! Remember, there are no shortcuts to success. You are planning your dream life. Exercise #3 Grab your pen and notebook and let's get started. Based on your dreams, Write down your core values Then grab your bank and credit card statements from the last couple of months and do a core value review. Are your financial habits in line with the core values you created based on your dreams? What do you need to change? Based on what your core values are, write out your goals using the tips above Once you complete this exercise, you are ready for the next section of this book. *** 11
CleverGirlFinance.com Share your goals, be accountable Now you know what your core values are and you've built out your goals, it's now time to start working on those goals and one way to stay motivated is to be accountable. Most goals people set are not achieved because they are not held accountable for them. When goals are made in private they tend to fall off because people stop being motivated, stop focusing and stop prioritizing. Getting an accountability partner is one way to ensure you don't slack on your new responsibility of achieving your short term, mid term and long term goals. Their job is to assist you along your journey, motivate you, keep you grounded and focused, and help you prioritize your goals. Your accountability partner should be someone you trust, are comfortable talking to and who has achieved a level of success that you aspire to have or who is on the same journey as you. (Note: It's ok to have a different accountability partner for different goals if it works out better for you.) In turn, your duty to your accountability partner is to be open, honest and realize that they are there to help, guide and motivate you. Some examples of great accountability partners are: Accomplished family members Mentors Friends or co-workers on a similar journey as yours In order to be successful with being accountable, you want to make sure whomever you select is on board with the process and you want to reach out to your partner frequently. 12
Goal Setting To Live Your Dreams Having a weekly or monthly accountability meeting with your accountability partner to discuss your successes and setbacks will motivate you and push you closer to your goals. One thing to remember though is that at the end of the day, these are still YOUR life goals and so you have to want to achieve them more than anyone else including your accountability partner. Exercise 4 Grab your pen and notebook and make a list of all the people that come to mind when you think of a long-term accountability partner or partners. Next, reach out to them and politely state your intent and schedule your first meeting to discuss your goals with them Outline what you d like to discuss with them in advance of your meeting to make the time as productive as possible. Remember, you want your accountability partner to be someone who will motivate you, keep you grounded and focused. *** 13
CleverGirlFinance.com Continuously assessing your goals Life happens, people change their minds and paths and as a result, priorities also change. This may apply to the goals you've set as time progresses which means you need to continuously assess your long term and mid term goals. It is good practice to sit down and review your goals at the beginning of every month, this way you don't get caught up in the weeds of everyday life and you can realign your goals accordingly. Some questions to ask yourself when you perform your assessment would be: How did the prior month go? Am I happy about it? What am I grateful for? What were the biggest lessons I learnt? Which of my goals are on track? Which of my goals have fallen behind? What do I plan to improve next month? When you answer these questions, be honest with your self. Write your answers down in your journal so you can revisit and compare them to your progress in future months. Exercise 5 Schedule time on your calendar at the beginning of the next several months as a reminder to review your long term and mid term goals. Plan to answer each one of the monthly self assessment questions above Tip: Journaling about the progress you make with your goals is also a great way to stay on track. 14
Goal Setting To Live Your Dreams Showing gratitude always Congratulations! You've made it to the last section of this mini e-book! If you have completed the exercised in each section then by now you have: Gotten specific about your dreams Worked on your affirmations Identified your core values Reviewed your financial habits Created your goals with intention Found an accountability partner and; Made plans to continuously assess your goals Great job! There's just one more thing to cover before we end the course and that is showing gratitude. Always. Being grateful, just like your affirmations, is very powerful. Gratitude opens up your heart and your mind allowing you to reflect on the good that has happened to you which in turn makes you happy and drives contentment in your life. The positive energy you exude from being grateful will attract even more blessings into your life. Consistent gratitude attracts consistent blessings. Instead of being unsatisfied about what you don't have, or unmotivated regarding what you are yet to achieve, gratitude will make you feel satisfied with what you do have and motivated about what you can achieve! Weekly Exercise 15
CleverGirlFinance.com Once a week, grab your pen and notebook or journal and make a list of everything that happened in your life in the prior week that you are grateful for. One of your goals should be to make this process of reflection and gratitude a constant habit in your life! *** 16
Goal Setting To Live Your Dreams Well Done You are now well on the way to planning out the life of your dreams! Thank you so much for participating and I wish you every success with your future goals. 17
CleverGirlFinance.com Need some handholding? Want to take your money plan to the next level? Schedule your one-on-one session with Bola Onada Sokunbi by visiting clevergirlfinance.com/services Please visit CleverGirlFinance.com to browse more content and learn about my e-courses, webinars and The Clever Girl Finance Life Planner. Thank you again for purchasing this book. Web: Clevergirlfinance.com Email: info@clevergirlfinance.com Instagram: @Clevergirlfinance Facebook Page: Facebook.com/Clevergirlfinance 18