Goal-Setting To Get Out Of Debt, Part 2

Although it’s good to set big goals, you don’t have to try to achieve them all at once. You can set sub-goals before you get to the big goal. An important part of setting goals is to achieve minor victories along the way. By doing so, you gain a psychological edge. You gain momentum and you can ride that momentum all the way to your big goal. You’ll find that getting to your goal will get easier and easier.

For example, many people want to reach that magical 700 credit score. If you’re starting at 560, you can set a goal to hit 700 within 1 year. In between, you can set mini-goals. If you start your quest to 700 in January, you can try to hit 600 by March. When you hit 600, take a moment to celebrate your achievement. Then continue your quest. 620 by July, 660 by November, and finally 700 by January.

No matter how SMART your goal is, always expect the unexpected. You will not have a clear, unobstructed path to your goal. Inevitably, you will encounter an obstacle. Perhaps you set a goal for 620 by July. Come July, you’re only at 600. If you get discouraged and give up, will you reach 700? Of course not. You must persevere. See where your credit is when you get to 600. Maybe you need to pay off another credit card. Maybe you need to dispute some inquiries. Whatever it is, take corrective action and move forward. At this point, you might have to extend your goal of 700 by a few months. Let’s say that you get to 700 by next June instead of January. Does that mean you failed? Not a chance! You got your 700 score, and that is the most important thing. If you got to 640 and stopped there, then you failed – that is, failed to reach 700. In the end, you are much better off than you were when your score was 560. Every point counts, but you must be accountable to yourself.

Finally, you absolutely must write your goals down. When you write your goals out, the goal becomes tangible and real. It becomes your roadmap for success. Jim Carrey, the movie star, wrote a check to himself for $20 million dollars before he became a star. He post-dated the check several years. He put it in his wallet and carried it with him wherever he went. When things were tough, he would just sit and look at the check to keep his spirits up. Almost to the day that he wrote that check, he signed on to star in the movie The Mask for $20 million dollars. This is an example of the power of the written goal. The trick of writing a big-money check to yourself has been used by many people over the years. It’s very powerful – just make sure you don’t lose the check!