Have you ever set out to accomplish a goal, and six months later, ended up not where you wanted to be? This can often happen with our financial goals. For Example, maybe you set a goal of paying off your car loan by November of 2020. Along the way, you’ve had expensive car repairs, an influx of family weddings, and an unexpected trip to the hospital. If you’ve found yourself frustrated by constantly taking steps back, here is some encouragement: 

Things Happen. Be Flexible.

As cliché as it sounds, we should always expect the unexpected—especially with our expenses. Rather than getting discouraged when your financial goals are halted, be flexible instead. This is why it is important to have an emergency fund so your financial goals aren’t impacted by unplanned events. However, even if you have to deplete your entire emergency fund, the key is to remain calm and to stay the course. 

Your first priority is replenishing your emergency fund while making minimum required payments on any debt. Once your emergency fund is restored, then you can start aggressively tackling your financial goals again.

Remember the Process

It’s easy to get excited about financial goals in the beginning, but remember there is a process you should follow. For example, we recommend you build an emergency fund before you start aggressively paying off debt. Similarly, you shouldn’t focus on increasing investments if you haven’t paid off your consumer debt. Remember, building wealth is a long game. Know which financial stage you are in, be patient, and don’t feel the need to take short cuts. 

Don’t Set and Forget Everything

Automating your finances can take the stress out of managing money. I’m sure many of us would be late on our bills if we didn’t have automatic bill-pay set up. This doesn’t mean you should be laid back when monitoring your bank account and checking in on financial goals. Take care to schedule regular times to review your budget and track progress on your financial goals. It is best to stay aware in case something needs adjusting or changing. 

Recommit to Yourself When Making Change

It is easy to reassess where our financial goals need changing, but recommiting is a mental decision that requires focus and persistence. If we seem to be ahead of our financial goals we might give ourselves some slack and spend more than we usually do. If we tend to get behind on financial goals it’s easy to lose motivation and give up. Whichever boat you are in, always make the mental decision to stop and recommit whenever there is change. 

I know first-hand that staying committed to your financial goals is a life-changing process. My wife and I spent almost 3-years paying off $30,000 in consumer debt and student loans. Now that the debt payments are gone, it has freed up over $800 in our monthly budget that we get to use for travel, sports and fitness for the whole family, saving for college for our three kids and investing for retirement. 

To stay the course, remember your “why” and keep visualizing what your life will look like when you accomplish your goals—you deserve the best life, recommit to making it your reality.