Financial Action Plan, Game Time!
FINANCIAL COURSE #7
The final step to a complete financial overhaul is the Action Plan. The action plan is where the “rubber meets the road.” If you have followed the previous lessons in the series, you have grown in knowledge. You have also grown in determination to live your financial life in totally new ways. It’s game time! Now you need to make a reasonable action plan that you can carry out in the next year. This section is critically important for a true financial overhaul after bankruptcy!
Make a Simple Plan You Can Commit to Follow
In order for your action plan to be successful, make sure it is simple and easy to follow. Set your goals out 3-6 months. Set goals out for one year. Never exceed these amounts – at least at the beginning.
Do not set complex goals where you do not understand certain steps in how they will be completed. Keep it simple! Plan to learn about a topic before you set goals within it.
For instance, do not make a plan where you will be a successful marketer or web designer making $150,000 by the end of the year. Instead, plan to attend every web and marketing conference within the Midwest area, learning what it takes to be a successful marketer. Then, plan on engaging 5 clients within the year with excellent results. This goal is an example of a goal that is achievable. With a goal like this, you are not leaving out several steps. Then, set your $150,000 goal for the next year or the year following.
As another example, do not plan on increasing your passive income by $3,000 by the end of the year. Instead, plan on decreasing your expenses to the absolute lowest amount possible. Then, set a plan to pursue any form of passive income within the near future – no matter how small. If you have drastically decreased your expenses and obtained any form of passive income, this is still a major accomplishment within a one-year time frame.
Set High Goals
Although your goals need to be simple, you can set them high goals when the time is right. Acquire knowledge and experience within a particular area. Then, the sky is the limit! Make sure to set high goals. These goals may not follow what other people are doing around you. Still, if your goals are well-thought out, you may be able to excel in areas where other people only settle for much less.
Make Sure Your Action Plan is Also Possible and Reasonable
While you set high goals, always keep your action plan possible and reasonable. If you cannot reasonably think out a set of circumstances where your goal will come true, then you are possibly thinking too much “in the clouds.” Keep your goals down-to-earth and base them on observable facts. For instance, if your local market cannot sustain your goal, your goal may simply be ill-thought or impossible. Adapt to the financial knowledge that you obtain and then act on it with well-thought-out plan.
Plan to Make a New Action Plan Every Six Months
Even if you have year-long and multi-year goals, it is important to review your situation and adjust your plan every six months. This six-months principle will allow you to adjust and stay focused, but also give you sufficient time to make headway in your goals. Goals must change and circumstances change and your financial knowledge increases. Make sure to use this six-month principle to make your goals adapt accordingly.
Conclusion: The Sky is The Limit!
If you have truly applied the principles taught in this financial overhaul series, then the sky is the limit! Instead of money always working against you, the future will have money working for you. Make plans every year for your net worth and your passive income to increase. They will. Make plans to increase in useful financial and business knowledge each year. It will increase. Being responsible and productive with financial matters will take you to new heights that you never thought were possible before. Go all in – it will be worth it!
