“Save Money” Isn’t A Wise Goal. Here’s What Is.

Daydreaming of daffodils

You've envisioned buying a home for years. A nice little suburban two-story. Something modest. Relatively new, but with some history to it. And right out front, just outside the white door and a few steps shy of the sidewalk, would be your garden.

A garden that you owned.

A garden full of roses and tulips and, of course, daffodils. But alas, you have no idea how to make that dream a reality. So there you sit, at your desk, daydreaming about daffodils you may never have.

Ugh... you sigh again.

Within, not without

Saving is important. But, like losing weight or reading more, how you structure your goal from the onset will dramatically impact your result.

The most critical thing you need to do when setting goals for yourself, no matter the goal, is to set ones within your control. This rarely gets talked about or acknowledged, yet it is the key to achieving any goal you set.

You need to have control.

For example, setting a goal to lose 15 pounds over three months is a noble cause. However, you have limited control over what your body does at a given time. Maybe you start running and, instead of losing weight, you actually gain some due to increased muscle.

Maybe you eat all the right foods but only end up losing seven pounds.

You set yourself up for failure by pursuing goals outside your control.

It's all on you (and that's a good thing)

Instead of setting a goal to lose 15 pounds in three months, you are better off setting a goal to:

• Run X miles a day
• Or eat less than X calories a day
• Or consume X grams of carbohydrates a day

These are just examples - I'm obviously not a doctor. The point, though, is that those goals are fully in your control. You either run the miles or you don't. You either under the calorie or carbohydrate limit or you don't.

Success or failure is on you. And that's great because as long as you do the work, which you will, you will achieve your goal. You can't control the scale, but you can control your actions.

Goals within your control

Back to your home buying objective, setting a goal to buy a home in six months is futile. For a number of reasons: prices may be highly inflated, you may not have the savings for it, your employment status may have changed, etc.

So instead, you need to set a goal within your control. For instance, you can set a goal to:

• Save $X each month or week or day
• Or remove one unnecessary item from your regular expenses each week
• Or tour at least two homes with a real estate agent each month

These are all goals within your control. You just have to follow through on them. You don't need to hope that the stars align by November. As long as you put in the work, you will achieve your desired result.

Your new home buying goal

So you adjust your goal. You decide that you want to save $2,000 each month. Money that will be used directly to purchase your new home.

Now, if you wanted to take it one step further, you could look at home prices, determine how long it will take you to get to that purchase point (as a rough guide), and update your goal accordingly. Meaning that if your ideal price range is $450k, and you want to save up $45k for the down payment, you could adjust your goal to say:

Save $2,000 each month for the next 22 months.

It's very specific and very within your control. Home values may be higher or lower at that time, but either way, you will have achieved your savings goal at the end of 22 months; a massive win that will fuel your future goals.

How you'll get there

You have your goal and it's within your control. From there, you need to have a detailed plan for it.

You want to save $2,000 each month. Great. But what specifically will you do to make that happen? Do you need to create a budget? Adjust (or become better aware of) your spending habits? What is your plan to consistently save $2,000 each month?

Figure that out and then write it down somewhere that you can easily access it (like a Google Doc).

For simplicity's sake, let's say you regularly have discretionary income but have neglected to do anything with it. You decide that at the start of each month, you will sit down, review your spending, and then transfer $2,000 to your savings account.

You have your plan.

Review your efforts

A few months go by. You're feeling good. You've already saved up $6,000 and are well on your way to planting those daffodils. But there's one more key that you'll need to utilize before you can rest easy.

And that's the check-in.

Every month when you transfer the money, you need to check in with your plan. Meaning you need to physically pull it up, review it, and make sure that you're on track. Furthermore, you need to mark every time you complete your goal.

Doing this will build your confidence and momentum. Plus, it will make it that much harder for you to stop once the snowball's been rolling for some time.

Don't leave it blank

This kind of check-in is quick and easy, yet powerful.

Let's pretend it's May and you've been consistently hitting your goal since February. You would have something that looks like this:

• February: X
• March: X
• April: X
• May:

Each time you transfer the money to your bank account, you would do another X next to the month. And if you don't? You have to leave it blank.

Simple, right?

Continuing with our example, once you transfer the money in May, you would place an X next to it and would prepare for June like so:

• February: X
• March: X
• April: X
• May: X
• June:

Moving forward with your daffodils

If you don't do the work, you will know. Likewise, if you do the work, you will see it and marvel at your success. It's a great feeling that often will lead you to set other goals in your life.

Because these tactics don't just apply to saving or home buying. You can apply them to any goal you'd like - fitness, organization, business, whatever. It's the same process regardless. And so long as you actually follow through, you will achieve the success you're after.

Set goals within your control, have a specific plan of action, and check-in at regular intervals.

Enjoy your daffodils. You've earned them.