Non financial goals – what are they and why should we have them?
April 13th, 2007 by KenricNon-financial goals can be anything. They can be as simple as visiting the Grand Canyon this year or as complicated as climbing Mt. Everest. I think that it can be tough to come up with non-financial goals because they can be so vast. Another way to think about them is just to ask yourself, “What do I want to do this year? Where do I want to go?”
I think we all need them, because these are goals that you have because you want them. They are not a neccessity. They are part of what you desire and with that comes a passion to attain them. Unfortunately the path to attaining many non financial goals usually requires money. However, since your goals are now driven by your desire, you’ll see your financial goals with a different motivation.
Let’s say your goal was to travel the world in a sailboat for a whole year in 2009. After all the research and planning, you conclude that you’d need to have $100,000 cash to pull this trip off. However, with that specific goal in mind, you can now focus on your finances and determine what you need to do to make it happen. This is much better motivation than just saying I want to save $100,000 by 2009. Your desire to sail around the world is driving your goal to attain $100,000.
It’s one of the reasons why I seem to workout consistently for only 2-3 months at a time. I cannot workout just to workout. I need to be preparing for something. It gives meaning to my workouts. If I have a race in two months, you bet I’d be working out everyday. What I need to do is plan a race or event every 2-3 months. I know that that’s what I need to motivate myself.
One of the reasons I got into real estate was because I hated my job. Looking back, it was my hatred of my job and my work schedule that ultimately made me search for another method of supporting myself. That’s how I ended up in the finance section at a book store. That’s what started me down this path. I didn’t start real estate investing just for the money. I did it to get out of my current situation. That type of desire is so much stronger than doing something just for the money. I didn’t know it at that time, but I guess that was my non-financial goal that drove me to my financial goal.
Posted in Personal Development | 9 Comments »
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I agree. I didn’t jump into Real Estate for getting money. I did it because I wanted to improve myself, stretch myself, and more importantly to challenge myself. None of these can be accomplished in the workplace.
By Clifford on Apr 13, 2007
Great post Kdog- Money is never enough of a motivating factor for the long haul. You have to have a powerful reason “why”. That’s why I started in business and learning REI- I want my freedom- and money is what will give it to me.
Not that money in an of itself makes you “free”, but it allows for a much longer leash.
By prlinkbiz on Apr 13, 2007
Well I’ve always been interested in finance and economics :) So I need no motivation to look after my finances. It’s just fun! I first started reading more about finance and investing seriously when I first started earning more than I wanted to spend. Back in 1996-7. I never pursued careers for the sake of making a lot of money. Now I want to choose where I want to live and doesn’t seem like I can do it in my current career.
By moom on Apr 13, 2007
You and I are so similar! I found myself in the finance section at the bookstore because I hated my job. Actually, you might find this interesting–when I left my job, I had a personal crisis of sorts because my non-financial motivation for investing was gone! I went through a very slow period, almost a depressed state, as I started to feel useless. That useless feeling drove me to find other reasons to keep pushing forward in investing. But, I’m still not quite as driven as I was when I was working a job I hated.
I also create financial and non-financial goals at the beginning of each year. Actually, my fiance and I take time every December 31st to do that together. Our goals tend to fall into categories like Investing, Business, Sales, Body (exercise), Organization (for non-business areas of life), House (for to-do items around the house), Individual Projects, and Relationship (weekly date night, love notes, etc).
By Trisha on Apr 13, 2007
I completely agree. That’s at least what I wrote about here.
I’ve got to know why I’m doing something, or else I’ll never really do it.
-limeade
By limeade on Apr 14, 2007
My non financial reason for going into real estate is similar to you. I hated my job because I was bored with it. Job security, and a good salary was not enough reason for me to stay.
My non-financial motivation now is to be sucessful enough to support my family, but still have time to spend as much time as possible with them. We are going to Hawaii this week on a family vacation. I would like an income that would allow me to continue to support my current lifestyle, and continue to be able to create memories with my family, especially my kids.
By Allen Young on Apr 14, 2007
Hey it’s vr4playa from Fastlane!
Was browsing through your blog and came across this post.
Gotta say the similarities are scary, as I am just trying to get out from an aligator of a home and a mediocre, unfulfilling job to spend more time doing what I love- traveling and running, both of which are non-financial goals that ultimately cost money ;)
By Clint on Jan 16, 2010