How to Get Rich - Have a Destination

Have you ever driven anywhere without knowing where you planned to go ?

Have you ever set out to do a job without knowing the desired outcome ?

Chances are you answered NO to both the above !  At least I hope so !

Plan Your Work

Before starting on a project you should always make a plan of the steps you need to take to accomplish your desired task. You also need to have a method for measuring your results versus what you planned.

Designing a financial improvement project is no different. In fact it should be easier than most other projects because everything can be measured in numbers. Let me use an example to explain this point.  Let's say your project is to get out of debt by a certain length of time. You already know the amount of your debt and the length of time to accomplish your project. You simply divide the debt by the time to know how much you must save out of each paycheck etc.

More complicated projects will require steps. These steps should be planned out in detail and the results should be measured against your desired outcome. For example, let's say you wanted to increase your investment income by a certain amount per month. You must first determine how much you need to save to invest. You must then determine how many investments you wish to make to provide this desired income.  
You must then look for good quality investments to provide this desired income. ( I recommend using my 50/12 Rule for this example - check it out in one of my previous posts)

Work Your Plan

Once you have developed your plan with all the necessary steps, it is merely a  matter of starting to implement your plan. You have already determined what it is you need to do for each step. Start with your first step and just do it.

Of course you may find there to be obstacles in the way which you must find a way to overcome. This is normally the case with all well intended plans. These are the challenges that I mentioned in a previous post that must be overcome in order to reach your desired outcome  (or goal) and to take advantage of the opportunities that await you.

Measure, Measure, Measure

Every step should be measured continuously along the way. Much like your car's odometer measures your distance traveled so that you know exactly where you are at any given time. This way you know how far you have come and how far you have left to go. This is a very important component of your project as it will help keep you motivated towards reaching your desired destination (or goal)

To know exactly where you are will give you a great feeling of well being as you look back to see how far you have come. As your destination grows closer, your feeling of well being will increase and your determination to reach your destination will become overwhelming.

In order to become wealthy, you must first know what wealthy means for you. (Your Destination)
Without knowing your destination and having a plan to get there, you could wander aimlessly in the vast world of financial challenges and opportunities and get nowhere.

As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions for future topics.