Financial Goals – Always write them down!

By Daksha Gehani

While budgeting, you too may lose motivation and sight of why you started this journey in the first place.

One of the best ways to put things into perspective is to write them down. This is especially true for your Financial goals. Noting them down allows you to identify challenges and opportunities from different perspectives. What once may have seemed like a dilemma due to potential hurdles now can be approached with a creative mindset.

The story of Finllect began with this very tip. We decided to gather young people and help them write down their budgeting goals and their expenses. In this journey, these individuals realized that writing down their budgets solidified their resolve to ensure their financial. It enabled them to identify their financial weaknesses.

A 2015 study highlighted that people who wrote their down their goals were 33% more successful in achieving them than those who formulated outcomes in their heads.

Here are a couple of reasons to help you understand why you should note it down in a diary or a tracking app.

#1 Starting with the End-Goal in mind.

How much do you spend in a month? How much income do you receive? How much should you be spending?

The answer to all of these questions lies in analyzing your expenses, writing them down and keeping in touch with the realities of your financial health.

Science has proven that visualisation engages not just the mind, but all five human senses.

As human beings, we process visuals 60,000 times faster than having to imagine things.

If you are not the type who journals or writes things down, there are always ample options at your disposal. This approach can also be administered by creating a file filled only with sketches of your creative ideas or a compilation of index cards with your goals written on them or a board of symbols and pictures pertaining to your goals and thoughts.

#2 Creates financial awareness:

The entries from your recent expenses, your budget ideas and general monthly income figures. Writing down your finances will create a financial awareness within you. Financial awareness is crucial to making the right targets for yourself. It will enable you to jot down specific, precise goals. For example: “I will increase my savings by 15% this year.” is a more tangible goal than “I would like to save more  this year.”

#3 Finding your Financial Strategy!

In effect, writing things down will help you shape goals that are very specific. For example, you could write down exactly how much you want to save this month. That goal should also be measurable and attainable.

There are a huge number of budgeting styles that you can adopt. While having options is great, having too many can easily become overwhelming. Narrowing down what budgeting tools and techniques are meant for you is one of the major advantages of this method.

#4 Reduce the clutter:

Even your brain can get cluttered, therefore it is always advisable to move thoughts and goals to a visual form. 

Moving your goals from your head to a visual form reduces stress. While it does not eliminate the actual stressor, it removes the burden of keeping everything inside yourself. Your brain is then fully engaged in writing which helps you think more clearly, and this allows you to refine and organise your ideas in a more meaningful way. The end result is a full picture of everything you need and want to do.

#5 Plan for the Future:

As a young adult, a huge part of your life revolves around making sound decisions. Ensuring that you have your “future plans” in order. Writing down your financial goals can aid this very process. You can plan your choices accordingly. If you are aiming to begin your higher education or even if you are looking to switch jobs. Knowing where you are and where you should be headed is always an added benefit.

Setting down financial goals provides you with the foundation of your drive such that you give yourself a concrete endpoint to aim for and get excited about. And when you seem to lose track and focus from that drive, your visual and noted down thoughts and goals are what can renew your motivation. It is what will drive you through financial obstacles and life itself!