Setting Achievable Goals

Everyone has a different perspective on how to set goals. A recent BiggerPockets forum post asked about whether or not achieving $1B was doable in a single lifetime. There were some excellent answers and some good commentary to go with it.

I prefer to think about setting achievable goals and possibly a few stretch goals for the year. For whatever reason, I was born with two helpings of ambition. When I was younger and more enthusiastic I thought that this was a great character trait and that it would propel me to great things one day. Ambition is like anything else, fine if done in moderation. Setting too many goals causes one to lose focus and be spread too thin. You will quickly realize that you can’t be all things to all people and do everything well. This is where setting effective, achievable stretch goals comes into play.

One billion in net worth is so remote of a goal as to defeat the purpose. Setting overly-lofty goals like this also distracts one from leading a balanced life and enjoying the wealth that you are achieving. One of the popular BP posters commented that a doctor told him he would be the richest man in the graveyard if he kept going as he was going. Yikes! That is a sobering reminder to all of us to keep our unbridled thirst for attaining more in check in our quest for wealth.

Figure out what subset of things is the most important to you, those that are secondary, etc. and budget time for each accordingly. Try to have a clear path toward financial freedom if that is one of the things that is important to you and strive to reach the next rung on the ladder incrementally over the course of several years. You are far less likely to get ultra rich using this approach, but it is very likely that you will attain wealth over the course of many years of hard work and dedication to perfecting your chosen area of expertise.

Photo: Jimmy Harris

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.