Is the year running away from you?

When you are five years old a year takes forever to pass. Can you remember thinking that Christmas and birthdays never seem to hurry up and arrive? Have you noticed how the years seem to fly by now? Time passes slowly when you are five because time is relative to your age.

Consider this: When you are five years old one year is equivalent to 1/5th of your life span. This is 20% of your life. However, when you are really, really old, like 30 years old (which is “ancient” when you’re five!) then one year is equivalent to 1/30th of your life. This is about 3% of your life span.

What on earth does this dribble have to do with you and your finances?
Well, quite a lot actually. You see there’s an old saying that’s important to remember: ‘Time is money’.

For those of you who are paid an hourly rate for working you totally understand what I’m talking about. Every hour equates to another dollop of cash in your pay packet. For those of you in business who charge people an hourly rate, each hour on the job brings in more money for your business. I used to own a building company and we charged out our time by the hour. I sometimes had up to ten guys working, all bringing in money each hour.

So what does this saying have to do with your money? Well, each year can have either a positive or negative impact on your money. Which will it be for 2008?

I’m very mindful that it’s April already. Where has the first quarter of the year gone? And if it’s April already, will this year have a positive or negative impact on your money? Are you someone that has a sickening feeling that the year is racing by with no regard for you, or how you’re progressing towards your goals? Time stands still for no one.

And why can the feeling be sickening? Well, for me, I have a load of things I want to see achieved this year. Hopefully you’re the same. But because my perspective of time is stretched due to me being older than “ancient” I can be guilty of letting things slide until ‘next week’. ‘Next week’ can turn into ‘next month’ and before you know it it’s April and there hasn’t been any significant progress! And let’s face it; life is getting more and more busy for each one of us so it’s easy to justify the thinking of putting things off until ‘next week’. But are you happy to see ‘next week’ become ‘next year’?

The risk is that if you continue to do this you will become someone that achieves nothing, and will either become complacent or frustrated and let life happen to you rather than being someone that makes life happen. Which will you choose?

We have a saying at wisemoney: Prioritising money toward financial goals is how you can get ahead no matter what your income level is. So you need goals. And you need to be focussed on achieving them. This means that you need to review your progress as you go.

The end of the first quarter is a great time to review your progress in 2008. I’ve attached a link here to an article I wrote for a local paper at the beginning of the year and in it are a few techniques on goal setting and reviewing progress. You may find it interesting. (Article: Don’t be late for 2008).

I find asking the right questions is a great way to help with personal development. When I want to get the most out of a situation asking myself questions sharpens my thinking.

Here are five questions to put more power in your effort to achieve your goals.

What are the top three things you had planned (or hoped) to achieve in Quarter 1 of 2008?
Which of these have you achieved?
What are the top three things that you must see achieved in Quarter 2 of 2008?
What action must you take to see these three goals achieved?
What support do you need to put in place to ensure your success?
Remember, if you focus on your goals you will give them life.

HOT TIP:

A great way to help make goal happen is to discuss these questions around the dinner table. If you have kids that are old enough to understand then definitely involve them in the discussion. But also consider the advantage of inviting some close friends to dinner and asking them if they’ll help you to answer the questions. More brainpower means more progress!

Phil Strong
CEO Wisemoney