7 Tips for Persevering on Financial Goals

Most of us have the ability to radically change our lives with money, but we rarely do so. You want to start a new business; finally take time off; get control of your health; live debt-free. You’ve done your research; have your plan; and you’ve started making progress. Then you hit a snag: an unforeseen difficulty, or you find yourself feeling frustrated, isolated, and tired.

Large-scale change often has a waiting period, which is uncomfortable and largely ignored. That waiting period is the time between when you make a decision to pursue something, and when you start to see that priority materialize.

• You start a business, and six months in, you have to get a second job to pay the bills.
• You want to have time with your baby, and you’re saving money for unpaid leave.
• You are applying for management positions, and you aren’t making it past the final round of interviews.
• You are halfway through paying off your debt, and you’re just tired of living on less.

We are tempted to give up at this point. We may have good reasons for giving up, and there is nothing wrong with pivoting. Creating options for ourselves with money requires willingness to change. Change is messy, uncomfortable, and always entails some loss (even when changing from bad to good). Change often takes more time than we plan. As Eric Hoffer wrote, “We tend to forget the past difficulties, the many false starts, and the painful groping.”

Our achievements speak for themselves. What we have to keep track of are our failures, discouragements and doubts. We tend to forget the past difficulties, the many false starts, and the painful groping. We see our past achievements as the end results of a clean forward thrust, and our present difficulties as signs of decline and decay.

Eric Hoffer

All great achievements come with a hidden cost: the waiting period to see the vision realized. The waiting period requires perseverance. We have to persevere in the midst of “false starts” and “painful groping.” Persevering is doing what we can today, so we can become someone who is capable of more tomorrow.

When we are actively pursuing something with a large financial gain, the waiting period can be fatiguing. Here are a couple ways to improve that:

1. Sleep. Few things fail to improve with rest, and most of us could do with better sleep.
2. Spend time with others making a big change. It could be your exact struggle, or it could be someone pursuing another big goal. Talk to them. Online forums are great, but I tend to favor in-person, phone, or online one-on-one meetings.
3. Create a reminder. a good reminder is less about the money, and more about the meaning behind the money. Think photos of smiling people using your service/product, or you on a stage delivering a talk.
4. Share your slow progress. We are inundated with before/after photos. Share about this difficult period openly with a few people. This can be especially important if you have children.
5. Read or listen to books on your area of interest. These could be financial, career, personal development, or biographies.
6. Include something “micro” that feels “lavish” in your life. Particularly if money is tight now as you pursue a bigger goal, small things can alleviate stress. I always thought Pringles were expensive as a child. When I add a can of Pringles to the grocery cart, I instantly feel like I’m wealthy. For just $1.67, I create the feeling of wealth, while pursuing a larger goal.
7. Set a time limit. Before giving up, ask yourself if you could keep up what you are doing for another two months. Find a time limit that works for you, and check in with yourself on that date.

The waiting period between your idea and the goal can be tough. There are reasons to adapt, modify, and pivot from that idea, but give some of these areas a try first. You may find persevering is a little easier.

Photo by Sharosh Rajasekher