Finances: Four Stages of Success

What are your financial goals? Do you want to be rich? Do you want to own property? Do you want to have enough money to be comfortable? None of these ideas are possible unless you have a strategy.

The first step is to have a goal. Figure out what you want to strive towards. It's easier to achieve a financial goal when it's quantifiable. For example, saying that your goal is you want to have enough money to live comfortably is a harder goal to achieve than saying you want to save $100,000 dollars. With the first goal, it's hard to know when you achieved it; however, the second goal is numerical, making it easier to see when you achieved it.

Next, you have to devise a plan. So if your goal is to have a steady stream of income, then you should be looking at something that can give you consistent earnings, such as renting houses or investing in mutual funds. Your plan should map out how you intend to achieve you goal.

After formulating a plan, now you come up with a system. Systems are more specific. You take your plan and apply it to the real world. So if your plan is to rent houses, your system could be researching good areas to buy investment properties where you know the real estate values grow rapidly and rent out the house. This is where you put the plan into action.

Finally, you have to watch your system. The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. You have to set time markers for achievements and see if you meet those markers. Ultimately, you want to make sure you are making progress in the long term view.

With these four rules, you should always be going in the right direction.