25 Apr Bringing Your Future Into Your Present: Start Dreaming (Part 1)
If you are a recent graduate and you’ve got lots of dreams. You’re dreaming about what you want to do, where you want to go and how you’d like to live. You’re starting out fresh. Begin today by bringing your future into your present. What exactly does that mean?
Focus on Your Dream and Not What You Don’t Have!
You’ve already discovered that your paycheck doesn’t stretch as far as you’d like it to go. It’s ok to feel disappointed; however, what are you going to do about it? How much you make isn’t important. It’s what you do with your dollars that will make the difference. Write down your dreams. Your dreams can provide you with the focus to manage your money to your benefit. There are no right or wrong answers. Your dream is uniquely yours. Take time to ask yourself what you’d like to be doing in five, ten and fifteen years? The clearer you define your dream, the easier it will be to know how much your dream will cost and how much money you’ll need to save.
Believe it or not, you’re a Business Owner!
Every business has a reason to exist. Businesses regularly create goals and they identify how they are going to achieve them. They write them down. They identify specific steps that they are going to achieve to reach their dreams. They don’t just wish and hope. They know what they are going to do and how much it’s going to cost. Everything they do is focused on achieving their dreams. This is what you are going to do. Your money and your time is what you are going to use to achieve your dreams. Don’t take either one for granted.
What If You Don’t Achieve Your Dreams?
Focusing on your dreams as well and how you’ll feel if you don’t achieve them are equally important. They can both serve to keep you motivated an on target. A balanced view will move you to the next steps of knowing how you’ll need to save, learning the power of keeping your money working for you and using a budget to make you feel proud of your accomplishments.
Bringing Your Future Into Your Present
Knowing your future enables you to manage your money in your present. When you are focused on saving for a future joyful experience, you won’t feel bad about deferring a spontaneous purchase. You’re not saying no. You’re saying yes to a future purchase that is going to make you REALLY excited. You have no regrets!
Create Your Dream!
I’ve created a series of free excel templates to help you discover how much savings you’ll need to achieve your dreams and a simple budget template. Take the next step in living a life of no regrets! In my next post I’ll review a couple of simple steps to ensure your money goes where it’s most important to you. In the meantime, take a look at the ‘These Are My Dreams’ templates.
Thanks for joining me. I’d love to hear from you. Take advantage of our articles, interactive materials, videos and, e-books. Please send your questions, topics or suggestions to dennis@cashmapconsulting.com. You can also follow me on twitter at cash_map.
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