Ferris Bueller had it right: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you might miss it.”

We are in the fourth quarter of the year, in the last month of 2019… whether you can believe time flies by that quickly or not. If you missed a few goals in 2019… If it went too fast for your taste… Or if you are looking to keep the momentum of this year rolling…

LISTEN UP.

This is going break down how you can plan and set your goals to ensure you have the best 2020 EVER.

It is all going to depend on how you close on the last month of the year 2019 and get ready for the next year.

Video version:

Audio only version:

You can also listen on Spotify, iTunes and Stitcher

STEP 1: REFLECT

The first thing I want you to think about is how your 2019 went. More specifically: What were your top goals in 2019? Then ask yourself and tell the truth: Did you accomplish them or did you not?

To break that down even further…

Look at your goals and analyze from each one: What went well? And what didn’t go so well?

Let’s say that you did accomplish your goal. Why? HOW did you make that happen? Did you follow your plan? Even if you accomplished it, what didn’t go so well about it? Did you get distracted and then had to get back on track?

The reason you want to reflect on this is because you want to bring what DID go well into your 2020, and then take what DIDN’T go so well and edit it. How can you avoid making those same mistakes?

STEP 2: LOOK TO THE FUTURE

Now that you have analyzed the pros and cons of your goal accomplishing skills from 2019 in the past, look to the future.

Ask yourself, “What am I going to do differently for 2020?”

If you didn’t hit your goal, this is one of the most important questions.

Most people come into the new year with the same goal, year after year. But they never change their plan or HOW they are actually going to accomplish it.

STEP 3: SET YOUR GOALS

Now that you have analyzed the past and recognized what needs to change about the future, it is time to actually set your goals.

Most people in America have these two main goals:

Something having to do with health (losing weight, eating better, mental health, etc)
Something to do with money (wanting to make more money, spend less money, get out of debt, etc)

You may have feel as though you WORKED for it, but you still didn’t accomplish it.

I have found that there are four pillars of being able to actually accomplish your goals…

The Four Pillars of Accomplishing Goals:

Pillar 1: Identify where you got off track

Life is about ebb and flow – some things don’t go as planned. So this isn’t necessarily about what went “wrong”, this is where something got off track.

Let’s take the subject of health:

Typically the beginning of the year starts great. You cut out carbs, drink alcohol less, don’t have dessert… but then you go to a party, and you have a dessert and some wine. And then you go out the weekend after that and drink even more, so now you are getting off track… Where now it’s “What’s one more drink? I’ll start tomorrow… or next week…”

Before you know it we are somewhere you don’t want to be.

Now let’s switch to the subject of wealth and money:

When you decide you need to improve your finances, usually it is because something went off-track. Maybe you lost your job and didn’t have a plan B, maybe you are in debt. The typical culprit of debt? Credit cards.

You wanted to pay for something later, and later came and you realized you actually didn’t have the money to pay for it.

You may have decided at the beginning of the year that you are only going to use the credit card in case of emergencies – but somehow you have tricked yourself into what an actual emergency is.

But when you analyze the true definition of “NEED” – it’s food and shelter. Everything outside of that is a luxury. Maybe you got off-track by misidentifying wants and needs.

A good test to know if is a need or a want: Put it on a piece of paper, and take it away, would you still live tomorrow?

Pillar 2: Stop Digging

If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

One way people start digging of course is credit cards, or buying something that you can NOT afford. For example, maybe you want that fancy car with all of the fixings and upgrades, but simply put: you cannot afford it and another car will fit your budget. Do you care more about what people think about your car than your financial future?

Another way people continue digging that hole is by dedicating future funds. “I’ll buy this now and then use my tax refund to pay for it later.” Or they pull money from their 401K. Now you are in trouble – you are pulling money that was committed to something else.

The way to stop digging?

Stop buying, and make a true analyzation of what you need versus what you want.

The amount and quality of sleep you get at night when you don’t owe any body… is a different kind of sleep than when you are stressed about paying people back, just to buy and hold things.

Pillar 3: Make a Commitment

This is probably the most important piece!

If you aren’t truly committed to being more healthy or finding financial wealth, YOU WILL NOT DO IT. You won’t even be able to stop digging. You will not take the steps needed:

Like drinking water when you want alcohol, getting up early to go to the gym, etc.

This is commitment that will take you PAST the initial 2020 goals – past the excitement, when people start getting off track.

Commitment is:

Planning
Execution

How your December ends is not a result of what you do in the next 30 days. It is a result of the decisions and plans you made in NOVEMBER.

The work you put in in the last month of the year can catapult you into the new year.

For example, if you are looking to get healthy by going to the gym – YOU NEED A PLAN.

Do you think you are going to magically wake up the first day of January and automatically start going to the gym 3 days a week? No. You need to start planning your tactics now.

Think about what days are good for you, plan and TEST it out. Now come January you have a fool proof plan.

That is the same thing with making money:

You want to open your trading account THIS year. You want to start learning how to read charts THIS year. Then come January, you are SET up to accomplish your goal.

Pillar 4: Get Education

You have to get education if you want 2020 to be the best year of your life.

When we are not where we want to be with our goals, it is probably because we have consistently been doing the wrong thing, and perhaps it is only because we have a lack of education.

If you are not where you want to be physically or health-wise, you may be committed but do not understand what you need – you need the science so you can execute from your commitment.

The same thing happens with money.

Some may have the goal of increasing their wealth and they want to do that by means of the stock market. But when it comes down to it… they don’t even know how the stock market works.

That’s where we run into a wall.

What are you going to to change that?

Are you going to start watching YouTube videos? What if you have been doing that and you are still nowhere closer to your goal? Are you going to invest in courses, in coaching, in being around the right people?

Then you need to figure out whom you want to be educated from – is the coach successful? Does his or her teaching style resonate with you?

Without the education, you are going to continue down the same road. Maybe you will figure it out, maybe you won’t

But there typically has already been someone down the SAME road before you and has figured it out. There are some mistakes that you do not need to experience.

Click the button below to download our fully customized “2020 Goal Planner” for free.

Look at 2019, look at your goals…

Ask yourself what you are going to do differently. And then MAKE YOUR GAME PLAN.

Let’s make 2020 the best year yet.