Episode 18: The Wealth On Any Income Book – Section II: Step 2 – SMART Goals – Transcript

Wealth On Any Income Podcast Episode 18

Hi Folks, Welcome to the Wealth On Any Income podcast. This is where we talk about money tips, techniques, attitudes, information and provide inspiration. I’m your host, Rennie Gabriel.

Today I’ll be reading from Section II of my award winning, best-selling book, Wealth On Any Income. It will be about 15 minutes. We’ll cover how to write powerful goals from the future, not from the present, and create the action structure to achieve them.

As I read, I could stumble over some words. I am not a professional voice over actor so please forgive me if that happens.

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How to set long term goals and the action steps to achieve them.

The key to setting and achieving financial goals is to be specific. You’ve probably heard that effective goals need to be SMART. I don’t mean smart like my mouth. Smart is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic and Time-limited.

Let’s go over each one.

Specific

The wrong approach would be like this example, “I want people to like me,” when what I mean is that I want Dianne to like me. Well, how will I know if she likes me?

Measurable

You get to create the measurement. If I ask Dianne to go out to a play and she accepts, I say she likes me; I created the measurement. If you said you wanted more money and I gave you a penny, you’d have more money. That’s probably not what you meant. Instead, you could have asked for $5,000. Then we’d have something to measure to see if you got what you asked for.

Action-oriented

This means the goal is not static. It involves doing something. Do not use the words “going to.” That’s like saying, “I’m going to be rich.” You’d always going there, but never arrive. Use verbs like you’ve arrived, such as living, sailing, flying, driving, cruising, and so on.

Realistic

I can’t say what’s realistic for anybody. There used to be a program on TV called “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” It was on the Comedy Cable Channel about a guy that’s trapped in space and forced to watch the worst movies ever made. The host/creator of the show and his two robots talked over the soundtrack and made funny comments throughout the movie. He was told when he was in high school that he watched too much television. His teacher said, “You can’t earn a living watching TV.” Guess what? He earned a living watching TV.

Barry Bonds, one of baseball’s home run champions, was told by his high school science teacher that he couldn’t earn a living playing baseball, so he better buckle down and study his text books. Barry Bonds made history,,, but not his high school teacher. So I’m in no position to say what’s realistic or what’s fantasy for you. That’s something you have to decide for yourself.

Time-limited

A goal is nothing more than a dream that’s got a specific time deadline attached to it. Wow, there’s the word specific again.

Let’s tie together two parts of SMART goals: Specific and Time. In my workshops, I often ask this question, “Do you want to be rich?” Many people raise their hand indicating they want to be rich. Then I single out several people who raised their hand and ask, “How much is ‘rich?’” Guess what? Hardly anyone is able to tell me how much money is “rich.” People who live in the third world could probably say they’re rich now and don’t know it.

You may be in the same category. You have a place to live, food to eat. That’s better than millions of people on this planet. Any book you want to read, you can go to the library and read it for free. Anywhere you want to travel in this country, they’ve paved the roads for you, and you rarely have to pay any tolls. I’d say you’re rich now.

But let’s talk numbers: $100,000, $1 million, $3 million, $5 million, $100 million. It doesn’t really matter. We just need something specific so we can talk about time.

Let’s say your reply is, “$5 million would be rich.” Now, when do you want to be rich? If you say “now,” you weren’t paying attention. Remember when I was talking about realistic versus fantasy? That’s where this would likely fit, unrealistic.

I can’t say for sure, though. Maybe you’re on the edge of a huge income breakthrough. You’re up for the starring role in some movie, or your script is about to be purchased for a princely sum, or you’ve got a winning lottery ticket. I don’t know.

Instead of saying you want to be rich “now,” let’s say you picked ten years. This is how you’d break it down: If you created or accumulated about $315,000 per year at 8%, you’d have the $5 million in ten years. By the way, $5 million in ten years is only about $3 million in deposits; About $2 million represents the earnings.

(total is $5,012,969 after 10 years when earnings compounded monthly)

Compound Interest Calculator - Daily, Monthly, or Yearly Compounding (bankrate.com)

Next, you want to have the goal written in present tense, from the future, as in the following example:

This is what I wrote in 2014: It is June 15, 2019 and I am excited as I relax on the beach in Hawaii and check my laptop to see monthly deposits of $50,000 to our checking accounts. I was within $8,000 of this amount and it was before the pandemic in January of 2020 when we were in Hawaii.

You also need to include how you will feel. This is one of the reasons why you want to achieve the goal. This is one of the most overlooked important ingredients in goal setting. It’s in a few books, tapes and programs, but not all.

Think for a moment. Can you tell me something you do that does not include how you feel? You could be so disconnected from your feelings you may not even be sure what I’ve just asked. As an example: How do you feel when you drive to work? Happy, sad, resentful, scared, numb, joyous? Why are you doing this activity? How do you feel?

There are only two reasons why we do anything: We want to either avoid pain or we want to gain pleasure. Development of this theory goes back to Sigmund Freud, Pavlov and others, and has been popularized by Tony Robbins and N.L.P. (Neuro Linguistic Programming). (You can learn more about N.L.P. in the appendix.) Can you think of anything else you do that doesn’t involve either avoiding pain or seeking pleasure? Probably not.

So, if those are the only things that are motivating people, avoiding pain or gaining pleasure, you need to include the feelings you want to have in your goal. That’s the only reason you’re doing it. That’s the “why” you want it. That must be clear for you, because that’s what is going to motivate you.

Do you want $5 million so you can feel relaxed and retire on a yacht? Feel a sense of accomplishment because you can feed the hungry of the world? Feel confident, able, free, joyous, or secure? Do you want $5 million to feel abandoned, ashamed, baffled, confused, defeated, embarrassed, empty, humble, insecure, jealous, panicky, righteous, spiteful, tense or unloved? Or, do you want $5 million to feel worshipped? Or, do you figure it will make you feel the opposite of those feelings? (Check the appendix for a large list of feeling words.)

Get clear on why. The clarity of the why creates the power to take action.

In the following from my book I talk about the two most overlooked elements in achieving your goals. Since then I discovered some improvement on them. I recommend listening to Podcast Episode 9 where I talk about the book Change Anything. In that episode I describe a no fail six leg structure of support that you can use to get out of debt and/or create wealth.

When you use all six of these areas of support or influence it can even allow you to end smoking or overeating, repair a rocky relationship and even end substance addiction without leaning on willpower.

I’m now going to tell you about the other two most commonly overlooked elements in achieving your goals: other people and tracking results.

Other people

It’s vital to have other people involved. Share it with other people. Do not work on it by yourself. Have other people support you. Get outside advice and coaching. Find a mentor. Model someone you respect, get them to assist you. Are you picking up a theme here? You don’t need other people . . . any more than you need a stove to cook food. You could use a campfire, barbecue or fireplace. It just makes life easier and more rewarding.

Achieving goals is something you do with other people. It is not done by yourself. We can all learn something from Alcoholics Anonymous: When there was just one drunk who wanted to stay sober, he found someone else. In trying to keep other people from dying of alcohol abuse, he stayed sober. If working together can keep people from killing themselves from drinking, do you think it might also work with something as simple as achieving your goals?

I am suggesting it’s doubtful you’ll do anything of consequence by yourself. Lee Iacocca did not turn around Chrysler by himself in 1979. Who did he have help from? Everybody: The Federal government, taxpayers, stockholders, executives, unions, managers, supervisors, and line workers. Practically everybody. He did not turn Chrysler around by himself.

If there is a goal you want to accomplish, if you ignore everything I have said about effective goals up to this point, and all you do is work with other people, you’ve got a 90% likelihood of achieving it. Why? Because the people with whom you are working will help you focus on making your goal specific and measurable. They’ll question you about being realistic and having a time deadline. They will support you in getting what you want.

In 1994, I took a workshop because I had a desire to work four days a week instead of seven (using other people’s definition of work). My son had a great definition of work. He says, “It’s only work if you’d rather be doing something else.”

Anyway, I said I wanted to limit my work to four days per week. Someone in my group asked me what I wanted to do on the other three days. I had no answer. I didn’t have a why like I said you needed. The only things that came to mind were writing, reading and going to workshops—things I already did whenever I wanted to. It took talking with someone else to get clear on what I wanted. It’s other people who can help you get what you want, or get clear on what you want.

Are you afraid that if you ask other people for help, they’re going to tell you to drop dead or something? If you ask other people for assistance, they will want to help you. If you ask ten people for directions, eight of them will be thrilled to help. All you have to do is ask. If someone asked you for support, you’d provide it if you could. Wouldn’t you?

Back when I was doing personal financial coaching, about 70% of my clients were women, and very few of them had a problem asking for help. The comments you’ve read are directed primarily to men. Do you know why Moses was lost in the desert for 40 years on a trip that should have taken 4 weeks? He wouldn’t ask for directions. (I guess it’s a macho thing passed down for generations.)

It’s possible you could achieve what you want by yourself, but it’s only a 10% possibility. If you involve other people and let them assist you, you’ve got a 90% likelihood of success. James Prochaska, a University of Rhode Island professor, has conducted several studies on the effectiveness of support groups. In his book Changing for the Good, he says 90-95% of the people who try to modify their behavior on their own - without the support of a group or professional counseling - fail. It you were a gambler, which odds would you prefer?

1). Ask others for support or help: 90% success rate.

2). Do it by yourself: 10% success rate.

 I suggest you let others support you. All you have to do is ask.

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Here’s your opportunity to grow: Write out, NOT think about, but write down your five year goal from the future and use the SMART acronym.

In the next episode we will describe how to track results as you move toward your ultimate goal. Remember that I said there are two most commonly overlooked elements in achieving your goals: other people and tracking results. In the next episode we will cover two ways in HOW to work with others and how to track results.

Please listen to the Wealth On Any Income podcast on your favorite platform and please rate, review and subscribe.

Until next week, be prosperous. Bye, bye for now.

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