HOW good is Your grip on your money goals today?

I think the simple answer actually lies in something Dale Carnegie said about goal-setting in his book "How to Win Friends and Influence People." While it is true that most people don't succeed because they don't have clearly defined goals, some people fail to make progress because they have too many. So here is my humble analysis of this year's roller coaster ride. Some of us simply bit off more than we could chew and lacked the focus to follow through on any of them. 

A quick story: 
I remember this clearly like it was yesterday. A few years ago I drove 15 miles to a mall that had a Sale on items I just had to have. When I got there I realized the quality of the stuff was not what I wanted. So while there I remembered I needed a small item, which was on sale for only $1.50.  So, I used a $20 bill to pay of it, which left me with a ten dollar bill, a five, three singles and two quarters change.... On my way out the door, I had the bag, a receipt, and my change in my hand.  As I was trying to put my change away, my hands were cold because it was winter, I missed my pocket and all of a sudden, I saw the five bills fluttering in the wind and scattering across the parking lot.  I lunged for the closest bill, which happened to be a  single $1 the two quarters rolled under a car.  Then it occurred to me–If some of these bills are going to be blowing away beyond my reach, I’ll be better off just pursuing the ten dollar bill, first.  If the others blow away, it won’t be as great a loss.  As it turned out, I was able to retrieve all five bills, but not the quarters I wasn't about to wait until someone rolled their car out of the parking slot to go back and pick up my 2 quarters..... So the $1.50 item cost me $2.  The moral of the story is, don’t go chasing down five things, when you’re better off just nailing the one that has the most value.  That was not what I did when I drove 30 miles round trip wasting gas to save money on a sale item I didn't need.    I often ran around chasing a bunch of goals back in the day and never succeeded in grabbing onto what was most important until way later (improper time management.) This brings the following quote to mind.

~Oscar Wilde~  “ Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes. ”  

My favorite goal-setting experiences: 

• Back around the time I was about to graduated from NYIT..... This, by the way, was when we had $4 -$5 gasoline prices with gas-rationing and cars lined for blocks and blocks waiting to pump a half a tank of gas. Basically Wall street was going crazy much like it is now. I started getting prepared for a move by sending out 100 resumes.  I learned during my University years that you always need to move before you become desperate!  So, I created the opportunity to have "choices."  About 20 businesses responded, no less than 10 were real possibilities. I picked a Consulting Technology Company that relocated me to Chicago.  I continuously built upon lesson after lesson, winding up with a 30+ year career in my chosen field. Computer careers were the way of the future back then, no different than today.
• While I as pursuing my chosen career (studying every night until 3:00am) I earned a really valuable entry-level spot at a Wall Street Law firm. But after 4 years, of wearing a suit and tie for a little more than  minimum wage, I bolted from that dead-end job. I knew I was never going to become a lawyer, so why waste anymore time. The prospects of a brighter career in my field was exhilarating. So I set a monetary goal that I thought was really aggressive.   I was making $22k at the first rung of the ladder, so I set a goal to double my income in 5 years.  I wound up tripling it, in that amount of time by moving from job to job and two cities while  gaining valuable experience.
• After moving to my last city, built a new house and felt I should  settle into a stable job I got hit with a new challenge.  I heard through the grapevine that my employer, a large multinational corporation, was going to let a few of my coworkers go due to a merger of 2 divisions (wasn't sure if I was on the list or not, but I wasn't about to wait around to find out.)  My wife happened to be pregnant with my first son.  Getting laid off at that point would have cut me off from a good income and my family insurance package, leaving us uncovered during an important time when we needed insurance.  When I was conveying my fears about this to my wife, she said, “Well, what are You going to do?"   That was all she had to say to turn on the tiger inside me. I called a headhunter and started the search, I successfully avoided the impending lay-off by jumping ship before anyone else in my department even knew about the layoff plans. I found another job that paid better and I negotiated getting insurance benefit on my start date ( which usually took 90-days.)

So, those three examples point to three elements of successful goal setting that was my experience. I believe then as I do now that I have a 6th sense. But the most important thing was I learned  3  important points:

1. Have passion for your goal.
2. Have a measurable goal. 
3. Be consistent and persistent.

YOUR goals are more likely to be met if they are grounded in a mindset of abundance, rather than a mindset of lack. i.e. Turn your thoughts over from a mindset of lack into a mindset of abundance. If you have financial goals, don’t obsess over the debt you have right now.  Think instead about the money you do have, the income you can project, the natural ability you have to earn more money.  This is the horse you want to ride into battle. Rather than harboring thoughts like “I’m not ready to make a move  now, I'll wait until things get better to start making my future beautiful,”  realize the future now.  Believe you can make it  beautiful  now.  Be prosperous in your mind now.  Your mental approach to a worthwhile goal should not be to take you from lack to plenty.  It’s to simply manifest what is already there, hidden inside, ready to bloom, ready for you to simply snatch up as it floats in the wind. 
If you wait for the World markets to stabilize it will be too Late to plan your next move.  


Oh, by the way. I no longer drive 30 miles round trip to buy anything, because: the price of gas + the wear and tear on my car + the price of the Item + rearranging my time to purchase the new item = Waste of time. 
It's simpler to find it online and compare quality and prices and have it shipped to me. I spent most of career making it possible for businesses to connect directly to the consumer, so I intend to benefit from my hard work by using the technology. Most importantly I'll save my energy and time for things much more important.
Which is Creating greater Value for the future.   

One last note: I did drive 800 miles to a new city to start my career, and I drove 1,300 miles to another city for a better life.