by Thom Fox

One of the true benefits of being a first-time homeowner is the ability to transform your house into a home. The care that you put into personalizing your home will be felt in the memories that the years will yield. While many little touches will be relatively easy to incorporate, there may be larger projects that you’d like to undertake to create your ideal home. As with anything that you choose to accomplish in life, you must establish goals to guide you.

Goal development has benefits beyond simply achieving the goal itself. Properly developed goals can be incredibly motivating, and, getting into the habit of setting and achieving them will probably increase your self-confidence. By constructing a strong goal development routine, you can measure and take pride in the achievement of the goals you’ve set.
 
The Seven P’s of Goal Development
The goals that you set need to be plausible, and your plan to achieve them must be precise. To meet your goals, you must prioritize their importance and properly prepare for the steps you’ll need to take for their achievement. Throughout the process, remain positive and maintain the appropriate passion to reach your goals. Finally, gauge your progress on performance and not on outcome.
 
Plausibility
It is important to set goals that you can achieve. There are few things in life more frustrating or disappointing than not meeting the benchmarks you’ve set for yourself. Therefore, your goals need to be realistic. For example, Jim has plans to refurnish his living room within the next two months. The cost to do so is approximately $5,000. Not wanting to incur debt, he decides to use cash. Unfortunately for Jim, he does not have sufficient savings to accomplish this. His current job only allows him to set aside a modest amount of money every month after he’s taken care of his financial obligations. In this case, his goal is inconsistent with the reality of his circumstances.

Setting unrealistic goals can be harmful. You may even begin to lose hope of ever achieving your dreams and give up altogether. By developing plausible goals, you will not only increase your odds of meeting them, but you will also help yourself maintain a positive outlook on the future.

Precision
The more specific your goal is, the more realistic your chance of success. By making the goal specific in nature, you’ll “own” it. Instead of simply establishing the goal in your mind, make it tangible. If you want to install aluminum siding on your house, find a picture that resembles the siding you want. Place it somewhere where it will be constantly visible; this way you can form a personal connection to your goal. You won’t simply be saving money for a home improvement; you’ll be saving to improve your home.

Prioritization
You may have several home improvement projects in mind, so it is essential to create an order in which you want to complete them. Ranking your jobs from most important to least important will help you focus your attention and keep you from feeling overwhelmed when you have multiple goals.

Preparedness
In order to meet the goals you’ve set, you need to be prepared. To do so, you should ask yourself some questions:

• Why is this goal important to me/my family?
• How much money will I need to reach this goal?
• Will this fit comfortably into my spending plan?
• Have I established a realistic time frame for reaching my goal?
• What additional information do I need to achieve this goal?
• What help, assistance, or collaboration do I need?
• What financial obstacles could block my progress?

A good way to prepare yourself to accomplish your goals is to create a “Goal Book.” Commit one page to each goal that you set. Write out the questions listed above, along with your answers for each. This will help you to better visualize your goal and help you to determine how plausible each goal will be to attain. If you find it helpful, place a picture of your goal on the page as a way to “own” it. You can also track the financial progress you make toward completing your goal on its designated page. For example, the living room furnishings Jim wishes to purchase cost $5,000, and he plans to commit $100 of each paycheck toward its purchase. Each time he puts money toward this goal, he’ll write down each deposit and subtract it from the total price. Remember, achieving your goals can be very empowering. Your self-confidence should get a boost every time you review your progress.

Positive Thinking
Always remain positive about achieving your objective. You will reach your goals; it’s simply a matter of time. Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet that “there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” The great man knew that attitude is everything. Sure, you may face challenges on your way to reach your goals, but oftentimes that’s all they are—mere obstacles that you must rise above to reach your destination.

Maintaining a positive thought process will help you overcome adversity, not just in accomplishing your home improvement goals, but in many other aspects of your life as well.

Passion
Anything worth having is worth working for. Each goal you set is important to you, and the passion that drives you toward the fulfillment of that goal is important, too. Just imagine how you’re going to feel when you finally reach the goal. A sense of accomplishment is one of the most powerful feelings that a person can have.

Always keep the achievement of each goal in mind. If you ever find your motivation weakening, go to your “Goal Book” and read the pages you’ve dedicated to each of your goals. Doing so should reignite your passion for achievement and provide you with the energy and attitude lift you need to persevere.

Performance
At times, individuals can lose their enthusiasm for reaching goals that are far off in the future. To help maintain a positive outlook, establish financial milestones for each of your goals. Periodically acknowledging your progress will help keep you moving forward.
 
Remember that “life happens.” Things may come along that temporarily prevent you from reaching your goals, but it is important to get back on track as soon as you can. By developing a solid spending plan, establishing an emergency fund, and remaining committed to your goals, owning a home can contribute significantly to a happy and rewarding life.

To begin defining your home-improvement goals, visit www.firsttimehomebuyermagazine.com to access the Spending Plan section of the website. The information provided will help you to develop a budget and review just how much you can put toward your goals.

Thom Fox is a public speaker and personal finance author who has helped to develop numerous programs for both young people and adults. As an expert in the field of personal finance, Mr. Fox has served as a guest lecturer for the Bruce Wells Scholarship Upward Bound program at Clark University and a panelist for both the Nichols College “Cycle of Debt in America” student Q & A and the California JumpStart Coalition “Innovative Financial Literacy for Youth” conference.