Mid-year is an opportune time to assess our financial goals and set a clear income target for the remainder of the year.
Setting a specific income goal can help you stay focused, motivated, and make strategic decisions to propel yourself closer to financial success.
In this blog post, I’ll guide you through the process of setting an income goal for the rest of the year, empowering you to take control of your financial journey.
Step 1: Evaluate Your Current Financial Situation
Before setting an income goal, take a moment to evaluate your current financial situation. Download the past 2 months bank statements and credit card statements. Write down your monthly income and expenses by category. Understanding your starting point will provide a foundation for setting achievable financial goals. Get your free monthly expense worksheet to help you organize your income and expense categories by going to our website: www.ppsaccounting.com/monthlyexpenses.
Step 2: Define Your Goals
Identify your financial objectives for the remainder of the year. Are you looking to pay off debt, save for a specific purchase, invest in a business venture, or save for retirement? By clearly defining your objectives, you can align your income goal with your overall financial plan.
Step 3: Give Yourself Permission
What thoughts or beliefs are keeping you from getting what you want? Our successes and our failures happen in our minds by the things that we say to ourselves and the thoughts that we think. Sometimes we are completely unaware of how those thoughts are affecting us. The thought is sabotaging if it does not align with your goals, desires or purpose. No matter how insignificant you think it is, if you have a sabotaging thought, it’s lurking under the surface and keeping you from reaching your desired outcome. Give yourself permission to have what you want by re-scripting any negative or sabotaging thoughts.
Example: Sabotaging thought – I’ll never make that kind of money.
Truth – I can make as much money as I give myself permission to make.
Reading the truth statement over and over until you become acclimated to it will help you remove the negativity bias you may be feeling.
Step 4: Increase Your Income
Look around and explore all the ways you can immediately increase your income today. Could you increase your marketing and create a special offer to drive sales, can you negotiate a raise with your employer, launch a new product or service you’ve been wanting to incorporate in your business, expand your customer base to reach a new demographic, or maybe it’s time to increase your hourly rate or service fees. What can you do today to add more income to your bottom line immediately? Go after the low hanging fruit first.
Step 5: Explore New Income Streams
Diversifying your income sources can provide stability and open up new possibilities for financial growth. Research a side hustle, freelance opportunities, & passive income streams. (Brainstorm potential passive income ideas). Think about the following:
What is easy for you that could be hard for someone else?
What resources, systems, or templates have you already created?
What do people ask you about all the time?
What do you do for free for people already?
What’s something you wish you had time to teach?
What’s a missing niche or an under-served audience you could serve?
What do you want people to know how to do?
After you figure out what you want to do, MONETIZE IT!
You can also add a new service line to your existing business or explore a new business opportunity. The sky truly is the limit when it comes to making more money.
Step 6: Develop an Action Plan
Create a detailed action plan to execute your income-generating strategies. Break it down into monthly, weekly, or daily tasks to keep yourself accountable. Set milestones to track your progress. Reverse Engineering works best. Once you know what you want your result to be, work backwards creating each step to take until you get to where you are.
Step 7: Stay Motivated
Maintain motivation throughout your journey. Find ways to stay inspired. Practice visualizing your desired outcome, celebrate small wins, & repeat daily affirmations like “It’s ok for me to have more than I need”. Regularly review your progress and remind yourself of the benefits and rewards that achieving your income goal will bring.
Step 8: Seek Support & Accountability
Share your income goal with a trusted friend or mentor who can provide support and hold you accountable. Their encouragement and guidance can be invaluable in keeping you motivated and focused on achieving your financial milestones.
Step 9: Never Stop Learning Financial Literacy
Financial literacy is the foundation of building a strong and secure financial future. Commit to expanding your financial knowledge and skills. Educate yourself on personal finance, investing, and wealth management through books, podcasts, courses, and seeking advice from financial professionals.
Step 10: Rinse & Repeat
Setting income goals is a game-changer in your financial journey. By continuously reflecting on your current situation, defining clear objectives, and taking actionable steps, you will create a roadmap to achieve a thriving financial future. But it requires a combination of knowledge, practical application and ongoing learning.
Take control of your financial journey and set your income goal today. I have created a workbook to help you navigate through the steps. Access the workbook by clicking on www.ppsaccounting.com/incomegoals