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Tips To Help You Acheive Financial Success

Last Updated - July 12, 2010

Whether you are trying to repair your credit, get out of debt or save money you need a plan or you are in danger of being overwhelmed by the task. A plan will help you break up the task into bite size chunks, measure progress and achieve exactly what you are looking to do.

Preparing Yourself

• Don't beat yourself up about the past. We've all experienced financial blunders - stop beating yourself up over them! You can't change what is in the past, but you can impact today and tomorrow.
• Tell someone else about what you plan to do. There is something about making a public commitment. It helps us live up to our word and avoid the situation of having to tell someone you didn't do what you said you were going to do.
• Learn from mistakes. The saying goes, "Those who forget the mistakes of the past are destined to repeat them. Did you purchase something on credit without the cash to purchase? Figure out what caused you to act and get it corrected.
• Educate yourself. Learn from others and best practices. A great way to learn is to follow some personal finance blogs (like our very own blog), or subscribe to a personal finance publication.

Setting Your Goal

• Make sure your visions have goals and your goals have plans. If your vision is to become financially free, determine the goals to get there. Build a plan to achieve each goal. If you don't have any action steps to take to achieve your goal, you're going to have a hard time taking a step forward.
• Set a precise goal, putting in dates, times and amounts so that you can measure achievement. If you do this, you will know exactly when you have achieved the goal, and can take complete satisfaction from having achieved it.
• Make a time commitment to meet your goals. It really doesn't take that long to devote yourself to a credit repair plan, for instance. Schedule some time every month to track your progress, and take your next steps. Getting better at playing a sport takes practices. Improving grades requires studying.

• Take a break. If all you've done lately is talk about money and personal finance, drop the subject for a while. Whenever I've been trying to solve a difficult software problem, I take a break or just leave the problem until the next day. When I wake up in the morning, the answer is usually there in front of me. At the minimum, the stress of the situation has lessened.
• Ask for help when you need it. There are many free programs available in your community. Seek them out. Our discussions boards are an excellent source of information, and if you ask for help, our members will give it to you.
• Realize you're not alone in your situation. Many other people have succeeded in your situation. Take a trip to our discussion forums. Everyone there has probably faced your same problems.
• Take action! Sometimes taking the first step is the toughest. You'll find that once you do, things start moving along quickly.
• Ignore the naysayers. Many will question your methods and ask why. The bottom line is that it really doesn't matter what others think or say. It's you underlying values and reasons for the goal that make the difference.
• Recognize your successes. There are many steps and goals along the journey. It's a long road, so don't forget to celebrate the wins and include family and friends.