Dive deeper into goal setting

Principles and practices to help you to set and achieve goals effectively

• Reflect on any other personal goals you have such as education, career, health, family, recreation or community service goals. How do they inform and impact on your financial goals?
• Break your ‘big picture’ goals down into smaller achievable chunks, for example monthly or weekly goals.
• If you have more than one goal, prioritise them.
• Set SMART goals:

SMART Goals

S – Be Specific

Be precise and detailed.

M – Measurable

When your goals are specific you will be able to measure them i.e. know when you’ve achieved them or how far you have to go.

A – Achievable

Set realistic achievable goals. If you set goals that are too difficult to achieve, you can easily become discouraged. Set yourself challenging but achievable goals that give you satisfaction and confidence when you achieve them. NOTE: This does not mean that you cannot set really big goals, but it is important to break these down into achievable chunks.

Make sure that what you aim to achieve is within your control. For example setting a goal of getting a pay increase in 12 months outside your control and may not be achievable

R – Relevant

These are your goals. They should align with your values and the direction you want for your life and your values. Many times in our lives there are others who tell us what our goals could or should be. Do not set your goals based on what you ‘should’ do’ but rather what you choose to do. You will have far greater chance of success.

T – Time bound

If you have set specific, measurable goals put these into a timeframe, set deadlines and keep track of your progress. This will help you to know when you can celebrate your achievements.

More tips for achieving goal success:

• Use positive language – Describe what you will do rather than what you will avoid. Use language that encourages perseverance and values effort. Changing your language will change the way you think.

• Check your mindset – what do you believe you can do? Do you believe that hard work, intelligence or luck will get you to your goal?

• Write your goals down – You have over 50% more chance of achieving your goals when you write them down. 

• Share your goals with a supportive friend but not with everyone – Having someone who can encourage you to persevere when things get tough can help but talking about your intentions too much can give you a false sense of accomplishment and reduce your motivation.

• Keep your thinking flexible – Flexible thinking helps you to see challenges as opportunities for growth and learning and helps you to find ways to continue towards your goals even when you have setbacks. Review your goals and explore ways you can overcome any obstacles or setbacks with creative thinking. This will build your confidence and resilience and make it more likely that you will reach your goals.

• Spend time with other people who are motivated to accomplish their goals – Surrounding yourself with people who have passion and perseverance for accomplishing their goals, will strengthen your positive mindset and encourage you to persevere too.

• Celebrate and record milestones
  Reflect on your accomplishments and how you want to continue. Celebrate your successes. When you reflect on your choices, do it in a non-judgmental way. If you have not met your goals today, don’t be highly critical of yourself, but think about what you will do differently tomorrow. Thinking positively helps you to stay on track or get back on track, reinforces new habits and ways of thinking and sets you up for future successes.

Dive Deeper

Setting up a savings account

Banks, credit unions and other financial institutions offer savings accounts. Think about your needs and explore the range of account options at a few financial institutions.

How do I know what accounts are available?

You can find out information on savings accounts by visiting bank or credit union branches in person, or by searching online. You can look at the website for each financial institution to find the details of their accounts. There are also bank account comparison websites that you can use to compare different accounts.

Comparing Accounts

When you are deciding which account is the best for you, look out for these features:

• interest rate
  • simple vs compound interest – compound interest makes your money grow faster
  • how often the interest is paid into your account – the more often it is paid in, the greater the opportunity for your money to grow
  • how long any special interest rates will last for – ‘honeymoon’ deals have a higher interest rate for a short period of time e.g. 6 months, and then revert to a lower interest rate
• account keeping fees – lower fees mean more of your money stays in your account and grows
• minimum and maximum balances – some accounts have penalties if the balance falls below, or goes above, certain amounts
• incentives for making regular deposits and penalties for withdrawing money
• accessibility – how easily can you deposit and/or withdraw your money

Note that some financial institutions offer low fee accounts for students.