I have heard people say: what plan should I follow? What should I do first? Where should I invest? Is this better than that? None of these matter in my opinion! Whatever plan that lets you sleep at night is the best plan for you. Don’t worry too much about following someone else’s plan blindly. If you don’t have a plan, you need one.
Do not let perfect be the enemy of good. Your plan will evolve with you, but you need to start somewhere. Most of us get stuck in the learning phase and think we need to learn everything before making the first move. We will always be learning until we die, but we don’t have that much time to try out strategies and see them succeed.
There are 4 reference points that I think helped me move forward and see some wins in my strategy:
1: Understand and own your plan
It is hard to do something right if you don’t know what you are doing. You need to understand the mechanic of saving, paying debt, investing, or whatever financial goal you have. Knowing not only what you are doing but why you are doing it will increase your chance of success. It does not mean you need to re-invent the wheel and start everything from scratch. Nobody got time for that! You need to take existing resources and tweak them to your liking.
2: Follow and stick to it
There is no way of knowing if a plan works if you don’t stick to it. Give it time; don’t switch plans every month just because you didn’t see the results you expected. What’s a good timeframe to evaluate if a plan is working or not? I would say six months to a year. Most of the planning you do will be long term; we are not in the business of getting rich quickly.
3: Adjust as needed but not too often
As I just mentioned, adjustments might be needed from time to time. But if you cannot succeed on any plan, the problem might be you, not the plan. You have to work the plan! It will require discipline and sometimes sacrifice, but it is doable. Let’s say that the change is needed, and you modify your plan. Make sure you understand why the first plan did not work and learn from it. Sometimes it’s because of life events (loss of job, marriage, kids, relocation) that we adapt our plan. So, don’t beat yourself up thinking you failed. Failure is transitional; it’s only final if you stop trying, and I know you got more in you to keep going.
4: Track your progress
This is a big step because it determines how well your plan is working. You can choose to look at your progress monthly, quarterly, whatever works. What I do is set goals for the month. It can be saving $1,000, making an IRA contribution, or paying extra on the mortgage. The key is to prioritize things that are helping you build wealth rather than pilling up things. But don’t overlook your happiness, it’s ok to splurge something (assuming you can afford it; you don’t need to go into debt).
There is not a “one plan fit all”. Circumstances, goals, needs, and wants are specific to you and your family. Educate yourself on what has worked for others, but do not let it be the Bible. As we continue to grow, many of us realized that what worked before is no longer working. We evolve and pivot to accommodate the season we are in.
“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” ― Pablo Picasso
