Goal setting...

[rw86347]

I give a 1% chance of success.

Here's three big problems for you to solve. Right-of-way and access control and paying for it. Construction and paying for it. If it's private, who's going to drive it and what will it cost?

Last time I looked, 4 lane interstate is about $2 million per mile, AFTER you've bought the land. That's the way they're built now, don't get me started on the economics of the proposed design speed.

-CC

They are already farther along than that. Laws have change. Million$ has been spent. Math has been done. And a land condemnation system has been setup.

 

[CCdaCE]

They are already farther along than that. Laws have change. Million$ has been spent. Math has been done. And a land condemnation system has been setup.

Ahh, more information changes things then.

Good luck.

-CC

 

[Xias]

Wise to wait and see on the highway. It may never happen.

Glad you had a great time at the live event--we saw him in Charleston a number of years ago and it was inspiring. You are doing great to quantify your goals and review them often, and to include both financial and personal!

One thing is for sure, having intensity and focus is both rare and absolutely necessary to make big hairy goals come to fruition. There is nothing else that will work like intensity and focus!

I have (according to my family) a bit too much of both!

Sarah

Did you ever work at Vanguard? Everyone loved that term (big hairy goals) :

 

[Celany]

I've always been surprised how many people don't. How do you get where you wanna go if you don't have a destination or a map?

exactly! I feel the same way now.

back when I was spendy & foolish, I think I must have had my head stuck up my butt. too busy living paycheck to paycheck to pull my head out & look around at the big picture.

now I try to have a few goals for every aspect of my life. If I'm having a hard time hitting them, or they no longer look appealing, then I know it's time to give my life a re-look, see what's changed, & retailor my goals to better fit where I'm headed.

 

[rw86347]

exactly! I feel the same way now.

back when I was spendy & foolish, I think I must have had my head stuck up my butt. too busy living paycheck to paycheck to pull my head out & look around at the big picture.

now I try to have a few goals for every aspect of my life. If I'm having a hard time hitting them, or they no longer look appealing, then I know it's time to give my life a re-look, see what's changed, & retailor my goals to better fit where I'm headed.

We have 3 pieces of paper on our fridge for our goals.

1) a thermometer with a list of things to pay off (two pieces of real estate)
2) a map of our land
3) a quarterly debt value. Every quarter we check to see if we are meeting our original goal.

Then at work a keep and annual savings goals sheet.

 

[Sarah in SC]

We have 3 pieces of paper on our fridge for our goals.

We have a savings goal thermometer, a spreadsheet for losing weight (!) and a chart showing the mortgage payment decline, plus a investments value incline!

We used to keep the paper budget on the fridge but now have achieved some sort of higher consciousness with it, where it only lives in the computer!

The "Big Hairy Audacious Goals" or BHAG, comes from Jim Collins' fine book Good to Great , which along with the First, Break all the Rules and Now Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton, rank among the most influential of the many books I've read.

Sarah

 

[W2R]

Excel is wonderful. I have projected my savings for each month from now until my tentative ER date in 2010. That is part of my big financial spreadsheet, where I keep track of everything having to do with money. Every day I fire up the spreadsheet, and then look in my bank account to see how much I have spent vs saved. I check my balance in my TSP and Roth IRA too, and their projected balance at ER.

Works for me. It's fun to see if I can beat my own savings projections, even if it is only by a little.

 

[CCdaCE]

Agreed--I've always been a natural plan/goal writer, and I've always been surprised how many people don't. How do you get where you wanna go if you don't have a destination or a map? Somehow I doubt that only a single digit percentage of folks on this board write down their goals, which probably proves my point.

Yeah, I guess I didn't explain myself very well. ... connect all the dots. whatever.

The point I was trying to make was that people that do write down goals, generally get "further in life".

-CC

 

[bssc]

Good work. In our house, since my wife never liked expensive cars, I would always phrase our progress as "We can pay off our mortgage or buy a Bentley". We are now down to a Honda Civic.

 

[YVR-Terri]

We just got back from our QMR (Quarterly Marriage Retreat). On this retreat we grade 4 aspects of our financial lives. It was great. We drove to KC to listen to Dave Ramsey. It was a huge motivator. I really believe we will have our house paid for by its 5 year birthday!

We grade ourselves in 4 areas...

Frugality test ... all non-mortgage required expeces have to be less than $1700/mo.
Savings goals ... This has never been an issue for us, but we have increased it to $24k/yr
Home payoff ... right now we are slightly ahead of our goal.
Tithe ... We relized we came up $250 short this last year.

... Oh and I got to fill in 3 more squares on my map! :-D

Have to say that I like this quarterly review. I would definitely fail on your frugality test, though. Personally, I set a target for committed expenses which includes all monthly bills as well as minimum required payments on mortgage, RRSP target, and minimal budget for groceries & gas. Then the other discretionary spending and additional savings for ER will vary depending on income, though I do have a cap on discretionary spending so I don't get out of hand when business is good.

The grid seems like a brilliant way of keeping track of where you are on your goals though - nothing like making it visual!