This is Optimal Finance Daily, Episode 1651, goal setting for the win

by Dawn Starks of SimpleMoneyPro.com

and I'm your host and personal finance enthusiast, Diana Mariam, wishing you an easy fast

if you're observing young Kapoor. This is the show where I read to you from some of the best

personal finance blogs on the planet, sometimes a little too enthusiastically.

For now, let's get right to it and continue optimizing your life.

Goal setting for the win by Dawn Starks of SimpleMoneyPro.com

I highly recommend the book The One Thing written by Gary Keller and Jay Papapsin.

It's a terrific read and has helped me enormously with my time management challenges.

The accompanying podcast is also excellent. Recently, I watched a webinar by the same folks

who talked about goal setting. I'd like to share a concept put forth in the webinar because I

think it would be helpful in your own goal setting. I have previously written about goal setting,

focusing on whether it is set simple goals or big, hairy, audacious goals. In the previous

post, I also described the process of making your goals smart. The concept discussed in the webinar

is also a repeated theme throughout the book and podcast. It's the idea of thinking large,

but acting small. With regard to goal setting, this would encourage setting lofty goals and

then breaking them down into bite-sized pieces. This sounds ridiculously simple, and yet I think

it zeros in on a problem that people often encounter when goal setting. It's easy to get excited

about setting a goal, but even if you're careful and set a goal that is smart, which means it's

specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time bound, you can still flounder on the execution.

For example, let's say you decide your goal is to save $25,000 for a down payment on a house

in three years. Based on your household income, this goal might be completely smart. You might

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