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It’s always a good time to get in better shape — both physically and fiscally.

Let’s start with the big picture.


Step One: Values Clarity

Roy Disney once said, “When your values are clear, your decisions are easy.” We’ve all heard ad nauseum about goal-setting. One of the most critical factors of actually accomplishing the goals is often overlooked. Speaking from personal experience, I’ve set a lot more goals (resolutions) than I’ve achieved.

Last year I saw “The Biggest Loser” TV show for the first time. Early in the season, the contestants wore T-shirts displaying their reasons for wanting to lose weight. One said something like “so I can walk my daughter down the aisle.” These reasons, or values, inspire us to find our highest and best states and to tap into more eternal, less temporal, aspects of life. I believe that the clear enunciation of your reasons, or your values, is the most critical and most often overlooked aspect of achievement, whether dealing with weight or money or other areas.

Starting with the things that are most important to you is common sense but not common practice. Satisfaction, fulfillment and peace of mind will never come from a tangible source; they always come from an intangible source. Yes, it’s true that achieving goals may be the physical manifestation — a symbol — of our values. But it is the intangible represented by the goal that is the true source of contentment. Solidly linking the goal (the tangible) to the reason/value (the intangible) makes doing the work that the goal requires a labor of love. The reasons motivate long after the goal seems meaningless. Clarity of your values, and positively stated goals become like magnets in our lives.



Step Two: Positively Stated Goals

One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree.

“Which road do I take?” she asked.

“Where do you want to go?” was his response.

“I don’t know,” Alice answered.

“Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.”

— Lewis Carroll, “Alice in Wonderland”

For true effectiveness, goals should be stated as a positive, and they should be written down. If the goal is in your head, it is more of a thought than a goal. There is tremendous power in the written word. The goal should also be specific. For example, I want to run the Cadillac 5k on July 4, 2007, at 7 a.m. in 22:15 or less. Or, I want to create “mailbox money” of $25,000 per month starting by July 15, 2009, without ever touching my principal.

These two steps are crucial before you create a plan, make an investment or decide on any strategy. Decisions about money should never be made in a vacuum, only against the backdrop of your uniqueness.



Step Three: Creating an Inspiring Plan

When it comes to investing and accumulating money, time is your best friend. When it comes to planning, time (or the lack thereof) is your worst enemy. A boilerplate report spit out from financial planning software is not in itself a plan. Your plan should be comprehensive and holistic, addressing the five major components of your financial life: 1) Cash 2) Debt 3) Protection 4) Investments 5) Advanced Planning (i.e., tax planning, succession planning and legacy planning).

Money, much like food, is discretionary. Virtually every dollar that passes through your hand is discretionary. Your plan should help you align the most intelligent choices about money with your desired outcome by your target date for the reasons that are important to you.



Step Four: Seek Guidance to Stay on Track

Even if you’re not a sports fan, the names Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong and Muhammad Ali probably ring a bell. These men are highly talented athletes with brilliant abilities. But even if you are a sports fan, you may not recognize the names Butch Harmon, Chris Carmichael and Joe Martin — the coaches, respectively, of Woods, Armstrong and Ali. Butch Harmon didn’t win tournaments like Tiger. Chris Carmichael didn’t win the Tour de France even once. Joe Martin never came close to boxing like Cassius Clay. Yet the athletes had these men as coaches to help them formulate a training plan, stay on track and bring out the best in them. Maybe you should, too.



Step Five: Adjust and Recalibrate

The world will continue to change, and so will you. Make sure your plan remains relevant and inspiring to you.



Gregory Luken, author of “Retire with Confidence, Your Toolbox for Financial Independence,” is president of a Franklin, Tenn.-based wealth management firm.




August 2007

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