Give Your Goal A Budget - Money And Time

When we think of budgeting our money to buy something, we normally take the following steps; determine how much money it will take, determine if we have that much money, determine from what source we will get the money, and lastly, decide if we are willing to spend that money on the thing we want.

We need to do the same thing with our time. Yet sadly, most of us do not go through this same process when it comes to spending our time. No matter how we spend our time today, we know we get a whole new set of 24 hours tomorrow. We also know that we will never get back the 24 hours we spent today. 

For example, I have a goal to read one book every week. At the beginning of the week, I know that if I want to read a 280 page book over the next 7 days I need to read at least 40 pages per day. But what if I don't read anything on Tuesday? Now I need to make up for that lost time. So I could either read 80 pages on Wednesday, or read 48 pages over the next 5 days. Missing Wednesday and Thursday means I now would have to read 80 pages per day for the remaining 3 days in order to finish the book by Sunday evening. Now instead of carving out 45 minutes per day for seven days, I will need maybe 1.5 - 2 hours per day. That's just the first week. Imagine if I had skipped several weeks. Now there is little hope in catching up. So even though I got whole 24 days hours every day of the week, if I didn't accomplish my daily goal, it is much harder to accomplish my weekly goal. 

This is what happens to many us. We get caught up in something else, we don't spend the time we committed to spend on our goal and before you know, we have missed several days in a row and we either try to catch up with massive action or we give up and declare failure.

When we first set our goals, we think we will have the time, because we are excited about it. Actually, what I mean to say is, we think we will choose to spend our time on that goal. Then 3 weeks goes by and deciding to spend the time on that goal is much harder because the excitement is gone. Do we decide to spend that 30 minutes exercising or do we read? Do we work on the goal or do we get on social media? Do we develop that skill or do we organize our sock drawer, because it is really getting out of control and needs some attention right now.

When we have a goal, and we do not calculate how much of our time is needed in its attainment, then we are not making an informed decision when we set our goal. This is a common reason why we don't follow through with our goals. We didn’t understand at the time that we set our goals, the time investment required long term. Sure we thought 30 mins a day is doable this week, but then life gets in the way, and now that 30 minutes seems impossible. 

We need to ask, what time is needed, both in consistent effort and in duration. Will it take 2 hours per day for 90 days, or 1 hour per week for 5 years. Next we determine if we have that time to spend. Do you have 30 minutes a day, and from where is it coming; in the morning, the evening, on weekends only, after the kids are in bed or before everyone else gets up? If we don't have it, where can we get it? What could we stop doing in order to have that time available. What do we need to give up doing instead? And Lastly, are we willing to spend that time on this endeavor over the long-term?

Jim Rohn says we need to understand the price we pay for our goals before we decide to go after them. He was referring to time, effort, energy, and what we would have to give up to go for this goal, and least of all money. He also said that if he had known the price he had to pay for some of his goals he would not have chosen to go after them. That is a really good lesson for all of us. How many of us would purchase something without considering the price? Yet we do that with our time frequently. 

So before embarking on your goal run through the following steps. It applies to both money and time:

• Determine how much if it (time and money) is needed e.g. 30 minutes
• Determine how often does it need to be spent: daily, weekly, monthly, etc. e.g. daily
• Determine how long we will need to spend it e.g. 90 days, 5 year, forever
• Determine if we have it available
• Determine if we don't have it available, where will we get it
• Determine if we want to spend it on this. Decide if the price we will have to pay is worth its attainment.

Once we have run through this, we will have a clearer understanding of the price we will need to pay. If we do decide to go for the goal, we should add it to our calendar. It doesn't matter if it is on your computer, your phone, a paper planner, or a piece of paper taped to your refrigerator. What matters is that you use it consistently and it is up to date. And of course, stick to your schedule.

When you take the effort to budget your time, schedule it on your calendar, and stick to it like you would an appointment with your cardiologist after a heart attack, then there is no force on heaven or earth that can stop you.