Everyone has dreams and desires.

Maybe it is a boat or a million dollars. Perhaps the dream is to lose weight or gain muscle. The dream could be a house in the fashionable neighborhood, or a relationship with the right person, or a promotion, or spending more time with one’s children.

Dreams are great. I think most people (myself included) would benefit by dreaming MORE.

But you can’t stop there if you ever want your dreams to become reality because you need goals to accomplish your dreams.

I can’t summarize it better than Harvey MacKay.

“A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.” ― Harvey MacKay

Turn Your Dreams Into Goals!

Take some time early in January to set goals based on your dreams.

If you had goals in 2016, take some time to evaluate how they went.

Goals should be SMART. The definition of a SMART goal varies but each one should be some combination of: Significant, Motivational, Achievable, Results-oriented, and Trackable.

Write down your SMART goals, and share them with someone who will check in on you and keep you accountable.

But don’t stop there. You need to spend time figuring out HOW you’re going to meet your goals.

You need to have a detailed plan and proven approach to follow in order to be successful.

Another key factor is Motivation.

Find a WHY to Motivate you

Anything worth doing requires hard work and sacrifice. Hard work and sacrifice aren’t fun or easy.

You need a WHY.

WHY are you doing what you’re doing? What drives you to accomplish your goals?

In the morning what is going to get you out of bed and pursuing your goals? When you come to obstacles, challenges, and setbacks what is going to keep you striving and working hard?

You need a WHY.

Twenty Seventeen is the Year You Do It

“Do it.” – Art Williams

Let 2017 be the year you use your dreams to set SMART goals, write them down, find an accountability partner, develop a detailed plan and schedule that you’ll use to accomplish your goals. Define your WHY and think about your WHY every day to stay motivated.

My Goals for 2017

I have goals that fall into a variety of categories such as spirituality, fitness, relationships and finance.

I’d like to share a few of the goals I intend to accomplish by the end of 2017.

By writing down a goal and sharing it with others it mitigates the temptation to give up or change the goal.

Grow my Trading Account by 8%

I lost money in my trading account in 2016. I don’t want that to happen again.

So I’m taking what I think will be a safer and more passive approach by selling covered calls on the value stocks I like.

“Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or even courage, but simply because they have never organised their energies around a goal.” – Elbert Hubbard

Stick to my Budget

I have a budget that details how much I plan on spending each month on food, rent, gasoline, etc. One of my goals each year is to stick to my budget.

I set up a revised budget in July of 2016 and I stuck to it. It helped me financially survive during my time of unemployment. I intend to keep to my budget for 2017 as well.

It doesn’t matter how much money you make or how much money you have: if you don’t live within your means you’ll go bankrupt.

Just look at Mike Tyson, who earned an estimated $400 million as a boxer, and who declared bankruptcy in 2004.

Wether you’re rich or poor you need a budget to ensure you live within your means, however modest or grand those means may be.

Make $1,000 Selling Coins

I made $1,868.66 selling numismatics in 2016. I hope to make about $1,000 in 2017 following similar techniques. This is something I’ve shared with my newsletter but I haven’t yet written any articles about it.

Grow HowIGrowMyWealth.com Audience to 500 Users per Month

Last year my goal was 1,000 users per month to this website. I didn’t hit that goal. My best month was September, in which I had 634 users. The average was 361 users per month. This year I’m setting a goal of an average of 500 users per month.

I’m going to accomplish this goal by continuing to create content on a regular basis as well as do more guest posts on other sites. I also promote my content on Facebook and Twitter.

Additionally I’m striving to increase the subscriber base to my newsletter. You can help me to do that by signing up!

My WHY

I have aspirations to marry and I want to be able to support a family.

I also want to be present to my family.

I don’t want to be reliant on a boss telling me when I can or can’t take a vacation. I want to have flexibility in when I work. I don’t want to miss out on my kid’s soccer games or ballet recital because a report is due. I don’t want to worry about paying bills or getting laid off.

I believe that if I work both hard enough AND smart enough I can achieve financial independence that will allow me to provide for a family and be there for them.