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Have you ever intentionally written out what you want for the next three months? It’s that time of year for me. August is always a super reflective and slow month, giving me the space to assess what didn’t work in the previous quarter and decide what I want for the next.
The major key resides within step #3! Because let’s be real, we can sometimes be a little delusional and overconfident when setting goals. LOL. When I dive into the 'how,' I’m often humbled and end up making adjustments.
Why set goals now, at the very end of August?
September represents a time of transition and preparation. It’s when we start to see the fruits of our personal habits and goals.
But August? That’s the month to identify at least one major thing that can’t follow you into the next season—something that doesn’t push you forward or acts as a barrier to success.
If you’ve used August to reflect, September is when you should feel lighter, more focused, and ready to take on something that truly pushes you forward and encourages your success.
What did June to August look like for you?
The first part of my quarterly planning is to consciously reflect on how the last quarter went. My personal goal categories are home, business & career, health, and money.
I’ll tell you how my money goals went...
I wanted to triple my weekly investment amount. Which, in hindsight, was an unrealistic pressure to put on myself and my family during the season of moving into our new home.
Spoiler alert: I didn’t end up increasing my investment at all—I really couldn’t make the room.
For the next quarter, my goal is to eliminate the bit of debt we accrued during our season of moving homes.
June to August was a whewwww chile kind of spendy season for my family. We moved, had some planned safety renovations (old house woes), and then a few unexpected expenses, like hiring arborists to cut down trees in our backyard—something we didn’t realize would be so costly.
Debt is a part of life.
But to me, investments in our property are good debt because they increase the value of our home.
That doesn’t mean I don’t want it gone immediately, though.
My point? It’s normal to accumulate a little debt every now and then because life isn’t linear. We can’t predict the storms.
Taking on debt got us through university, helped us buy a house, and allowed me to invest in my business and our education. We continue to see the benefits of every investment we’ve made.
And we’re fully confident that we’ll get back on track!
This is where your mindset is key—I could choose to ignore the debt, complain about it, or I can focus on how we’ve leveraged debt to allow me to be self-employed and buy our home.
Ready to start reflecting and setting goals of your own?
Here’s a template to help you get started! I’ve created a free Quarterly Goal Setting Template to share with you all.
Good luck, and take it easy on yourself—you’re doing your best, right?
All the good things,
Karina Winston
Principal
The Budget Doctor