The Importance of Having Financial Goals as a Youth in Kenya

A defined set of goals is essential for achieving financial success. When you have a clear target and a schedule to get there, you are more likely to stay focused and avoid distractions. Knowing your financial goals, like a tourist with a map, helps you avoid distractions that may impede your progress. Without precise goals, it's easy to get off track and squander time and resources on less important endeavors.

Coming up with financial goals gives you a sense of direction and purpose. It enables you to focus your efforts and resources on attaining your true goals. One efficient technique to stay focused is to write down your goals and post them somewhere you'll see them on a frequent basis, such as on the wall of your bedroom. This regular visible reminder supports your dedication and maintains your goals in front of your thoughts.

Financial Goals Keep you focused

When you know where you are going and the time that is required for you to reach there, you will keep your mind on the prize. When you know that you are short in time, I’m certain that you will not engage in things that will make you arrive late.

Similarly, having goals in place will help you to be focused on the things that you want to achieve and the means that you are using to achieve. It is for this reason that you are always advised to write down your goals and stick somewhere where you see every day. Such a place can be on the wall of your bedroom. By sticking your goals on the wall of your bedroom, you will be forced to look at them every morning thus reminding you to be focused.

Having a Clear Picture of Your Future

It might seem easy to make money save and make more money, however, without clear financial goals in mind, you might be playing a dangerous game. Financial success and independence is best achieved when there is a clear plan and strategy in place. Setting financial goal(s) is important as it helps a person to have a clear understanding of how they want their future to look like. When you have a financial goal, it will be easy to know what you are trying to achieve and what success is to you.

The most important lesson that I know about success is that you as an individual should always know what success means to you and how it looks like. By knowing what success is to you, it becomes easier to know what your end goal is and it will also be easy to know when you become successful.

Moreover, having a financial goal helps a person to know the things that they should do to achieve the things that they desire.

Read also: What To Do If You Haven’t Achieved Your Goals

Financial Goals Helps in Creating a savings culture

Another significance of creating financial goals is its ability to dictate to you the sum of money that you need to save every month. Without a financial goal, you might find yourself misusing money in ways that you could have avoided if you took the simple stem of creating smart financial goals. If your goal is to buy a car worth Ksh. 1.2 million within two years, then you will know that you need to save 25,000 shillings every month.

In the case whereby you did not have a financial goal and you say that you want to buy a car, it might take you more time since there are months where you will not save and instead use all the money that you are supposed to save on entertainment. Therefore, it is appropriate to assert that when you make SMART financial goals, you quantify your desires or rather putting a number on your ambitions.

If you find it hard to save money, create a saving plan in Mshwari and stick to it. It might not seem a big deal to use Safaricom’s Mshwari but trust me, I have tried and it helped me big time. From this example and explanation above, it’s clear that having a financial goal is important as it helps a person to have a savings culture.

Coming up with strategies

Don’t have a vague financial goal like I want to be filthy rich, come up with specific simpler and measurable goals. By having these goals, it will be easy to develop strategies that will help you attain them and eventually you will become filthy rich as you had dreamed. What I am trying to say in simple terms is that having financial goals helps someone to come up with different kinds of strategies since different goals calls for different strategies to be employed.

Research shows that financial goals are a great tool since they dictate the kind of strategy that one needs to use. If your goal is bigger and requires more money then it will be wise to combine several financial strategies in order to achieve. Some of these financial strategies can include but not limited to cutting on expenditure, seeking means to increase your income and saving in things like shares and stocks for you to grow your money at a faster pace.

Financial Goals Help in decision making

Depending on the field that you are operating, having financial goals is important as it will help you to make better decisions that will help you grow and scale within your industry. If you have big goals, you will be required to make decisions that will see you earn and save more. Therefore, it is appropriate to assert that having financial goals is imperative as it helps in decision making.

Develops feelings of satisfaction

If you buy a car that you had not planned for, trust me you will not be as happy as someone who bought a car since it was part of their goal and plan. When you plan to get something and finally you lay your hands on the target, you become happy and satisfied. It is for this reason that i advice you to stop working aimlessly towards your desires but rather come up with a list of financial goals.