Most of us started the year with elaborate plans/goals in our quest to secure our financial future/present. We detailed all the steps needed to achieve our goals and highlighted potential bottlenecks along the way and how we intend to handle them when they arise. We place a lot of emphasis on our ability and foresight, however, we hardly account for many unsuspecting things life might throw our way.
It is easy to watch our dreams crumble when life throws in challenges. Recently, I have been dealing with issues regarding the elections in my country and how it's affecting my business which has left me unmotivated. I have been thinking about how to counter these setbacks and potential setbacks in the future in a very pragmatic way without having to give up too much on my goals.
As I reflected on the current events in state and business challenges I had a light-bulb moment in the form of a question. It changed how I viewed my financial goals and helped me deeply inquire for and from myself what I wanted and why I wanted these said things and not just the numbers and items on my list, and it was a simple question of what I was willing to settle for in terms of goals and aspirations.
“aim for perfection but settle for excellence.”
The word ‘settle’ rubs many people the wrong way. It often connotes accepting something or someone that is far from the ideal, but that's not always the case. Oftentimes people are reluctant to compromise because they are unwilling to let go of their ideals because anything below their threshold signals failure.
However, in the infinite scale of the probable outcomes, there are instances where your happiness/fulfilment is guaranteed. However, given the limitations of scope and mind, we narrow our expectations to one defined outcome which becomes the source of discontentment, anxiety and depression.
The question of settling gives me room to think deeply about what I want financially, rather than how I plan to achieve those said things. For instance, financial security-which is what I want– might not entail earning huge sums yearly but having enough to put aside for the future. So the act of saving and investing then whatever figures I have attached to my goal. I can always review my saving habits to suit my current financial situation without being too rigid.
The idea behind having a healthy financial compromise is not to be enslaved by your goals. Redundancy and inactivity are often the product of a discontent and anxious mind crippled by its own ambition.
In conclusion, underneath my plethora of ideas or goals is a baseline of achievement I am willing to settle for at the end of the year. They signal to me that I am in line with my long-term vision and plan for my life.