Like & Share

If you have made the decision to save cash, pay off debt and create a new lifestyle – great job. I assure you, the plan you have will create many opportunities for you and your family in the future.

As you implement your plan and travel down the road to financial freedom, you may find that there are times when the day to day distractions can cause you to lose sight of your goals. As with any plan sometimes it’s important to remind ourselves of why we came up with a plan in the first place.

One way of making sure you stay on track with your personal finance goals is to identify what your new future looks like if you can stay motivated and follow through with your plan. Establishing a Five-Year Plan can provide the necessary motivation to keep you on track daily, weekly and on a monthly basis. (Download the Free Workbook and Five-Year Plan Template here)

Creating a Five-Year Plan

The FTP Five-Year Plan isn’t about detailing every step of your journey, rather it’s about providing a compass or a high-level guide to what your future looks like when you become debt-free and cash-rich.

Here is how it works. Imagine yourself five years from now. If you stay on track eliminating debt and saving cash, what does your financial situation look like? Also consider how your finances may impact the other aspects of your life – your family, your children, where you live, or your career.

On a piece of paper write down five important aspects of your life and what they look like five years from now. For example, a Five-Year Plan may look like this.

In five years;

I am debt free and have $10,000 in the bank.
I live in a new home.
I work at a job I love.
I drive a new vehicle and have no loan.
My children have the things they need and I can provide them with the things they want.

Put this piece of paper somewhere you can review it often, for example on your nightstand, dresser, or refrigerator. FTP recommends you review your Five-Year Plan every few months.

If you would like to learn more about making simple lifestyle changes that can have a dramatic effect over time I highly recommend reading Emotional Agility by Susan David, Ph.D. a #1 Wall Street Journal Best Seller.

When Pigs Fly

What happens when you review your Five-Year Plan every couple of months?

You will find that the Five-Year Plan will start to influence and reinforce your day to day decisions regarding debt, cash, your budget and how you think about money. It becomes a guidepost on your journey for where you want to be in five years and a motivator for staying focused and consistent in your day to day efforts.

When Pigs Fly is an idiom, a phrase that is used to describe something that won’t happen or is impossible to have happened. As you work to pay off debt and save cash there will be times when the task at hand can seem almost impossible (When Pigs Fly). However, keep this in perspective. Many have been successful at paying off debt, saving cash and creating a new lifestyle for themselves – you will too. If you can establish a Five-Year Plan and let that plan motivate and guide you on a day to day basis, you too will achieve your goal of financial freedom, and then pigs WILL Fly.