Why Are Goals Important?

On the best sunny day, the most powerful magnifying glass will not light paper if you keep moving the glass. However, if you focus and hold it, the paper will light up. That is the power of concentration. A man was traveling and stopped at an intersection. He asked an elderly man, “Where does this road take me?” The elderly person asked, “Where do you want to go?” The man replied, “I don’t know.” The elderly person said, “Then take any road. What difference does it make?”

How true. When we do not know where we are going, any road will take us there.

Suppose you have all the football eleven players, enthusiastically ready to play the game, all charged up, and then someone took the goal post away. What would happen to the game? There is nothing left. How do you keep score? How do you know you have arrived? Enthusiasm without direction is like wildfire and leads to frustration. Goals give a sense of direction. Would you sit in a train or a plane without knowing where it was going? The obvious answer is no. Then why do people go through life without having any goals?

The Midas Touch

We all know the story of the greedy king named Midas. He had a lot of gold and the more he had the more he wanted. He stored all the gold in his vaults and used to spend time every day counting it.

One day while he was counting a stranger came from nowhere and said he would grant him a wish. The king was delighted and said, “I would like everything I touch to turn to gold.” The stranger asked

the king, Are you sure?” The king replied, “Yes. Therefore, the stranger said, “Starting tomorrow morning with the sun rays you will get the golden touch. The king thought he must have been dreaming, this could not be true. However, the next day when he woke up, he touched the bed, his clothes, and everything turned to gold. He looked out of the window and saw his daughter playing in the garden. He decided to give her a surprise and thought she would be happy. However, before he went to the garden he decided to read a book. The moment he touched it, it turned into gold and he could not read it. Then he sat to have breakfast and the moment he touched the fruit and the glass of water, they turned to gold. He was getting hungry and he said to himself, “I can’t eat and drink gold.” Just about that time his daughter came running and he hugged her and she turned into a gold statue. There were no more smiles left.

The king bowed his head and started crying. The stranger who gave the wish came again and asked the king if he was happy with his golden touch. The king said he was the most miserable man. The stranger asked, “What would you rather have, your food and loving daughter or lumps of gold and her golden statue?” The king cried and asked for forgiveness. He said, “I will give up all my gold. Please give me my daughter back because without her I have lost everything worth having.” The stranger said to the king, "You have become wiser than before" and he reversed the spell. He got his daughter back in his arms and the king learned a lesson that he never forget for the rest of his life.

Are You Financially Prepared For An Emergency or Worst Scenario?

Money is not everything, but for everything you need money. It's an established fact that money plays a vital role in present-day living. If you are financially prepared, you can easily overcome difficult situations and fix away your problems without getting frail. Life can get you into an emergency without any warning. It requires advance planning and preparation on your part to tackle these kinds of situations effectively.

Are you prepared?

Is your financial information well arranged and properly organized? Have you prepared your will? Have you told anyone about your vital financial information? In case of an evacuation, are your documents ready for the 'grab and go'? Hurricane, flood, earthquake or theft can come at any time creating an emergency situation. If you are not prepared financially, it's easy to get into a messy circumstance. On the other hand, if you have a stout monetary support, you can emerge out as a winner.

What can we do?

1. Get out of debt fast

Getting out of debt may seem to be a distant dream at a particular point of time. But, with proper planning, persistent efforts and by curtailing certain extras, you can definitely overcome your debt and avert monetary implications.

a. If you are in debt, you need to take steps to get rid of it, not any other loan for a temporary relief. You should focus on doing three things - Increase your income, recognize what got you into the debt (circumstances or your habits) and based on your assessments take steps to fix your debt.

b. Next, you need to pick a suitable help. Solutions, such as a debt rearrangement loan may work towards your favor, but it will work only when you take this option at the right time and under right circumstances.

c. When you are in a debt, you need to seriously sort out your spending habits and curb on unnecessary expenses. It may be possible that you are repaying your debt with so little progress that it will take a long-long time to repay it fully. By that time, you would have paid manifolds of the principal value. A debt settlement plan may work, but only when you know your priorities well. Failing to do so may sink you further. Thus, you need to control your state of affairs and manipulate your creditors effectively to pay off your debts in an easy manner.

2. Use credit wisely

First of all, don't finance unaffordable lifestyle with your credit cards. Keeping your purchases within your limits is the key. Often, people are lured with the innumerable products available in the market and use credit cards to purchase unreasonable things only to repent at a later stage. Credit card is a marvelous facility, but works out to be beneficial only when used with astuteness.

a. If you are already into a financial trouble, avoid using credit cards. Pertaining fees and other monetary charges can add up to your debt. However, using a credit card to tackle a financial difficulty is better than to arrange funds by keeping your house on mortgage.

b. Raise your bar; don't get hooked to the minimum payments. Paying only the minimum amount due will eventually elongate the repayment period, and by the time you repay all your dues, you would have actually paid multiple times of the amount you took on credit.

c. Don't get fooled by the low teaser temporary rates; money borrowed during promotional low-interest rates is most likely to be carried on to the higher permanent rates. Make your credit card payments on time and avoid surcharges and penalties. This will also increase your credit score.

3. Get organized

Your spouse, anyone of your adult children or someone who is entrusted to handle your finances should know where your property papers, contracts, documents and policies etc. are located. By making plans ahead of the time, you can actually ease the stress that your loved ones would face in the event of your illness or sudden demise.

This article is written by Rupa Sinha who has been writing articles on a wide range of topics. She is a highly rated writer at a number of article writing platforms.


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