If You Don’t Know Where You’re Going, How Will You Know Once You’re There?

Do you ever sit down and think about how your life is progressing and where you’re headed?  Laying out a roadmap for yourself can be a valuable experience.

As the post title alludes to, if you haven’t defined your goals, how will you measure your progress towards them?  Having a plan not only makes your efforts more measurable it can give the things you do more meaning and help filter out time wasters.

You may have noticed I was silent on this site over the weekend, I was using the time for some strategic planning in my own life.  My planning process is iterative in nature.  I come up with some goals and plans to meet those goals.  Then I sleep on it and re-evaluate those the next day.  Looking at it with a fresh perspective, I may change around the milestones and tasks a bit.  Needless to say, my planning isn’t complete but it was nice to get a start on it.

Typically I would have provided a list of articles I enjoyed for the week but due to my planning I didn’t publish those.  Instead, I’ll point out a few articles everyday this week, here’s the first few.

– The Digerati Life lists 8 simple ways you can save a lot of money, try $1000.

– The Mighty Bargain Hunter and All Financial Matters take a look at whether it’s worth your time to wait for free stuff.

– Summer is here and My Dollar Plan offers some tips for saving money on weddings.

– Million Dollar Journey gives us a strategy for asking for discounts.

– Brip Blap loves working so much that he’s started the carnival of careers.

– CNN covers how people aren’t canceling their vacation plans this summer, just changing them to be cheaper, reminds me of my series on saving money on vacations.

– eHow article on how to earn extra money seems appropriate for tough economic times:

• Get a part-time job
• Turn a hobby into money
• Get paid for focus groups
• Sell your stuff on eBay

I also took a look at ways to make extra money during a recession.

Thanks to Money & Values and Canadian Dream for hosting the last two personal finance carnivals and including the articles Best Credit Cards for New College Graduates and Three Ways Your Boss Can Save You Money on Gas.

Ben Edwards, the founder of Money Smart Life, saved up enough to buy a Nintendo back when he was 12 years old. When he used the money to buy shares of Wal-Mart stock instead, he knew he wasn't like the other kids... His addiction to personal finance has paid off for his family and now he's helping you to afford the life that you want. Check him out on the web at Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

All posts by Ben Edwards