This is part four of my series to help you prepare for 2020. Now that you have one or more SMART goals to support your vision, you’re almost ready to go. Most of us need another step, turning goals into actions we will do consistently.

Even with a SMART goal (By March 31, reduce our credit card debt by 20%), it’s not clear what we need to do differently. When I think about what got us here, I have some ideas of what we need to do to fix it:

• Change recurring expenses (utility bills and subscriptions) from a credit card to a debit card. A bunch of small recurring charges each month add up faster than you might think.
• For any required purchases (car repairs, etc), use our debit card or a credit card that is paid in full each month.
• Limit discretionary spending to what we can pay for now. If we need to use a credit card, we can wait until next month and consider then.
• Calculate the payments needed to reduce our balance by 20% by the end of March, then divide by 12 weeks. Each week, transfer that to savings then send it the credit card at the end of the month.

If you want to increase your chances of success tell people about the actions you’re taking. (That’s one of the reasons I’m sharing this example.)

What are you going to do to achieve your goals?

PS – If you want some other ideas, check out my previous blogs on using your desired outcome to build a process to get you there:

• Outcome and Process
• Outcome and Process Part 2