This is the fourth article from our new contributor Vanessa Stoykov. Learn more about the Investment Series, the Nine Network Show her company created, and the Morningstar companion guide to the show.

 

Today the unlearn lesson I want to explore is focus. Or rather, clarity about your future and your goals. While it may seem odd that the abilities to create wealth and to focus are strongly related, it's not too big a stretch to say that if you don't have a goal you won't be able to hit it.

My goals have been evolving over the course of my life. In my 20s, I wanted to start a business, and to travel to Europe. In my 30s, it was about having kids and figuring out how life works when you have little people. I'm now in my 40s and life is different again, but it is still driven by bigger goals and a defined end game.

I have always believed that to really achieve what you want, you have to imagine it, think about it almost to the point of obsession and operate with the certainty that one day you will get there. This makes the setbacks and tough times in your life a little easier to bear--because you know you are on track to getting what you want.

At so many times in life, we have vague ideas about things we would like, or dreams we have, but they remain just that. Our tendency to deal with things later means we don't get what we want. This leads to a lifetime of "settling" rather than using what years we have been given to the best of our advantage.

To get what we want, we need to unlearn this lack of focus, and create some real, tangible goals. Often, the world of financial planning is simplified to just focus on the time horizon to retirement.

I have found that there is a new movement in the industry, where advisers and professional investors are now talking about goals. This means there is a need to design an investment strategy that matches the goals a person has in life.

Everybody is different, and what works for one person will not work for another. Designing a financial strategy based on individual goals makes sense--and the industry is starting to see the light. For the process to be successful, you must have clearly defined goals, and be able to articulate and stick to them.

Loose goals, like travel, just won't get you there. There is an easy process I can share with you to start defining your goals--which you can then action with a good financial strategy.

Imagine your life in five years, 10 years, and 20 years. What do you see yourself doing at each of these stages? What is your family like? What experience do you want to have achieved in each of these periods?

Take one page for each of the time periods and write a list. Put in as much detail as you can. Describe the experiences and holidays in enough detail, that they start to feel real. You won't believe the power of putting on paper the dreams you have for your life and your families.

On another page, write down all the areas where you spend in your life. Not the boring details, but the general overviews--mortgage, school fees, medical expenses, kids. Then start to look at these expenses against your time periods.

In 20 years will your kids have left home? Will school fees be over? Start to get an understanding of how your major expenses could change over time. This will help you to focus on the bigger plan--and the fact you can build a financial plan that shifts as your life does.

Talk to your family, friends, and colleagues about your goals. This helps to make them real and holds yourself accountable by saying them aloud. It also puts meat on the bones for you around how amazing it could be and how important it is to get there.

By finding inspiring people at any stage of their life that you can point to and say, "I would like to be like that," helps make it real. I met a lady in her 70s last week who was on the board of our children's school.

She spoke so passionately about her work on the board and how much she enjoyed it, it inspired me to think that I would like to be doing that in my 70s. Another goal to add to my rather large list. Brilliant.

Once you have your goals, and they are real in your mind (and that of your family and friends), it's time to put them into action. This will be explored in my fifth pillar of unlearning, suitably described as action.

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Vanessa Stoykov is the founder and chief executive of evolution media group. This is a financial news article to be used for non-commercial purposes and is not intended to provide financial advice of any kind. Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to the opinions or recommendations of Morningstar as a result of using different assumptions and criteria.

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