Planning Your Roadmap for Success

Welcome to a brand-new year!

I've always felt like January is the one month in the year when you can really feel the collective mass energy of new beginnings as we fly out of the starting blocks with renewed vigour and focus and a genuine desire to make this next year even better than the last. 

So, why not harness this collective energy and use it to your advantage to plan your financial goals and create your roadmap for success for the year ahead? 

I'm a firm believer that setting goals, particularly money ones, is beneficial for everyone. And having a clear picture of what you want to achieve and how you're going to make it happen is a vital part of the process.

As Eleanor Roosevelt once said…"It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan."  But the challenge for many people when planning and goal setting is knowing where to start and what consistent actions to take. 

How do you take a vague idea and turn it into a clear intention, then from an intention into action? And what new consistent daily habits will build momentum and move you forward with achieving everything you desire? 

What worked and what didn't? 

Before you get busy planning your financial roadmap for the year ahead, it's super helpful to look back and understand what's previously worked well and what you might want to change. 

Knowledge like this helps you pinpoint where and how you can grow financially. This reflection time can also shine a light on any repeating patterns and beliefs you might be harbouring around money. The reality is you can have all the best-laid plans, but if your money mindset is rocky, you'll only get so far before self-sabotage kicks in. 

Work with a Money Mindset journal.

If your money desires and intentions are left swirling around in your head, you'll likely keep jumping from one thing to the next without any clear focus or action. Focus comes by committing your plans to paper and creating something tangible that you can physically see. A dedicated journal where you capture your thoughts, patterns, and money goals in one place is an extremely powerful tool. 

My Money Mindset Journal is an excellent resource to keep you on track every week and month and help you take control of your money mindset, and consciously create a clear roadmap for your financial success.

Images have power

If you've been in my community for a while, you'll have heard me talk about the power of creating a vision board (also known as a dream board). In brief, a vision board is a collage of images, photos, words, and affirmations of the things you want for your life and is designed to inspire and motivate you.

There are many ways to create a vision board – here are a few examples: 

• Cut out images, words, and phrases from magazines and stick them onto a large piece of card or paper.
• Use a design platform like Canva to create a digital vision board that you can print out or download and use as your screensaver on your computer and/or phone. 
• Set up a board of dreams on Pinterest  
• Create a vision book using a sketchbook or journal

You can either create one board that covers everything you want to bring into your life for the next month, quarter, year, or longer. Or have different boards for specific areas of your life, like money, health, business, etc. Never underestimate the power that a visual representation can have. 

And whichever route you take for creating your vision board, ensure you position it somewhere where you can see it daily to keep you connected to what you're working towards. 

Consistency is key

Consistent healthy, productive habits, combined with a clear and focused plan, is like manifesting rocket fuel and sends the clearest signal possible to the Universe that you're all in with making your dreams happen. 

I want to be clear. This isn't about overwhelming yourself with a long list of daily habits and rituals because, honestly, that approach sets most people up to fail. It's about consistently choosing small things you do daily that bring about massive change. Here are a few things you could try…

Gratitude

This is hands down the best daily habit you can cultivate for positively impacting your mindset in all areas of your life and business. Speak to any successful person, and I can guarantee you gratitude is at the top of their daily habits as a non-negotiable.  

I keep a gratitude journal that I write every day, but you may choose to speak your gratitude out loud instead. And if you want to keep a record of what you say, you could record them as voice notes on your phone. 

Move your body

There are those who love to exercise and those who think it's the most torturous thing on the planet! But the reality is that it's vital to move your body in some way every day. As the saying goes, use it, or lose it! So, find something you enjoy doing and make it a daily must, even if it's just for 15-20mins each day.

 And you might want to change the language you use around this. If the word 'exercise' isn't motivating for you, change it to movement – they point to the same thing, but one can feel less heavy than the other.  

Expand your mind

If you're not learning, you're not growing, and when you're not growing, you're limiting your opportunities to create success and the life and financial abundance you truly desire!  

Switch out your daily scrolling or TV watching for reading a personal development book, listening to a podcast, journaling your thoughts, writing a blog, or taking a short course. This is about expanding your mind and knowledge beyond where it is, so don't limit yourself to what you already know. 

Develop a money-making skill

Having multiple income streams is a must when you have financial goals. 

Setting aside time each day to learn a new skill that will pay you is an incredibly valuable habit to cultivate. Learning things like copywriting, how to invest, digital marketing, and so on will give you skills that you can use to build a side hustle and additional income. 

There are, of course, numerous other daily habits that you can explore – the critical thing is finding ones that resonate with you and that you feel motivated to do for a small amount of time every day. 

If you're resisting the money aspect of your plan, you likely have some unconscious money blocks holding you back. My Money Quiz will give you insights into what these might be. Once you've taken the quiz, let's jump on a call and chat through your results and ways you could have a money breakthrough!

Ilana Jankowitz is a certified Money Coach born and raised in South Africa and currently residing in Zurich. Her work is all about identifying behavioural patterns around money, transforming negative thinking and moving from a self-destructive mindset to one that is positive and inspiring.

She is passionate about helping women to break free from self-doubt, low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence and move towards financial liberation and she can help you too with her free money quiz.  You can read all about Ilana and her work here or on any of my social pages Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube