{"id":104,"date":"2023-03-27T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-27T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/financial-goals-lost-the-plot-focus-inputs-not-outcomes\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T18:57:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T18:57:17","slug":"financial-goals-lost-the-plot-focus-inputs-not-outcomes","status":"publish","type":"essays","link":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/essays\/financial-goals-lost-the-plot-focus-inputs-not-outcomes\/","title":{"rendered":"Have Your Financial Goals Lost the Plot?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

As we near the end of March, I know what you\u2019re thinking: Q1 is almost over! (No? Just me?)<\/p>\n

This year I decided to try something a little different when thinking about my 2023 ambitions. And while I\u2019ve usually long defected from my best Jan. 1 intentions by the time we\u2019re pulling up on the month of April, I\u2019m thrilled to report that I\u2019ve finally cracked the code to reaching my goals (she says, eye twitching): Focus on inputs, not outcomes<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example: I was considering setting a reading goal for 2023. Should I read 40 books? 50? <\/em>I wondered, with my annual review questions sprawled across the kitchen table, true to my Type A form.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n \u201c<\/span>Focus on inputs, not outcomes.\u201d<\/span>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n
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But there was a problem with this type of goal setting that focused on\u2026well, the goal.<\/p>\n

Reading 40 books is great. Reading 50 books is better. But to what end<\/em>? At the risk of putting Three-Months-Ago Me on blast, who cares if you read 40 or 50 books? Do you want to check a zillion books off your list so you can flex on Goodreads, or do you believe reading every day will generally improve your quality of life? If it\u2019s the latter, does it really matter how many books you read as long as you\u2019re reading consistently and expanding your worldview?<\/p>\n

We make the same mistake when we focus too intently on our financial goals without<\/em> paying attention to whether the inputs they require will create the type of life we want to live.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maybe your financial goal is to be a millionaire. Maybe it\u2019s to buy a 4,000-s.f. home with a pool shaped like the eggplant emoji. Maybe it\u2019s to earn $250,000 per year. <\/p>\n

On the surface, these goals sound (and feel) commendable. If I were to call my parents and announce my financial goal was to become a multimillionaire, their reaction would probably be more positive than if I declared my goals were to work for three hours per day and dye my hair pink. Our unconscious brains are programmed to value prestige over our own happiness (Haidt, 2006<\/span><\/a>).<\/p>\n

But what if becoming a millionaire, owning the biggest home in your neighborhood, and earning $250,000 annually requires a lifestyle that makes you\u2014drumroll please<\/em>\u2014totally miserable? Are they still good goals?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n \u201c<\/span>We assume that reaching our goals will net permanently positive results.\u201d<\/span>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n
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While it\u2019s not necessarily true that earning more means working more (or that working more means enjoying your life less), we tend to gloss over these questions in our pursuit of financial goals. What\u2019s more, we also assume <\/em>that reaching said goals will net permanently positive results.<\/p>\n

I realized that the true intent of my book goal wasn\u2019t<\/em> to outdo my well-read friends\u2014it was that, on some fundamental level, I believed reading each day would lead to a more robust sense of well-being. It was almost certainly<\/em> better than melting slack-jawed into a TikTok sinkhole and repeatedly punching the \u201cremind me in 15 minutes\u201d option on my screen time limit before bed. <\/p>\n

So instead, I decided to focus on the input, not the outcome: 45 minutes of reading each night, as opposed to 40 or 50 books in a year. And now, three months in, I\u2019m 13 books deep (and moderately less addicted to the clock app).<\/p>\n

Maybe there\u2019s a similarly better approach to financial progress.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rather than a goal like \u201cHit a $100,000 net worth,\u201d maybe it\u2019s, \u201cCheck my bank account every Sunday and move any amount over $X into my IRA.\u201d <\/p>\n

Rather than a goal like \u201cGet a 30% raise,\u201d maybe it\u2019s, \u201cMaintain my same level of income but begin taking Friday afternoons off to work on a fulfilling side project.\u201d<\/p>\n

These inputs\u2014these habits<\/em>\u2014serve to further the underlying emotion<\/em> your original goal was probably trying to satisfy: the feeling of financial progress. The feeling of an expanding career.<\/p>\n

To reframe, consider your financial goal and ask: How will I feel when I achieve it? Safe? Secure? Accomplished? In control?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n \u201c<\/span>That emotion is your true goal. The money is just a proxy for it.\u201d<\/span>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

That emotion<\/em> is your true goal. The money is just a proxy for it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But this isn\u2019t just a touchy-feely \u201cYou\u2019ll own nothing and be happy\u201d case for three-day weekends at the expense of your financial well-being (this is Money<\/em> with Katie, after all). The best part is that focusing on an input usually ends up inadvertently generating the desired outcome as a byproduct<\/strong>. (In my case, 13 books in three months puts me on pace to hit 52 books this year.)<\/p>\n

More importantly, thinking this way ensures that you won\u2019t summit your Scrooge McDuck pile of cash or high-powered career and think, \u201cYES! I hit the goal!\u2026but now what?\u201d<\/p>\n

Because while the initial experience of acquiring more money is exhilarating, the adrenaline rush fades as it becomes the status quo (Breiter, Aharon, Kahneman, Dale, and Shizgal, 2001<\/span><\/a>). Even if each incremental dollar used<\/em> to produce a feeling akin to shotgunning a Red Bull, eventually, you\u2019ll develop a caffeine tolerance. It\u2019s textbook hedonic adaptation.<\/p>\n

Instead, creating input-based financial habits rather than output-based goals creates an enduring sense of prosperity, rather than a sugar rush that will quickly fade.<\/p>\n

What are your financial goals for 2023? What’s the underlying emotion you really want to feel? And how could you reframe your goals to achieve [that emotion\/what you REALLY want]? And please, DM me your book recs so I can keep on course for my 2023 goal. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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