The journey is as important as the destination.

When it comes to financial goals, I have a laser focus. This leads me to forget that there should be some enjoyment along the way, too.

We live in a sweet little home (keyword, little). Our next big financial goal is to get into a larger home. My husband and I have dreamed up our forever home. Because of my intensity, I tend to want to save all our extra income to put towards that. 

For quite a while I’ve wanted a treadmill, but I keep deciding against it because I’d rather put the money towards the house. I had a realization this week though: we are years away from a bigger home. If I only focus on the end goal, will I miss out on other things I value on the way to that goal? 

When I mention the financial work I do, I often get a response like, “I don’t budget because YOLO!” Similarly, I hear lots of comments about not wanting to pay off/down debt for some perceived strategic reason. For a lot of people, setting financial goals is not a priority and it seems easier to rely on the YOLO logic. This week, I realized there needs to be a balance between having financial goals and living presently. Budgeting is so important. Eliminating debt is also so important. Knowing your end goal is so important. Without knowing the end goal, all that remains is a meandering path without direction. Having a roadmap to our destination is essential, and we can enjoy the path along the way. 

Take retirement for example. Retirement is a destination that nearly everyone works towards. Retirement may be in the distant future and for that reason it can feel like a hard destination to get to. It might be like saying you are going to walk from Seattle to Rio de Janeiro. It feels unattainable and hopefully one day things will fall into place. Without knowing what it is you want to work towards, it’s hard to know what direction to head in or what you get to enjoy along the way. 

Let’s continue with this metaphor... 

If you decide your path is from Seattle to Rio de Janeiro, you might plan to stop in California for some Napa wine, see the Grand Canyon in Arizona, go through the Sonoran Desert in Mexico, maybe check out Mexico City, and visit Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia before finally arriving in Brazil and heading to Rio de Janeiro. You likely will not head to Japan or France on your path because they simply are not along the way. The stops you make on your path, should be wonderful and enjoyable, and they can and still should be deliberate. You can know how they impact your journey. Perhaps visiting Cuba is important on your journey to Brazil, but seeing Cuba might add a lot of time to your travel and it might not be worth it when you understand what it will take to get there and back on track. 

 We know we want to be in our forever home as soon as possible. At the same time, we have other goals and values which we need and want to balance with this big goal. When weighing our other goals against our big goal, we can make more informed decisions.

Know your destination and know how the journey to your destination affects your arrival there. Knowing your destination provides context upon which you can weigh your other values and goals. Don’t be afraid to enjoy the journey but be aware of how choices you make along the way impact where you want to end up.