a guide to
getting ahead
Getting ahead financially
Most of us are keen to get ahead financially. What often varies is how we define what it means to "get ahead" and the path we take to get there.
For some people it might mean paying off debt, building up savings or buying a home. For others, it may mean feeling more in control of day-to-day finances, reducing worry about money or having greater capacity to support loved ones.
This guide helps us clarify what getting ahead means, consider what may influence our progress and choose a useful place to begin.
However we define getting ahead, it’s usually an ongoing process that takes time. The framework below helps us choose what to focus on first and what our next step will be. We can revisit it as we make progress, or as our circumstances or priorities change.
What's in this guide
A step-by-step process for thinking about financial progress and choosing some next steps.
What matters, and why?
Getting ahead financially means different things to different people, but it's always about more than money. It is also about what greater financial wellbeing could make possible for us, what we value, the people we care about and the responsibilities we hold.
Many of these things are already part of the reason we want to get ahead, even if we haven't stopped to think about them directly. By taking some time to consider what is important to us, we connect our goals with our values which in turn, increases our natural motivation and enjoyment in pursuing it.
We are much more likely to persist with achieving challenging goals when they align with our personal values.
Action
Consider:
What does getting ahead financially look like?
What could it make possible or help to change?
Why is this important to me/us?
Who else are we considering when making money decisions?
What responsibities or priorities are important?
Defining what progress looks like
Identifying what progress might look like along the way breaks a big goal into smaller steps and allows us to focus on one part at a time. These progress points, or steps, can make it easier to see where to begin, what to do next, and how we're tracking.
For example, if the goal is the top of a ladder, the rungs represent progress points. Without the rungs, we would be trying to haul ourselves straight to the top in one enormous effort... if we tried at all.
Of course, progress rarely follows a perfectly straight path. Circumstances change, setbacks happen and we may need to revise our approach from time to time. Progress points are helpful markers that bring some structure to our goal and provide feedback on our efforts. They are not a rigid route that must be followed exactly.
It is not essential to identify every rung before we begin. For now, it may be enough to identify some of the changes that would show we are moving in the right direction.
Action
Consider:
What changes would show that we are moving in the right direction?
What might some of the progress points along the way look like?
What could we notice or measure before the final goal is reached?
What has to happen before anything else can happen?
Starting point
Understanding our starting point means taking an honest look at our current situation in relation to our goal. This helps us see what's already working and what isn't, before jumping to solutions.
It includes practical realities, such as income, expenses, commitments and how we currently manage our money day to day. It also includes the beliefs, assumptions and self-talk that may influence our choices and how we respond to money.
As we look at these things, it's useful to notice what's going well, or has gone well before, and the knowledge, experience, resources or support we can draw on.
The purpose is not to identify everything that needs to change. It's to build a clearer picture of where we are now, so any solutions we choose actually fit our situation.
Action
Consider:
What is happening in our lives and finances right now?
What are some of our automatic thoughts about money?
What is going well, and what would we like to be different?
What knowledge, experience, resources or support can we draw on?
What can change?
When we have a clearer picture of where we stand, we can begin exploring what might help us move forward. A useful starting point is to generate as many possibilities as we can, before then evaluating which ones may suit our circumstances.
When we do this, we want to focus on one part at a time, such as a progress point, an obstacle, or one aspect of how we currently manage money.
It's common to filter our ideas as they arrive, often quickly dismissing them without noticing we're doing it. This can leave us stuck on the same one or two options, or feeling like there's nothing left to try. Separating the two steps into first generating possibilities, then weighing them up, can help us move beyond the most obvious responses and notice possibilities we may otherwise overlook. Once we have gathered a range of ideas, we can consider which could be useful, adapted, combined, or explored further.
By the end of this step, we are aiming to have a broader range of options and one or two possibilities worth taking forward.
Action
Consider:
What are some ways we could approach this?
What else could we do?
Where could we find information or someone who could help?
What steps could we take?
If there were anything else, what would it be?
Creating plans and systems
A plan helps us work out how to put an idea into practice. This may be as simple as writing down what we will do first, when we will do it, and what needs to happen beforehand. A clear action or set of actions can help us move from thinking about change to getting started.
Systems support our progress by making actions happen more consistently. They reduce the need to make the same decision each time by building the action into a routine or making it automatic. For example, an automatic transfer on payday can move money into savings before it is available for other spending.
Depending on what we are working towards, we may need a one-off action, a repeating system, practical support, or a combination of these. It's also helpful to think ahead about likely obstacles and how we might respond if things do not go as planned.
The aim is to create a practical way to get started and make follow-through easier.
Action
Consider:
What will we do first, and when?
What needs to be in place so we can get started?
What may get in the way, and how could we respond?
How will we find more information or support?
Would an automatic system make this easier to continue?
Tracking progress
Checking in on our progress helps us see what is working and what to focus on next. We can track the actions we have completed, whether our systems are working, and any movement towards the progress points we identified.
Regularly recording what is happening helps keep our goal, efforts and achievements visible. This might mean writing a brief note, marking progress on a chart or recording a relevant number. Any simple method we can use regularly is useful.
Sometimes, things don't go exactly as planned. Reviewing what has happened may show that our approach needs adjusting, a different focus would now be more useful, or we need to return to an earlier part of the framework.
The aim is to build on what is working, learn from what has happened, and choose a useful next step.
Action
Consider:
What has changed, and what's worked well?
What could we adjust or try differently?
What would be useful to focus on now?
How will we record our progress?
How will we acknowledge our progress?