Here we are at session number 68 , and we’re going to be revisiting the goal-setting from the beginning of the year, and now that we’re half-way through they year, see how we’re doing and maybe rekindle our motivation
I’m going to enlist the help of my friend Martin Bamford who has achieved some major success recently – I’m sure we’ll be inspired by his example.

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After the main body I’m going to look at the most recent reviews that have been left by listeners, and announce the next session topic. If this show is of any use to you, it would help me massively if you would take the time to leave me a review on iTunes. This has a huge impact on keeping me near the top of the rankings, which in turns helps more people to find the show and to subscribe. I’ll remind you again at the end of the show, but if you want to do it right now go to meaningfulmoney.tv/iTunes

But first…

Sponsor Message

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Introduction

Here’s a quick summary reminder of the New Year goal setting session:

– Goals should be MT – Measurable and time-bound

– Need to connect with your goals if they are to mean enough for you to stick with them

– The process not the goal itself is arguably the more important thing, I.e. The small steps you take along the way matter more than the big hairy goal at the end of it.

– Accountability helps

I went on then to suggest the kind of goals that you might like to work towards, or at least to suggest some ways of framing them, e.g.

– Keep to a budget, every month and never spend more than you earn

– Restrict my spending on clothes to £50 every month

– Save £1,500 by December 31^st 2014

– Go on holiday in September without putting the money on a credit card

– Save for Christmas by putting aside £100 every month

The problem with most meaningful goals is that they can take time to achieve, and there is often a part of the journey, after the initial enthusiasm, where the motivation wears off. Michael Hyatt calls this the messy middle.

I know that I began to struggle worryingly early with my big goal, which is to lose a lot of weight and make it down to 14stone but the time I hit age 40 next February. You guys have been great about encouraging me to stick with it.

As regular listeners will know I have recently switched my eating pattern to the Primal diet and it is really making a difference. I made this switch after chatting with today’s guest and hearing about his amazing results.

Even though this is a podcast about money management, I think that Martin Bamford will help us a great deal as we try to push through the messy middle towards our goals. Let’s switch to the interview now.

My Questions for Martin, and brief notes

Quick intro to who you are and what you do

MD of Informed Choice, Chartered Financial Planner. Also part-time documentary maker, of which more later…

You achieved a massive personal goal in 2012 and since then too. Can you describe what you achieved and how you went about it?

Went from 17 stone to under 12 stone. Total weight loss of over 70lbs. Also went from being unable to run one mile to running 100km ultra-marathons.

Did you ever experience any ‘dip' where your motivation was lacking?

Not really. Martin kept motivated by looking at before and after pictures (see below) and YouTube videos on primal diet weight loss.

Short-term goals were valuable too, and self-competition – e.g trying to beat last week’s results

Did you set short term goals as well as the big hairy goal?

Yes, things like distance rowed or run, times, resting heart rate. These were interim goals which broke the big goal  down into smaller, more immediately achievable results.

Was it helpful for you to focus more on the big goal, or the process of getting there?

Both are important. The journey toward your goal can hold many lessons and usually involves making major changes which will stand you in good stead for life after the goal is achieved. Be careful of temporary rewards which include granting yourself some of the things you have been avoiding, like sticking to budget for three months and then splurging!

Did you make yourself accountable to anyone else to help keep you on track?

Martin let ‘the world’ know what he was doing using social media, plus family and work colleagues of course.

I know we're talking about weight loss and fitness here, but this is a personal finance podcast! Do the lessons you learned in your journey translate into every area of goal setting?

The skills learned apply to every goal which needs effort to reach. Personal Finance success, like lifestyle/fitness transformation require an all or nothing approach. Half-hearted efforts won’t cut it. It takes work but the results are self evident – see the before and after images below:

Any top tips/suggestions for people struggling with their own “messy middle?”

Don’t be afraid to reset at any time. You don’t have to give up and wait for January 1^st to get going again. If you have fallen off whatever wagon you’re riding, climb back on it again today, forget the past and ride it all the ay to your goal.

Tell us more about the documentary you’re making

It’s called Boom! And is all about the Baby Boomer generation who are now approaching retirement, and who will doubtless change what we mean by retirement just have they have changed the world of work as they have been through it. It has been fully funded on Kickstarter and is scheduled for release in late November 2014 to coincide with financial Planning Week.

Where can people find out more about your incredible success with weight loss and running?

Follow on Twitter: @martinbamford

Website: www.martin-bamford.co.uk

Summary

I hope you found that interview helpful and inspiring. I know it wasn’t directly finance related, but setting goals is so important for your finances. It may be that rather than giving up refined sugar and carbs, you have to give up take-aways and clothes-shopping sprees. The challenges are the same: self-discipline and perseverance.

Think back to your goals from the beginning of the year, which are maybe now a distant memory, or maybe have just slipped a bit. There are five and half months left of the year – what’s to stop you from achieving them?

I for one am taking a leaf out of Martin’s book- if he can hit goals, I know I can hit mine and so can you.

This week’s reviews

[This is where I read the reviews]

If you like what you hear on this podcast, please leave a rating or review on iTunes by going to meaningfulmoney.tv/iTunes just like JE143 did this last week. This helps others to hear about the show and to subscribe, because it keeps me near the top of the rankings. Or you can just hit the big red button below:

News

Weight loss: Another 2lbs gone, so now down to 16stone, 5.5lbs. Another pound and a half and I will have lost two stone since New Year. Another 3lbs and I'll be half way to my goal. If you're not sure why I'm sharing this, click on the Charity Weight Loss link above.

Completed on my new office this week and the move is happening this coming Sunday – wish me luck for that! I will be recording next week’s podcast straight after this so that I have two weeks to get my podcast station set up in the new office. It’s gonna be good!

Don’t forget to register for LearnHowToBudget.com. It is an online course coming this September to help you set and stick to a monthly budget. This, more than any other skill is the secret to financial success and I’m looking forward to sharing how I do this and what I have learned from others.

Next Session Announcement

Next time I’m going to be looking at the results from my first ever listener survey. It has given me a great insight into the listenership of the podcast and I’ll be drawing some lessons from it and looking at how the responses will help shape the podcast and the site going forward.

If you have a question on this subject, or any other financial query that you want answering here on the show, then the best way to do that is to leave me a voicemail at meaningfulmoney.tv/askpete

Outro

That's it for this session of the MM podcast, I hope it was helpful. If I missed anything or if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments section below.

I hope you enjoyed this session. Thanks for listening – I'll talk to you next time.