When you set out to earn more money, you tend to set absolute financial goals. Somehow this is the default thinking pattern of our brains.
When it comes to money, we prefer working with absolute numbers.
- Instead of saying, “I want to earn more this year than last year,”
- We say, “I want to make $100K this year.”
I call that a ‘fixed goal.’ You don’t only set a fixed number you want to earn, save, or spend, you also get fixated on achieving that financial goal.
And this is not only related to earning certain amounts of money. It’s the same with spending or saving.
A few years back, I set a goal to “spend nothing on clothes for an entire year.” I don’t think I achieved my goal, but I certainly bought way less than before. And this is exactly why you want to avoid fixed goals.