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In our last post we talked about the importance of having a plan in order to pull off your big dreams. We gave some of our personal insights on how we’re working toward our financial independence, early retirement, and grand adventure plans. We also shared some of the resources (life hacks you could say) for how we plan and execute our plans. Today, we’ll share 10 tips on executing your own grand plans:

1. Be Intentional

Be intentional with your spending

We live on a budget. We are intentional in how we spend our money. We spend our money “on paper, on purpose, before the month begins” (Dave Ramsey). We have monthly budget meetings where we update spreadsheets. We learn from past mistakes. Being intentional with our spending means we enjoy the things we do buy and the experiences we splurge on.

Be intentional with your time

We talk through our calendar as a couple each week. We are intentional in how we spend the precious hours of the week that we have. If we are working toward a goal that has tasks that need to get done daily, weekly, or monthly, we are intentional about how we spend our time to make that happen. We are also intentional about our screen time. We don’t watch endless hours of TV to pass the time but have a few family movie nights a week and binge watch Netflix on occasion.

2. Be Frugal

Some people think frugal has a bad connotation (that frugal equals cheap). We don’t see it that way. By being frugal, we free up more of our monthly budget to put our money to work for us in the areas that are important to us. Yes, we make what to some people seem like odd choices. Buying used stuff of Craigslist. Shopping for consignment clothing. Going to estate sales. Driving older cars. But this can be exciting on its own. My wife’s girlfriends see her in a cute new dress and ask her how little she paid for it at the consignment shop. It becomes a kind of thrifting game.

3. Be Disciplined

Being disciplined simply means being in control of how you operate your life. Some people equate disciplined to mean no fun. Maybe that comes from its likeness to discipline (i.e. getting sent to the principal’s office). Being disciplined means doing the thing that you need to do in your life to achieve your goals instead of being a victim and letting life happen to you. 

4. Be Accountable

Being accountable can take many forms. As a couple, we are accountable to each other. We speak to each other before spending or making big financial decisions. We are open and honest when we struggle or mess up. For our budget or savings goals, we are accountable to a spreadsheet. We input numbers monthly and track how we’re doing. In some areas of life, we team up with an accountability partner, someone who will keep us on track towards our goals. Sometimes it’s a star chart or a graph on the fridge.

“What Gets Measured, Gets Managed”

Peter Drucker

A fun way to be accountable is to “gamify” your goals by creating a fun structure around keeping on track.

5. Be Hard Workers

If you are going to set out to do something, work hard at it. Don’t be lukewarm.  In our family, we often call this a sprint. We set a difficult, fast task ahead of us and clobber it with hard work.  Don’t dilute yourself too much in multi-tasking or trying to do everything at once. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth working hard at it to make it happen.

“Nothing ever comes to one that is worth having except as a result of hard work.”

Booker T. Washington

6. Be Diligent

Diligence speaks to the quality of our pursuit of our plan. It’s the old “work smarter not harder” philosophy. You can work hard but unless you are exercising care in the quality of the work you are doing, it is not an efficient use of your time, money, or energy. Part of being able to accomplish this whole grand adventure and FI+RE thing, is being diligent in the execution of our plans.

7. Be Flexible

Jennifer’s mom’s mantra is “Flexibility is the key to life.” And there is definitely truth in that. If our experiences have taught us anything, it’s that sometimes God has something else in store for us that is different than our best laid plans. Remaining flexible gives us the ability to pivot and adjust to the circumstances. To react to opportunities as they come up. To quit gracefully when it is warranted.  To not beat ourselves up when the going gets tough or we fall short.

8. Be Faithful

We are Christians. We pray over our plans. We ask God for His input, that our work would be in alignment with His plan for us. Sometimes doors open that we didn’t expect, and other times life is derailed; but in hindsight, He had a better plan than we could have come up with on our own. 

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

–  Jeremiah 29:11

9. Be Thankful

Sometimes it is therapeutic to take a step back and frame your current circumstances with an attitude of gratitude. I started a daily gratitude journal where I jot down a few things each day that I am thankful for and it helps to keep me grounded in how blessed I am, even in the challenging times.

Shortly after we moved into our house, early in our marriage, my lawnmower broke. I was covered in sweat, grease, and grass clippings and I was reminded of a blog post I read once that said that in those times, check yourself. Be thankful in the struggle and be thankful for the struggle. In that moment, I was thankful that I had a lawn to mow, that I had the skills to fix a mower, that the sun was shining down on me, that a broken mower was the biggest challenge I was facing at that moment. When you drench your circumstances in thankfulness, it makes those molehills seem less like mountains.

10. Be Celebrating Milestones and Wins

Work hard, play hard. We celebrate when we achieve a goal. It’s sometimes part of gamifying our goals. Sometimes it’s having something to look forward to at the end. Sometimes it’s a parenting move to secure in our kids’ minds the sweetness of achievement or the magnitude of the accomplishment (you should see what we did when we paid off our mortgage).

There you have it. 10 tips from onFIREfamily for executing whatever plan lies before you, whether that’s on your path to a financial goal, a family adventure, or whatever worthy endeavor you set your mind to. You can do it!

Remember: