Holding yourself accountable is one of the keys to getting ahead in life. Of course, this applies to your financial life too — in everything from getting out of debt to achieving your financial goals. (more…)

The following is a guest post from Fat Wallet. Mila Johnson is a full time blogger and writer. Her favorite topics include those in finance, technology, and culture.

With the new year right around the corner, it is important to take stock of your life and to consider where you want to go from here. It is easy to make new year’s resolutions, but without the proper planning and foresight, it is also easy to break them. Assess yourself and where you want to be throughout the coming year and you’ll find that achieving your goals can become a much clearer process. (more…)

It’s that goal-setting time of year. But goals aren’t usually “set it and forget it” kind of things. Here’s how to set goals you’ll reach.

It’s got to matter

The most important thing is that they have to really matter to you. You can’t be setting a goal because you think you should — for example, because it’s New Year’s time and everyone else seems to be making a resolution. (more…)

How did you do on your goals for 2011? With the year nearly over, I thought it was time to give an update on what worked and didn’t work for me this year.

My official 2011 goal was to at least “quadruple my total 2010 gross non-employment income by improving the quality and sales of my existing side projects (iPhone apps and blogging) and by creating at least one new side project that I carryout to completion.” (more…)

What are good intentions without action? Pretty much nothing.

Sometimes, they’re even worse than nothing. The saying “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” is around for a reason. We mean well, but things go way astray. Or we take on more than we can handle, and find ourselves struggling to get back on track. (more…)

Believe something is possible, and you’re well on your way to making it happen. Think of all the people who swore it was impossible for a human being to run a mile in less than 4 minutes, until Roger Bannister did it. Suddenly, others were able to do the same.

But just one thing really changed: people believed.  (more…)