LaToya Fonville is a dynamic Transformational Speaker and leader with over 15 years of experience in entrepreneurship and business. She has a unique ability to go into an organization and increase productivity through Goal Setting, as well as through her excellent Money and Financial Management skills.
Show Notes:
If you could be in the movie of your choice, what movie would you choose and what character would you play?
The Pursuit of Happiness…Will Smith.
Why would you want to play Will?
It’s a realistic depiction of the struggles, the hardship, the disappointments that you go through as an entrepreneur. Will Smith in that movie depicts the drive that you need in order to be successful. You have to be discipline, you have to be relentless, you have to persevere, you have to endure, to overcome, to overtake. There are some giants that you have to face when trying to pursue destiny. God has a plan for each of our lives but the enemy also has a plan and his plan is to steal, kill and destroy our destiny. When you want to pursue happiness, when you want to pursue that thing which you have been created to do, you’re going to have to face a lot of giants.
As an expert in Financial & Money Management & Goal Setting…why do we need to set goals?
I’m a Kingdom entrepreneur; a lot of foundations and principles I use and how I establish my business have been based on the word. In Habakkuk, it says “write the vision make it plain”. I have to have a goal, a road map, directions to get from one place to the next. When you set a goal, you have to begin with the end in mind. Along the way, I will need steps to take me to the destination. When you set goals you are threading on unfamiliar territory. You need to know that on my destination there is going to be some detours but I know that although I have some road blocks and accidents along the way, I have a GPS to tell me what my next step is. If you fail to plan you plan to fail. Not only do I goal set in business, I do that for personal life, my career, my attitude, my relationships, for my ministry. I goal set in every area of my life.
What areas of our lives do we need to set goals?
Every area of or lives. Before I got married to my husband, we sat down and created a roadmap for our household. We came together and set goals. You have to set goals if you want to be successful in every area of your life. Every area of your life where you don’t set goals or you don’t have a vision statement for that, expect confusion, expect hardship, expect frustration.
How important is a Vision Statement in the goal setting process?
The bible says without a vision people perish. Part of what I do is help people who feel stuck in their jobs, people who are aspiring entrepreneurs and visionaries, and people who have a vision, to go from stuck to unstuck. Unfortunately, 90% of society have dreams but they don’t have a vision statement. They don’t see how it can come to pass and so they prostitute their talents on a job that doesn’t fulfill them. If you don’t have a vision you’re going to die. I’m not talking about a physical death; hopelessness is death. When you’re living life just to pay the bills to run that cycle of getting up, going to work, come home to watch TV to go to sleep to get up and go to work again, it’s a cycle and you’re not fulfilling your purpose. God created every one of us with a unique assignment and calling, if you’re not fulfilling purpose or vision you die.
How do we set goals for optimum results?
I like to go with the SMART system…when you set a goal you have to be specific. If you’re setting financial goals, you have to be specific. For example, if I want to replace my monthly income to bring in $600 per month by the next 6 months, it’s measurable and attainable and within a specific time. Don’t set yourself above your belief level so that you fail. In order to achieve your goals, you have to be willing to sacrifice some things. When you set goals sometimes you have to force yourself to do things that otherwise you wouldn’t do. You have to break habits. What’s my motivation behind it because you have to have a ‘why’ – the driving force that keeps you going and motivated even when you feel like quitting. You might say I need to increase my income because I want to send my children on a vacation, or I want to take my children out of public schools into the private system…whatever that reason might be for you…your why has to be greater than you. It has to be that thing that keeps you up at night. That driving force that keeps you going when you feel like quitting. When you are pursuing destiny, when you set goals they are going to be giants along the way, mountains that you have to climb; it is going to be uncomfortable; it is going to be difficult but your why, your motivation is going to be that thing that keeps you pressing forward even when you feel like quitting.
Commitment is doing the thing you said you would do long after the feeling you’ve set it in has left you. Whether you’re a successful CEO or an average individual thriving to be successful, everyone deals with that one thing. What distinguishes the successful person from the unsuccessful person is their commitment level. Many times, we get so frustrated on the journey that feeling comes.
You must have an action plan to keep you going. That action plan is equated to the GPS. On your journey, there is a detour because of construction on the road. On the road of life, there is going to be construction in the way in many ways. There are obstacles that come in our way to hinder us from getting us to our destination. But with a why, a road map and an action plan you will be a force to be reckoned with. You will make it to that expected end but you have to be determined, diligent. The bible says a man who is diligent in his business will stand before Kings; he will not stand before mean men (meaning average). If you want to be great, successful, you have to master diligence.
What are some considerations to bear in mind when talking about money?
Money answers all things on the earth. In order to make things happen, we need money. Our education system doesn’t teach us how to manage money. But it is so essential that we learn how to effectively manage it to successfully maneuver life and live comfortably.
What happens when we deviate from our goal of proper money management?
When you set a goal and deviate from it, you get feelings of inadequacy. The bible says a righteous man falls down but he gets back up again. You’re going to mess up, you’re going to make mistakes; things are going to happen to cause you to deviate from the plan. It’s ok. Don’t make a habit of it. If you deviate from your plan, get yourself up, go back to that goal and say is this attainable for me? If you agree that you can handle this then go back to the goal that you set for yourself. Forgive yourself for that mess up and start all over.
Main Take-Aways:
- You have to have a ‘why’ – the driving force that keeps you going and motivated even when you feel like quitting.
- When you set a goal, you have to begin with the end in mind.
- If you deviate from your plan, get yourself up, go back to that goal and say is this attainable for me?
