Several people have told me lately that they just don’t see how they can make any progress on their goals right now — especially if those goals are financial. It seems like getting ahead is impossible, because we all feel like we’re just getting by. Even small steps, like contributing to an emergency fund, seem out of reach when meeting day-to-day bills seems like an emergency.

But just getting by isn’t enough. It may be slow-going, but working towards a goal can make the difference in whether you feel stuck or successful. There are several ways to keep making progress — depending on what seems to be slowing you down on your current goals.

Goals Out of Our Control — Or Are They?

If you’ve been working towards a promotion or even a new job, the current economic situation has been discouraging. Many companies have frozen pay and those that haven’t started laying workers off have certainly slowed or stopped hiring. Your employment goals may have gone out the window: when so many other people have lost their jobs, having an income at all can feel like enough.

But your employment status is still up to you. You can still approach your work with a little ambition. Just how you go about that depends on what your real goal is. Are you after a promotion in order to bring home more money? If it’s simply money, it’s worth remembering that your employer is not the only way you can get money. Taking on a new job, freelancing on the side — even selling plasma can get the dollars rolling in.

More commonly, though, money is a means to an end. Does your goal look more like an extended vacation? Or maybe remodeling your home? There are other ways to reach your goals beyond cash in hand. Maybe you can learn to do some of the remodeling work yourself or arrange some sort of telecommuting deal so that you’re still bringing in money while you travel.

Goals With Priority Issues

In particular, I’ve heard complaints from quite a few people who want to get their personal finances straightened out but can’t figure out how to pay down debt and save an emergency fund, all at the same time. This sort of priority conflict can make goals feel entirely unattainable — and if you’re splitting your attention between two options or more, you probably are going to get nowhere fast.

Instead, it’s time to sit down with a list of your goals. When you don’t have the resources to do everything you’d like to at once, pick just one goal and work on it until you complete it. This approach requires some patience — but it also let’s you see some immediate progress. For instance, if you’ve been trying to increase payments on debt at the same time as you put away money for a rainy day, it can be overwhelming: instead, get your emergency savings fund built up to a reasonable level and then switch over to paying down debt.

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