Setting goals when you feel like you have no control

and getting through this week

The first election I voted in was 2016. I remember taking a selfie with my mail-in ballot on my college campus, and then, late in the evening of election day, being shocked and devastated at the results. And I think this election feels even worse. Maybe it’s because he won by more than in 2016, and maybe it’s because now we’ve had convictions, January 6th, and appointed Supreme Court justices that make it a lot easier to predict what might happen over the next four years.

I live in New York, and the streets were quiet yesterday. Almost everyone was thinking the same thing—how did this happen? Harris won over 80% of the vote in Manhattan. I saw parents walking their kids to school, people on the phone with loved ones, and friends in my neighborhood, and all the conversations were solemn: “How are you doing?” answered with “not great,” instead of the usual “good, how are you?”

I’ll keep the election talk short, honestly because others have said it better than I can¹—but I’ll add, take care of yourself this week. With this election comes a lot of uncertainty, on top of a world that’s already uncertain in many ways, but highly relevant to this newsletter, with finances. I had planned to save this goal setting post for later on this year, but there’s no bad time to set a goal (it doesn’t have to be on January 1st).

We don’t know what will happen with student loan forgiveness. We don’t know what will happen with inflation. We don’t know what will happen with the stock market.

Despite this, we can still set goals—financial or otherwise—and work towards achieving them. I have lots of goals I’ve achieved over the years that were out of my control, at least in part—getting jobs, finding apartments, saving money—but they were achievable through these steps:

1. Set smaller goals that you can control. These smaller goals should be things that would ultimately lead to those larger goals. For example, maybe your larger goal is to buy a house one day. Sure, you don’t have control over the housing market, interest rates, or if you’ll get outbid, but you do have control over smaller things that will make an impact: setting aside money each month for a down payment, researching your local market so you’ll know a good deal when you see it, and paying your credit card on time to improve your credit score.

2. Manifest what you can’t control. I know some people don’t want to get their hopes up by picturing their goals coming true, but I think it’s essential. When I go for a walk and listen to music, I picture myself achieving a goal. I create a vision board each year with goals I want to achieve: some simple (go on a trip) and some complex and moreso out of my control (net worth goals).

3. Give yourself grace. Everyone is on a different timeline. Despite your best efforts, when things are out of your control, you can’t always achieve your goals when you want to. Plus, sometimes you might redirect your goals, realizing when halfway there that you don’t want to achieve that goal like you used to. Delays, setbacks, and redirections are okay! Give yourself grace.

A snippet of my 2023 vision board. I didn’t achieve everything, but I did come close.

Some other news this week:

• Starting in 2025, you’ll be able to max out your 401K at $23,500 (a $500 increase over 2024). Roth IRA contribution limits will remain the same at $7,000.

• The minimum wage is going up in Alaska and Missouri, based on results from the election this week. Both will gradually increase to $15/hour over the next couple of years. The federal minimum wage is still $7.25/hour, and this is still the minimum wage in 20 states.

• 55,634 people finished the New York City Marathon this past Sunday. I did not run it, but I got quite a few compliments on my sign:

Thanks for reading! I’m not a financial advisor, just someone sharing my personal finance journey with the hope it resonates with others!

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1. I recommend

Lindsey Stanberry

’s post yesterday that summarizes how I’m also feeling, or

Gabe Fleisher

’s newsletter Wake Up to Politics for a nonpartisan review on how this election happened and what the results mean for us.