The email I’m specifically referring to was after we got married. However, I had been with my wife for 5 years prior to getting married and knew the answers to most, if not all of these questions in detail.

For us, the process of goal-setting as described in my post was more about setting aside the time to sit down and take pen to paper on ideas we had been discussing for many years. This may be awkward to do if you’re still in the “dating” stage – after all, you haven’t really committed to anything. That’s not to say, however, that you can’t talk about financial and life issues and take mental notes.

Setting joint goals has enabled us to become more focused on what we want out of life and ensures that we both have a “blueprint” to help each other reach our individual and joint goals.

In many ways, you question drives at the core of setting individual goals as well – many people “know” what they want out of life and can recite it to you in pretty good detail. But until they write things down and create a plan for getting to their goals, it’s hard to figure out how to proceed.

I hope that gives you some more to think about!