12-Year-Old Girl Sets A Goal For Herself To Earn $30 A Day To Buy Her Dream Car When She Turns 16
She's taking steps to make her dreams come true.
Leah Hetteberg / Unsplash Ella Powers is on a journey and she’s inviting people to follow along for the ride. She’s set a goal for herself that might seem out of reach now, but with her dedication and continued passion, she’ll be able to make her dreams a reality in just a few years time.
The 12-year-old girl set a goal to earn $30 a day that she can save to buy her dream car when she turns 16.
She introduced herself and her grand idea in a TikTok post, announcing, “I’m gonna be sharing my journey of saving up for a Ford Bronco when I turn 16.”
“I turn 13 in a couple weeks,” she said. “I’m going to be sharing the various jobs that I’m working.”
Her financial goals appear to be modest yet accessible: Make $30 every day for the next three years.
Powers described the process for setting her goal, explaining, “I told my parents I wanted a newer Ford Bronco when I turned 16. My dad told me that I better get to work.”
The teenager and her dad did the math on her dream car and discovered that by working three hours a day from Monday through Friday, and eight hours a day on Saturdays, she could earn over $40,000 in three years.
Photo: Karsten Winegeart / Unsplash
“My goal is $33,000,” Powers revealed, before sharing her reason for making her goal public.
“I want to document my journey as a working teen to get my dream car!” she exclaimed. “Follow along to see how it goes!”
By sharing her dream of buying a Ford Bronco in three years, Powers is practicing an important part of goal-setting: Holding herself accountable.
Neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman discussed different strategies for goal-setting in a conversation with psychology professor Dr. Emily Balcetis, noting which actions people can take to actually achieve their goals.
Dr. Balcetis referred to the “vision science that’s tied up in that very first stage of goal setting: Identifying what that goal is in the first place and taking those first steps.”
She spoke to the value of “creating some sort of visual representation of what it is they want to accomplish,” whether that’s through crafting a vision board or writing down a list of goals you want to reach.
Yet she also noted that research scientists believe there needs to be more action than just visualizing, in order to take the actual first steps to get what they want.
“The process of goal setting shouldn’t stop with articulating what the goal is,” Dr. Balcetis explained. She listed off what people should take into account when engaging in a goal-setting session, the first thing being, “How are we going to get there?”
Photo: Gantas Vaiciulenas / Pexels
“Take it out of the abstract and start thinking about the practical day-to-day,” she said. “We need to break it down into more manageable goals.”
She advised setting weekly goals, not just yearly goals, in order to create actionable change.
She highlighted another important aspect of the goal-setting process that’s often overlooked: Thinking about the obstacles that stand in your way.
“That will actually help improve motivation in the long run,” she revealed.
Powers is well on her way to setting her goal and taking action. She’s done the dreamwork to motivate herself, and now, she’s ready to tackle the practical work to achieve what she wants.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers social issues, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.