How Are Your New Year’s Resolutions Going?

According to some estimates, 80% of New Year resolutions fail in the month of February.   We’re far from perfect ourselves and everyone needs a helping hand sometimes.  So we thought we’d share a couple of strategies that can help you stay on track.

If you’re feeling less enthusiastic about your New Year’s resolutions than you did a month ago, you’re not alone. According to some estimates, 80% of resolutions fail in the month of February.

For many of us, abandoning resolutions is the inevitable result of setting poor goals in the first place. For example, no one can “get healthier” just by wishing it would happen. What you can do is set a weekly exercise target or make a running schedule that will build towards tackling that half-marathon in the future.

If you know that you set an actionable target that’s important to you and that falling behind is hurting you, one of these three strategies might help you get back on track.

1. Celebrate successes, gently scold failures

Did you ever have to turn to a “swear jar” to clean up the language in your household? A similar strategy could help you tighten up your resolution routine. Money can be both a goal in itself or an excellent motivational tool to achieve them. Seeing your cash fill up that jar because of missed workouts or online classwork that’s piling up will create a visual reminder that you’re hurting your goals as well as your wallet. There are even online services that force you to donate money to charity when you fall behind your goals.

On the other hand, if you string together a good week or exceed a particular short-term target, including saving for that future event, it is okay to occasionally dig into the jar and reward yourself.

2. Set yourself milestones

The problem we often see with goals and objectives is that they are set too far into the future. Too intangible and therefore easy to ignore.  Breaking your goals down into shorter-term milestones makes them far easier to realise and brings a far greater sense of achievement earlier in the process. Which in turn means that you are far more likely to achieve those goals. 

3. Find an accountability partner

One of the benefits of joining a gym or going to classes is that you become part of a community. Seeing people around you achieve results and measuring yourself against today’s leader board can motivate you to keep up.

Accountability can be especially powerful if it’s coming from the most important people in your life. If you tell your friends and family about a goal you’re working towards, you can bet that they’re going to keep asking you about your progress. Even better, find a friend who has their sights set on the same target. The pre-recorded fitness trainer you watch on YouTube isn’t going to care if you miss a workout. But bail on too many bike rides with your best friend and you’re going to start hearing about it.

If you’re looking for some extra accountability as you work towards your financial goals this year, give us a call. We can help you to set some important targets that we hope you’ll feel more motivated to hit.