Accomplish your New Year Resolutions with the Three R's!

!HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It’s that time of the year again. The time when people make new year resolutions…suffering through them for a few weeks until eventually freeing themselves from the self-induced shackles of expectations that have now become too burdensome to bear. Yep, that’s a wonderful way to kick off the new year isn’t it? Of course not! So, if you need help sticking to your resolutions this year-we have a few tips.

1. Reasonable Goals

One of my favorite phrases from [the artist formerly known as] Kanye West is “reach for the stars so if you fall you’ll land on a cloud” [Homecoming]. So, I completely understand and respect the desire to set the most audacious goal you can. However, setting goals is easy-it’s the discipline and willpower needed to reach those goals that’s difficult. And that’s the problem. Many people underestimate just how much discipline and willpower is needed to follow through on such a substantial undertaking. And that oversight leaves many throwing in the towel and looking to start a fresh the following year. To avoid this disappoint we recommend establishing reasonable goals. By reasonable, we mean something you can actually begin doing now. For example, imagine you want to run in a 10K marathon. You’re not going to just start running in the first marathon you see. No, a reasonable goal would be to first run…a quarter of a mile. Then once you’re comfortable simply move that goal up incrementally (ie. half a mile, three-quarters, a mile, etc.) until you eventually work your way up to that 10K mark.

2. Realistic Goals

Now that you have a goal that’s reasonable, you have to ask yourself: is this something I can realistically accomplish? Although it sounds similar to reasonable; realistic goals are goals that are within your ability to complete. In other words, make the resolution easy on yourself. Let’s continue with the 10K marathon example. So, to prepare yourself for this marathon you’ve decided the best way for you to keep track of the distance your running is by using the treadmill at your local gym. Sounds like a good plan so far. Let’s further imagine that in your city you have three gyms.

• Gym 1 is closest to your residence but it’s pretty basic. Just machines.
• Gym 2 is about five minutes away and in addition to machines offers a spacious workout area and nice views.
• Gym 3 is approx. twenty minutes away but offers top tier luxury. Spacious workout areas housing multiple machines and…is that a hot tub!

At first glance Gym 3 seems like the ideal choice. I mean who can resist a hot tub? However, if you live an area with sporadic winter weather-that twenty minute drive on a good day could easily turn into a forty to fifty minute drive after a decent snowfall. With that being said, which gym are you realistically more likely to visit frequently? Probably Gym 2. Not only is it a short distance from your house but the spacious workout area and nice views should keep you engaged even on those days when you don’t feel like going-like when the windchill drops the temperature below zero. Yikes!

3. Repeatable Goals

Did you know that there’s experts out there that study habits? Yep, these behavioral psychologists theorize that if you do something consistently for approximately 21 days then it will become a regular part of your routine. What does this mean for you? Well you’ve already established a resolution that’s reasonable and realistic but is it something that you can routinely repeat. As the name implies repeatable goals are those that can be done consistently.

Continuing with our gym example; we know what distance you’re trying to run. And you have a selected a gym to workout in. Great! Now, the hard part…actually working out. So how can you make working out repeatable? Well, let’s look at your schedule. If you’re like me you’re an early bird that enjoys working out first thing in the morning. Or maybe working out after work or later in the evening before bedtime is ideal. Whatever time slot works for you-it’s best to workout at that option that’s the most optimal for you. It wouldn’t make any sense to workout in the morning if you hate waking up early. That’s most likely going to lead to you giving up. Or exercising at night if you have household obligations that usually keep you at home in the evenings.

Hint: The trick to ensuring a goal can be repeatable is by eliminating as many potential variables as possible.

Your Money: Financial Resolutions

Alright so now that we’ve discusses the three ‘R’s of setting goals let’s apply it to your finances. As always the most popular financial new years resolutions are getting out of debt and saving money. So let’s say this year you want to save money!

2023 Financial Goal: Save Money!

As honorable as that goal is…it’s a pretty vague. So, let’s define this goal more. By the end of the year you want to have saved $5000. Okay great. Now let’s see if we can make this goal reasonable, realistic, and repeatable.

Reasonable: Now hopefully you’re not the planning to blow all your money for eleven months and then save five thousand from one check at the year of the year. Although you’ll technically reach your goal…a more reasonable approach would be to save a portion of that $5000 each month. $5000 divided by twelve months would mean you would need to save $416.67. Now is that realistic for you?

Realistic: Saving $416.67 a month is a pretty reasonable goal. Unfortunately, depending on your income and/or spending habits-that figure could be tough to save. However, we’re going to assume you bring in an average annual salary of $65,000. Per month that means you’re gross income is approx. $5416.67. But if you’re like most people you get paid biweekly meaning you’ll have 26 paydays per year (excluding leap years when it’s 27) giving you a biweekly income of $2500. Although you could take out the full four hundred you probably have to factor in expenses like housing, utilities, groceries, and other miscellaneous spending. Thus a more realistic option would be to split the $416.67 in half ($208.34) and save that amount from every check. Although it may seem like extra you’re actually saving the same amount at a lower threshold which allows for more financial flexibility. (Think special occurrences like birthdays, anniversaries, etc.). Now that our goal is realistic-we need to ensure it’s repeatable.

Repeatable: Personally, I prefer directly moving money into different accounts the moment payday occurs. However, if you want to save an extra step, you can automatically have the money deposited into your savings account. Literally, it’s as simple as logging into your account and telling your financial institution or companies payroll processor to direct that $208.34 from each paycheck into your savings. Simple. Regardless of which option you choose, this makes this goal easy to consistently follow.

And there you have it. In a few simple steps we turned a generic financial resolution that usually ends in failure to a solid reasonable, realistic, and repeatable goal that you can accomplish throughout the year.

Conclusion

Starting off the year celebrating a new start is amazing and inspiring. And we love the fact that people take this new found elation to create new year resolutions. That’s why we want to ensure your year gets off to a great start by making sure your resolutions don’t end in disappointment. By filtering your resolutions through out three R process, you’ll not only reach your goals but position yourself for even bigger and better goals the following year.

Once again Happy New Year and cheers to reaching your goals!