It’s 2011 and this is the year you’re finally going to get your financial life in order. Like millions of Americans you pledge to make this year different and finally take control of your money.
Yet the sad truth is that most New Year’s resolutions fail. How do you make sure your New Year’s money resolutions last longer than the melting winter snow?
The first step – avoid resolution overload. Too many people create a laundry list of resolutions, almost guaranteeing none of them actually get fulfilled. Think different.
Chose the one or two financial goals that’ll truly change your life – then focus on them with laser like intensity throughout the year. And best of all, make them S.M.A.R.T resolutions:
Specific:
Vague resolutions lack power. To be successful be specific.
Resist “I will master my finances in 2011.” Try instead, “By the end of 2011 I will create a budget that I consistently follow and eliminate $12,500 in credit card debt.” Specificity offers a clear blueprint for success.
Measurable:
In order to make sure you’re making progress toward your resolution, you must have some way to measure your progress. If you’re planning on saving $10,000 this year for retirement then you know you must save $833 a month – a measurable goal.
Realistic:
Make your goal realistic or you’ll give up after the first few weeks. At the same time it should challenge you – cause you to break out of your comfort zone.
Authentic:
Your resolution shouldn’t be made to please others. There are going to be times when you’ll want to give up. Only a resolution that has real meaning to you will help you motor through.
Time Limited:
That’s the great thing about New Year’s resolutions. They have a time limit. One year.
Don’t place your SMART resolutions in the kitchen drawer never to be heard of until the next New Year. The key to successful resolutions is starting on them today instead of waiting for tomorrow.
Take It One Step at a Time
Yes a resolution like saving $12,000 for retirement or finding a new job may seem daunting, but the key is to not just set a resolution but develop a plan of attack – a game plan.
First break your resolution into manageable steps. Then determine how you’ll complete each step. Write your plan down. This subconsciously commits your plan to action.
Let’s say, for example, your resolution is to eliminate your $9400 in credit card debt. Your manageable steps or subgoals might be:
Organize my finances
Track my expenses for a month to see where I spend my money
Use this to cut unnecessary costs and apply savings to credit cards
Clean out closets and attic to find extra things to sell on Ebay and Amazon
Investigate potential side hustles to bring in extra cash to help pay down debt
Seek overtime work
Your plan of attack for “Organize my finances” may consist of collecting all your credit card statements in one place, determining the interest rate for each card, then calling each credit card company to ask for a lower interest rate.
Don’t worry about having a perfect plan. It’s not written in stone. The goal is to have a road map that will allow you to start working on your resolution TODAY.
KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING
So you have your SMART resolution and your written game plan. How do you make sure your high power resolutions don’t run out of fuel in mid-May?
Value your resolution as a promise to yourself.
It’s funny that we’ll break our neck to keep promises to everyone else but think little of keeping promises to ourselves. We’ll move heaven and earth to fulfill an obligation to our church, our spouse, or our best friend.
It’s time we do the same for ourselves.
Make your New Year’s resolution a promise to you that’s just as important as a promise you’d make to anyone else. Write yourself a promissory note with your New Years resolution on it. Sign it and treat it with as much reverence as any other promise in your life.
Visualize having completed your resolution.
Visualization activates the subconscious mind. Each night take a few minutes and mentally visualize how it feels to have accomplished your resolution. Think about not facing the dread of opening credit card statements each month or feel the sense of security knowing you finally have money saved up. Do this every night and your subconscious mind will work overtime to help you achieve your goal.
Continually remind yourself of your resolutions.
A hidden resolution is an unfulfilled resolution. Your resolution shouldn’t be something you think about the first week of January and then quickly forget. Remind yourself each and every day. In addition to the daily visualization exercise above consider placing a copy of your resolution on your bathroom mirror so that you see it every morning. Put a copy around each one of your credit cards. Or do what many people do and create a vision board with all your important goals for the year.
Get an accountability partner
Sometimes it helps to be held accountable. Don’t keep your resolutions a secret. Tell the ones you love about them. They can help make sure you fulfill your resolutions. Better yet get an accountability buddy and help each other complete your resolutions.
MAKE 2011 A YEAR OF REAL CHANGE
We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day. ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce
Don’t let your New Year’s resolutions become exercises in futility.
By creating S.M.A.R.T. resolutions, breaking your resolutions into manageable steps, creating written plans, and then continually striving to complete your resolutions, you can make this a year of true change.
BMWK, what are the New Years resolutions you’ve made for yourself? How have you successfully fulfilled resolutions in the past?
Love this. I started a vision board last month for weight loss…love the idea of one big board for all goals for the year.
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