Friday, December 31, 2021

Why New Year's Resolutions Fail and What You Can Do Differently in 2022

In light of tomorrow being New Year’s, let's talk about New Year's resolutions. From elementary school kids to CEOs, everyone is thinking about changes they want to make. Companies often suggest that their employees set personal and work goals around this time as well.

Setting goals is a great way to plan your future and grow. However, trying to change too much at once tends to result in failure, and that’s usually what happens with New Year's resolutions. People create a laundry list of every way they want to be different and everything they think they should be doing. Between work, home life, personal and financial needs, hobbies people have and goals outside of that, the list of “resolutions” can become overwhelming. Then we tend to assume that the magic of January first will help us keep up with all of these big changes. 


Here’s the thing though. January first is not a magical day. It’s just another tomorrow, and you aren’t going to wake up as a whole new you with different habits than what you have now. 

  • If you don’t already exercise every day, you aren’t going to have the motivation or time just because the calendar changed.
  • If you aren’t already meeting your quarterly work goals, increasing them won’t solve your problem. Talking to a supervisor about possible solutions could help you, though. And once you're meeting current work goals, it is a good idea to revise them.
  • If you don’t already save money each month you aren’t going to start consistently saving 1000$ a month, even if you want to. You have to start by consistently making and keeping to a budget. Then you can save a smaller and more realistic amount consistently, based on your budget. Then when you know you can save a little a month regularly and you’re comfortable budgeting, you can keep bumping that number higher.

If you haven’t picked it up yet, the key to making New Year's resolutions work is to take baby steps. In whatever changes you’re looking to make, start small. Set goals that are so small that you know you can keep them. This teaches your brain to be consistent with a totally new habit. Then after doing it for a month or two, you revise the goal as you feel fit to do a little more.

People always overestimate what they can do in a day and underestimate what they can do in a year so start small. Learn consistency with a small new habit, and you’ll be able to reach your end goal in time.

Here to help, 
Your Financially Fit Team

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