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Financial Journey Changing for Good - No Need to Wait for New Years I am a strong believer in setting goals and
working toward new objectives on a continual basis.
With that in mind, I’ve never been one to establish New Years
resolutions. There are several
reasons for this, and for me it works better in my life. I’ll share my thoughts about this, and maybe you’ll want
to start setting your New Years resolutions during the summer months. More...
1. I don’t know the statistics, but I have read that the majority of resolutions set at the beginning of the year to lose weight are doomed to fail. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a good idea to want new beginnings and changes in your life. But there is something about waiting for that moment in time to start, and the pressure one places on ones’ self to succeed, that might lead to the lack of accomplishing certain goals. 2. Some individuals set several New Years goals. Setting too many goals at one time can lead to failure. I have experienced this first hand – it’s that impatient part of me wanting to get it all done at once! Experts recommend that it is good to make changes one at a time, until that one change starts to feel a part of your normal routine. Then move to the next change, again until it feels comfortable. In the long run, you can accomplish more goals by setting smaller steps and focusing on them one at a time.3. By waiting until one particular time of year to set a goal, it keeps me out of living in the present moment. Instead of being conscious of what I am doing right now, today, at this moment, I am focusing toward the future. I have discovered that this is a terrible waste of my time and energy when I don’t live in the moment. If I make a mistake, I don’t have to wait until the future to start over. I can choose to target, correct and make positive changes immediately. 4. Sometimes it does help to prepare in advance for making major changes in your life. The book “Changing for Good” by Prochaska and Norcross, carefully lays out the stages of change and how to best prepare for successful changes. It recommends a preparation stage, however it does encourage a person not to set a date too far off in the future to begin making changes or it will be less likely that permanent change will be successful. By understanding the stages of change, it helped me to understand why waiting until the New Year to make a change wasn’t my best option. January 1st of whatever year might not be the right time for me to begin that change process. 5. I have found that I can accomplish many more goals by setting them throughout the year than I can if I focus on one point in time to establish the outcomes I want to accomplish during the coming year. I find that achieving a goal gives me the motivation and momentum to work toward the next goal, and it creates a snowball effect throughout the year. I also find that my concentration in focusing on one goal at a time is much greater than diluting it by spreading among several goals. 6. I have developed tools that help me in accomplishing goals which include: (1) Put my goals in writing; (2) Graph my progress along the way to the goal line – this works very well for recording results of financial goals; (3) Write positive affirmations on a daily basis, and speak my affirmations aloud preferably twice a day including when I start the day and when I end the day; (4) Use visual props for my goals which can include pictures I keep in a notebook or on a visualization board. That is another reason that written affirmations are very powerful because they are also a visual tool; and (5) Reward my successes along the way, setting milestones for the rewards. I have found that positive rewards serve as a powerful incentive to keep going. 7. If I wait until a date in the future to begin a goal, I often find that I’ve lost the interest and/or the motivation. The best time for me to start is when I feel ready. For some people, using the month or two at the end of the year prepares them to start on New Years. For me, however, I like to continue with a series of positive results throughout the year. I like the saying, “if you continue to do what you’ve always done, you’ll continue to get what you’ve always got.” If you have found that New Years resolutions haven’t been very successful for you in the past, maybe it’s time to try a different approach. Make your new year begin right now and see how that works for you!
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Copyright © 2007 by Karen Kuebler. All rights reserved. Want more money-saving tips? Get a FREE Subscription to our monthly newsletter!
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