It’s that time again. As we come towards the end of the year, people around the world start thinking about what their New Year’s Resolution is gonna be. They promise themselves that although they’ve failed to stick with their resolutions beyond the first month of the year, every year, this time will be different. 🤞
They start the year fully committed to their resolution. But within a couple of weeks, they’ve already failed again.
Why is it so common for people to fail with their New Year’s Resolutions? And how can you make sure you stick to yours this year?
Read on to learn the answers to these questions and get some ideas for money resolutions you might want to make.
Why do most New Year’s Resolutions fail?
One of the main reasons people fail with their resolutions is that they haven’t identified WHY they’re doing it.
They often pick something that they think they should be doing. But because they haven’t got a clear reason why, when they come up against some difficulty, their resolutions fall by the wayside. ❌
Also, people often don’t make a plan for how they’re going to make their resolution a reality. For example, someone might say “I’m going to go to the gym 3 times a week this year”. 🏋 This is a great resolution to have – but it’s not enough by itself. What days are you going to go to the gym? At what time of day? What are you going to do on each day that you go? 🤔
The more detail you have around your resolution, the more likely you are to stick to it.
What makes a good New Year’s Resolution?
A good New Year’s Resolution is based around something that is important to you and will make your life better This will make it much more likely that you’ll stick to it.
A good resolution will also challenge you and push you outside of your comfort zone. But it won’t be so difficult that it seems impossible to achieve from where you’re at right now. 😵
If you currently don’t read, a resolution of reading two books a week is probably too big a jump. But if you set yourself the goal of reading for 30 minutes a day, you’re more likely to succeed. It might still be a stretch, yet it feels much more attainable and means you’re far more likely to stay motivated to achieve it.
Some financial New Year’s Resolutions you might consider
A new year is a great time to set new resolutions for your money and start improving your financial wellbeing. You have lots of options, but here are a few you might want to consider:
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Saving a certain amount of money each month in your savings account
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Cutting out spending on something you feel you waste a lot of money on e.g. Deliveroo (you could instead put this money aside for something you value, such as a travel fund 🛫)
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Committing to one “no-spend day” a week
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Doing a fortnightly (or weekly, or monthly) budget to keep track of your financial situation
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Setting aside some money each month to build up an emergency fund
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Spending 30 minutes a week improving your financial literacy (e.g. by completing learning on the Blackbullion platform!)
