Did You Give Up On Your New Year's Resolution Already?

Statistics show us that of the people who keep track of their New Year's resolutions, about 80% of them don't keep their commitments and most don't even make it through the end of the January before giving up on their goals for the year. Making resolutions is easy – sticking to them takes a whole lot more than willpower.

For many people, new year resolutions for 2009 took on financial themes due to the current economic climate. People resolved to get themselves out of debt once and for all, to earn more money, or finally own a home. Like most things, financial resolutions are easier said then done and without some detailed plan for the follow through, you'll wind up among the 80% of people who forget or ignore their new year resolutions before the second month of the year begins.

It's certainly not too late to review your 2009 financial resolutions (or make new ones if you didn't set any goals for the year, yet). You'll need to do more than come up with your resolutions and hope you have the willpower to stick to it all year, though. Here are some tips for setting resolutions you can actually achieve – and strategies for following through until they are reality:

Create a goal that is both specific and measurable.

There is no point in setting a goal of “making more money”. How do you know when you've reached that goal? Technically, if you earned a penny more than you made last week, you could consider the goal successfully completed. When you set a financial goal (or any resolution!) you must be specific and have a way to measure your results. If increasing your income is the plan, give yourself a dollar amount to reach - “I want to earn $600 per week.” This is specific and measurable. You know when you reach $600 per week in earnings that you have met the goal; and you can measure progress along the way as you get closer to your specific goal. If your goal is to pay off debts, be specific regarding which debts will be paid off.

Give yourself a time line.

For any goal you resolve to do in 2009, give yourself a time line for completion. A deadline creates urgency and purpose, helps motivate you and can prevent procrastination.

Have a strategy and plan for obstacles.

When you attempt to achieve a goal, you need to be realistic about the potential for obstacles and challenges to present themselves. You may set a goal to pay off $4,000 in credit card debt by July 2009 – only to find out on January 30th you lose your job. What will your strategy be for overcoming this obstacle and getting yourself back on track to achieve the goal?



You can't just rely on willpower to get you through to achieve your goals. When you first set a goal – you're all fired up about it and can't wait to get it done. But as you're working toward a goal, you begin to lose motivation and can easily forget why you set the goal in the first place. Emotions get in the way and within about 30 days the emotional high associated with creating a new goal for yourself dies out. You'll need a plan for when times get tough or you're likely to veer off course.

Break your goal into smaller steps.

The shortest distance between A and B is a straight line, but you often need to make stops along the way. You can't expect a major life change to just happen because you say you want it – you need to take baby steps towards reaching the goal. Slow and steady wins the race, so figure out what those baby steps are before beginning and you'll be able to set mini-goals for each step on the journey. If your goal is to pay off $4,000 in credit card debt by July 2009 for example, you could divide that $4,000 by the 7 months you have between January and July and set a smaller monthly goal of paying $571.42 per month on credit card debt.

Hold yourself accountable.

If there are no consequences for skipping out on working toward your goal, chances are you'll give up within 30 days. Hold yourself accountable and you'll be more motivated to work on the goal. Find a friend or family member to help hold you accountable and report progress to them. Deny yourself something you MUST have if you go off track ( if you fail to work within your budget and go out to dinner even when there isn't money to do so – go out without makeup or deny yourself something important to you. Set a consequence that will be effective for you personally).

Give your financial new year resolutions a fighting chance by setting specific and measurable goals, putting a deadline on when you'll achieve them, planning for obstacles, breaking the goal into smaller, more manageable chunks and holding yourself accountable. Do these six steps and you'll find yourself among the 20% of people who make and actually keep their new year resolutions!

Comments