Category Archives: Resolutions

2017 New Year Resolutions

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Today is the last day of 2016!.

It’s time to communication the new year goals I am going to pursue in 2017.

Small City Fireworks

Small City Fireworks

1.) Ignore unwritten rules that can be ignored.  I’ve found that most of the unwritten rules we learned through key people and media channels do not really apply to me.  Instead I will be as I always am… respectful to others, considerate and helpful when it’s not to my detriment but I will also flow into whatever I think would be interesting or enhance my knowledge and understanding of life.  For me this is big, and to be honest I’ve already started this as a POF (proof of concept) for half of the 2016 year.  I want to expand on this and push more deeply onward this new year.

2.) I will broaden my reach out to new people and groups without as many predetermined filters.  These past years, I’ve been very impressed by the types and quality of people I have met that I would not normally associate with.  Normally, I’ve ignored people who I consider a better class than in which I was raised.  In the recent past, some friends told me that I come across as “stuck up”, when in reality I was just intimidated by those (both females and males) that I considered who were better than I was.  My fear was that I couldn’t relate and they would have a negative impression of me.  While the intensity of fear has decreased, I still feel uncomfortable with such interactions, but I won’t shy away from them as I had in the past.

3.) I would like to start a few new things that can help both me and others!  I mentioned this in my Year End Financial Results 2016 article.  I don’t know the entire scope of this yet, but I have the materials and knowledge (or desire to learn the tools) that I need to pursue opportunities that I didn’t have in the past.  The most rewarding for me would be to create something what would have the broadest reach and could create something that could benefit as many as possible.

So, these are my three goals for 2017, short but not simple…

Have a great new year!

Don

 

FINANCIAL NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

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Financial New Years Resolutions

Writing New Year Goals

Writing New Year's Resolutions

Written by moneysupermarket.com

It’s that time of year when everybody starts thinking about 2011 and I’m sure we’re all hoping for a fantastic year, but nobody knows what surprises lay just around the corner, only time will tell. The beginning of a new year means a new fresh start, and with this new start many people like to set new years resolutions. If there’s any of you that don’t know, a new years resolution is a sort of commitment, where you can set yourself a set of goals that you would like to achieve in the new year.

I read a recent article that said around 50% of people are confident that they will achieve their new years resolutions when they set them, however only 12% actually achieve what they set out to do. Bearing these figures in mind, I thought I would set myself a challenge to actually commit to my objectives this year so that I can join the 12%.Combining new years resolutions with my interest in finance I thought I would detail some key areas where I will be focussing my goals in 2011.

My budget

A budget is one of the most important financial tools when looking after your finances. If you have an effective budget that does what it’s supposed to, then that’s the first step to controlling your finances and not letting your finances control you.  The basic principle of budgeting is to identify where your money is being spent, and to do this effectively you have to be thorough to identify all your expenditure. For a budget to be successful, set yourself some small and simple steps until you understand the basic principle, then you can build your budget so that it’s a more robust financial tool.

My debt

A friend of mine said to me that getting into debt is so much easier than getting out of it and boy was he right! When your goals are financially motivated and you have debts that are costing you money, tackling these debts should be your immediate focus. If your level of debt is quite low then look at setting up a debt repayment plan for the new year and make sure you tackle any high interest debts first as they will be the most damaging. Paying back whatever debts you may have will also improve your personal credit score which is an added bonus.

My savings

Before you think about saving money, you should ensure that your debts are paid off first. Once your finances are at a level you are happy with, then you can look at starting to save. Make sure that when you want to save you have the best savings account to do so. If you live in the US then the Lifetime Savings Account offers great rewards on your spending, and the equivalent for people in the UK is a cash-ISA account, before you commit you should do your research and find out what the best option is for you.

Throughout the year, it’s important to ensure that you remain positive when trying to achieve your goals. I will do this by evaluating my progress from time to time, and by braking up my goals into more short term and long term aims. It’s a great way to remain focused.

Holistic Approach to New Year Resolutions

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I admit it, I failed on most of my New Year Resolutions!

I started out strong, but then ran out of motivation.  2010, while a good year financially for me, was a bad year on a developmental level.

That’s why I decided to buck the trend of stating a defined list of resolutions and instead go for a more Holistic Approach to my New Year goals.

Before I go to explain what I mean by taking a holistic approach to my New Year goals, let me review the results of my 2010 Resolutions:

  1. Losing Weight While Saving Money  – While I didn’t get bigger, I also didn’t lose the desired weight.  So I stalled on this particular goal.  This was my biggest disappointment!
  2. Stop Being a Pack Rat – This resolution I was able to conquer!  This is the only resolution that I was able to beat!
  3. Maximizing Who I Am – This is my biggest defeat.  I didn’t maximize who I am at all!

So in conclusion, in 2010 I started with high expectations, but I ended up disappointed.

A brand new plan, the Holistic Approach:

By Holistic Approach, I basically mean that I’m not going to compartmentalize my life into individual buckets!  Instead I’m going to create everything as just a typical part of the process, and consider everything as a entire system.  That way I just don’t do well in one area while neglecting the other areas.

Next, I will try to optimize the process so that it can be accomplished and in such a way that it’s bearable or at least tolerable.

So for example, I really don’t like the previous resolution of “Losing weight”.  So I will enhance my experience by listening to  a song that will get me pumped up and make me want to work out!, or workout with friends, or maybe my kids…

A bonus is that I have every trick and can use new ideas  to accomplish goals at my disposal!

I admit, I’m kind of winging it here, this will be an entirely new way to approach my goals.  This will be a lifestyle change for me, or at least I believe that it will!

-MR

If you are interested in seeing a more traditional and enumerated New Year’s Resolutions, check out the list at the Financial Samurai’s site called Financial Samurai Goals And Resolutions for 2011.  It’s very impressive!

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