A big happy new year to everyone. I had planned to write this post a few days ago so that I wouldn’t need to write hungover, but unfortunately that did not happen. I refuse to admit that this was down to bad planning, rather I decided my time would be better spent with family! 😉 As a consequence, I am currently feeling very sorry for myself and am the most hungover I have been in a LONG time. Please excuse any mistakes as I am not planning to proof read this post after I have finished!
The Clean Slate
I have discussed change a lot recently on SavvyScot. The 10 part ‘Change Your Life‘ Series focuses on ten different areas:
Part 1 – Exercise
Part 2 – Eating Healthily
Part 3 – Get Knowledge
Part 4 – Your Appearance
Part 5 – Learn New Skills
Part 6 – Fix Your Wardrobe
Part 7 – Improve Your Social Life
Part 8 – Become Better with Money
Part 9 – Find Yourself
Part 10 – Realising Goals and Achieving Them
Goal Planning for 2013 justifies why I believe we should set goals instead of make resolutions.
I came across an interesting post from one of my friends on Facebook this morning:
Although this guy was undoubtedly being a bit of a smart-a*se, he does have a point! That said, 99% of the world wouldn’t agree with him and have set themselves hundreds of new resolutions as 2013 promises to be the answer to all the things that went wrong over the past year! As I swipe through my Facebook news feed, there are 100s of resolution statuses – most of which are totally unrealistic:
Among others, I have come across people that are going to give up drinking/smoking completely, some who are never eating sweets again and someone else who is not going to watch the TV this year.I consider myself an extremely positive person, however all of these individuals who are procrastinating are alcoholics/sweet addicted junkies/couch potatoes. Where are the realistic resolutions? If you are obsessed with drinking coke, you don’t want to make a goal to give it up completely. At least not at first. A better idea is to make a smaller goal first – perhaps limit yourself to one can a day for January, three a week for February, one a week in March etc.
This has two benefits:
- If the goal is a big one, it can take a long time to feel a sense of achievement. By making smaller goals, you get that feeling more often and it acts as great motivation and encouragement.
- You are much more likely to succeed at smashing your target! Our behavior takes time to change. If we make radical changes, they are much less sustainable!
By gradually quitting a bad habit / making a change, your body and mind learns a new behavior. It is given time to adapt and is far more likely to succeed! Behaviors are hard-wired and are NOT easy to change!
Instead of setting resolutions to come into immediate effect, why not aim to quit the habit in 2013? That way you give yourself a much better chance of winning.
Fresh Attitude to Finance
And so we come to talk about finances. We can apply the exact same approach to quitting a bad habit to reducing spending. If we have developed bad spending habits over the last year(s), we need to make the start of the change today instead of conquering it completely. I am not suggesting you go from eating out 3 times a week to not going out at all, but instead let’s work on a more realistic approach. Reduce your eating to twice a week, then once, then every two weeks etc. Slow and Steady Wins the Race! This approach can be used on all your goals: from health and fitness to learning. The point is, use the year to make the change instead of going cold turkey (no pun intended) and failing half way through January.
Win $100 to KickStart 2013
Oh and just because I am a nice guy, I am giving you the chance to win $100. If you are interested in participating in future giveaways, click HERE.
What is the funniest Facebook Resolution you have seen this year?! 😀
All the best in 2013! That one above about the guy not drinking till April is pretty funny!
Eddie recently posted..Wishing You the Greatest Success in 2013!
Cheers Eddie! I know right… I’ll give him a week 😛
Happy New Year Mate!
Last year we set a resolution /goal to quit smoking and we did it. We literally just quit almost cold turkey ( had a few pieces of nicorette gum). We are coming up one year smoke free and are darn happy we set that goal even if no one thought we would do it. I think it really depends on the drive of the person and it’s up to them to figure out if it’s realistic or not because for some it may be and for others it may not be. Great post. Mr.CBB
Canadian Budget Binder recently posted..Finances In The New Year + New Budget = Success Formula
Hey Mr CBB! That is extremely impressive that you pulled that off cold turkey! I’ll be willing to bet that hardly anyone has that sort of dedication. On the whole, I work better with small changes – I find it easier to sustain them! Been doing any snowsports over the pond this season?
Cheers to a slow but steady 2013!!
Pauline recently posted..13 money resolutions for 2013: #1 start somewhere!
Even Slower for you my friend (**JEALOUS**) 🙂
I agree that realistic resolutions and goals are more easily accomplished and can give you a satisfaction and this can boost your energy and willing to achieve finally something bigger.
A way of thinking for me is always split my bigger goals to smaller more easily to achieve mini-goals. This way i at the end i also van achieve big goals with little steps.
The only you need is think the smaller goals as a part of a biger one.
Do you have any goals this year Vaptisi?
I am going to give up spending completely in 2013 and will live my life in stoic calm and complete ascetic bliss.
I’m not planning on eating anything at all and will allow myself a sip of water only if I have first completed all my sit ups for the day.
James @ Free in Ten Years recently posted..The hidden psychological stress of work and why I want out
Haha!! That sounds similar to a few I have seen since writing this post ;P
Here here! So absolutely true. And I love how people wait till Jan 1, even though they may have had the idea to lose some weight back in October. I mean why not start now…with small changes! That was kind of the subject of my last blog as well. I can’t handle the “big stuff.” I can only make good decisions today. and LOL about being so hungover you don’t want to proofread. I think you did OK! 🙂 I think the funniest was also how one of the biggest partiers I know said he wasn’t drinking all of Jan. Riiiiiiight.
Budget and the Beach recently posted..2013: Living in the Moment
Haha! Glad you agree… and thanks for thinking it was ok, all things considered! Has your partier friend started drinking yet?
Happy New Year! I agree with easing into changes/breaking habits/etc. Although I still set goals, I couple each with a detailed timeline that illustrates most of my goals are not instant changes but chances to improve whatever situation I feel needs improved–over a period of time.
The Happy Homeowner recently posted..2012 Hits and Misses
And the same to you! Detailed timelines are exactly what I am talking about!! …….Facebook has ruined that word!
I think making smaller, more realistic goals are good, then when you accomplish one goal, set another. It’s a good way to do it in my opinion.
Mo’ Money Mo’ Houses recently posted..A Look Back on 2012
Happy New Year Jess! 🙂 Agreed on that
No need to rush through your goals. Even with finances you can pick up the pace once you have control over it.
Ornella @ Moneylicious recently posted..Renovating Your Bathroom For Next To Nothing
Absolutely Ornella; I think it makes it less daunting too! Happy New Year 🙂
Such a good point! So many people fail at obtaining their goals because they give up b/c it seems so hard where if they just focused on the small bits they’d do so much better.
ps- loving the new design, I know I’m late to the game!
Catherine recently posted..What Would You Do With $2013.00 (Giveaway)?
Hey Catherine! Thanks for the kudos on the design… must admit I am chuffed to bits with it 😀 !! A very happy new year to you guys
The problem with resolutions is that they just end up being “rules” that we eventually break. Goals work out a little better because they give us something we can actually visualize and work towards.
My Money Design recently posted..Our Long Term Financial Goals and How We’ll Meet Them in the New Year
What an amazing way of putting it! I never thought of resolutions as rules literally; but you are right. We all know rules are made to be broken… goals are made to smash!! 🙂
This year we’re paying our savings account first!
someluckydog at gmail dot com
Quite right… do you have a holiday / treat in mind Cindy?
So far so good on my very realistic resolutions:
1. eat more bacon
2. drink more wine
I’ve acquired an entire leg of prosciutto from a friend who cured it himself over a year ago.
The wine however has been not as successful. I have increased my beer intake so I’ll take that as a partial success.
Having the money to buy booze where I live is the limiting factor… Our provincial government controls it and thus it’s about 5 to 25 times higher in price than the rest of the world. Wines that sell in Spain or Portugal for $2-3 a bottle cost $15-19 here.
thestarvingartistcanada recently posted..FOOD: the best creamed spinach ever!
That is awesome about the whole leg of prosciutto! A big supermarket near my house was selling them for Christmas and they looked awesome! That is a ridiculous markup on booze… what Province are you in?
Ontario! Wines that cost 15GBP in your neck of the woods are about $60-$70 here.
The government’s idea of controlling consumption through absurd pricing…. Brings them 4-5 BILLION a year in profits. Which do fund thinks like our roads, schools, and health-care.
The 6 classic malts of Scotland are all around $80 to $120 a bottle here. (Dalwhinnie, Talisker, Cragganmore, Oban Lagavulin, Glenkinchie) And not for any of the fancy issues… just the day-to-day stuff.
thestarvingartistcanada recently posted..MONEY: options update Jan 2013 part 2