New Years Resolutions

It is once again that time of year, where the year ends and a new one begins. With that new year often people decide to set a resolution or goals for themselves to achieve in the new year. Many will choose to focus on their health or their wealth or even travel goals, however at the end of the year many haven't achieved their goals. If you find yourself struggling to achieve your new year goals this quick guide hopefully will help. It will go over how to keep the top three most common new years goals, and also help keep any other goal.

Many of us when picking a new years goal often tend to want to focus on our health. So much so that many gyms report a huge spike in memberships in the first months of the year. However, the participation usually drops shortly after, often due to people losing focus. How can you stay focused on a healthy goal and keep your normal schedule? Well for one, don't go into the new year guns a blazing, rather focus on smaller goals. More achievable ones, many studies prove that the more micro goals we complete the more our confidence boosts. Meaning you would have a higher chance of sticking to your goals and achieving them. So a good micro health goal would be to begin your focus on making the small switches. A good small switch is to either shrink down your eating out or to incorporate more whole foods into your diet. Making this small goal can drastically change your overall rate of achieving your goal to be healthier. By eating better you'll not only feel accomplished by hitting your micro goal, but you'll also reap the benefits of eating better. The next micro goal is to incorporate more physical activity into your daily life, for most of us hitting the gym can be inconvenient. However, many of us are surrounded by opportunities to get more physical within our daily routines. Such as taking the stairs over the elevator, or walking to that coffee shop that is two blocks away, even just walking the dog an extra fifteen minutes. All of which can help add more activity into your life for those days when hitting the gym may not be possible. Especially in today's world with covid-19, where most gyms are on a schedule ahead of time rule book. And if anyone is like me life can be busy and scheduling ahead can be difficult to remember, but don't let that throw you off. Stick to the micro goal of adding in steps per a day, rather than focusing on hitting the gym every day. The next goal tip is set realistically achievable goals for yourself, don't set impossible goals that will only disappoint you. If your focus is to lose weight then don't set your goal at 200 lbs. a year, rather focus on losing about 2lbs. a week. If your goal is to gain muscle and weight make sure you focus on achieving it at a steady rate, rather than a quick and sudden rate. Overall in order to keep your health goal, set those micro goals to reach your overall goal.

Wanting to be on the route to becoming a millionaire or financially stable is the next popular goal many have. However, with many people on a set income making the right financial choices can be very difficult. In this case setting goals can seem frustrating when it seems impossible to change your income. But, you can change your lifestyle in order to put that money away in savings every month. Only downside to that is your lifestyle will be affected, depending on your reason for saving that might be worth it. If your reasoning is just to eventually financially stable there are a few micro goals to hit. One clear any credit card debt, this may take the whole year or more, but don't be discouraged. The next micro goal that you can do is change how you shop, this might seem silly, but hear me out. Rather than shopping at expensive store shop at cheaper department stores, often they have the same or similar for a fraction of the price. Not to mention coupons, couponing is the best way to save money, not just for groceries, but for meals alike. In todays world you can use apps for food and for groceries that automatically have all the coupons in one place. I suggest becoming a member of everything you use frequently because then the coupons and discounts will become more personalized. Saving you money in the long run, without changing your lifestyle too much. Next thing to do is set saving goals at the end of every month or paycheck. I suggest basing your saving goal off of what you make, put aside a quarter of your income into savings if you can. Not only do savings help you reach your overall goal, but they also provide financial security. Micro goals will help you step into a new level of financial security.

With Covid-19 travel isn't on many of our minds as a realistic goal, however it is still a popular goal. With this goal it is best to do it in steps, taking little steps towards the bigger picture will help you stay organized. The first step is of course get a passport, if you don't have one already, and if you do make sure it is up to date. Once you got a passport, you only need to focus on making sure your financials are in good standing. All that would be left is planning your trip, however this is where many things go downhill. Make sure you have done your research and are aware of what outlets your destination has and what vaccines are required. Also, calculate what your money equals in their dollar, which will help you adjust your finances. Another thing is many of us have a wing it attitude, which is fun and fine, but can lead to dangerous situations. It is safe and good to have a clear itinerary and make sure you have shared it with close friends and family. This may not seem like a necessary step, but not only does it make things safer, it also helps you stick to your goal. You are now sharing a set plan with your close friends and family, which is setting up an accountability group. Having a strong plan will also make it easier for you to pack and know what to look forward to when you get there. Taking multiple steps is your way to go to travel and to accomplish all your travel goals.

In conclusion in order to keep your goals you just need to make sure to set many small goals. These small goals will build up towards your larger goal, helping you to achieve them. These smaller goals will also help you feel encouraged to stick to your larger goal, keeping you motivated. Just remember to have fun and at the end as long as you are happy and you feel great, you have achieved the biggest goal, having a great new year!