Five key considerations for New Years resolutions

five key considerations for New Years resolutions orange wealth

January 23, 2017 Five key considerations for New Years resolutions

Between family, work and everything else in between, life gets away from you.

Time in particular.

Last year was a big one for me – both on a personal and business level.

My wife and I had our second daughter, and there were a few big milestones that we hit at different points across 2016 with Orange Wealth.

Suffice to say that, by Christmas and the subsequent break, it was nice to take stock, get some perspective and, importantly, start to map out a game plan for 2017.   

Here’s some sobering news, though: if, like me, you’ve made a few New Year’s resolutions, the odds are stacked against you.

According to a nationwide survey conducted by comparison site finder.com.au a while back, some 58 percent of Australians broke their resolutions in 2015.

The overriding reason, typically? Money.

Or lack of control around money.

Thinking back to speaking with a variety of clients last year, there were a few of overriding themes that consistently came through…

“I spend too much, and I want to live within my means.”

“We wish we’d started investing years ago… it just feels like everything is so expensive now!”

“I work hard but don’t have anything to show for it.”

From my perspective – and back to my earlier point – you just need a game plan to help you see your resolutions through.

My resolutions for this year…

I don’t just have one – I have three.

    • The first is to keep on the fitness train and get back into a routine  at Get It Done Fitness. The plan is to get fit, strong and stay on top of my health.
    • The second is to start an investment for my kids’ futures. My wife and I have already been saving for this; the plan is to now turn this into an actual investment.
  • The third is to give more. Meaning, I plan to recommit to giving money to charity, which is something I did regularly prior to launching a business and dropping an income with my wife taking a career break to stay at home to look after the girls.

financial health check orange wealth

My approach?

Well, there are five key considerations for New Years resolutions that have worked consistently well for me. Feel free to steal them.

Know what you want

This is crucial.

To start anything, you need to have a clear-cut goal in mind.

My word of advice? Speaking purely subjectively, obviously, make sure it’s a realistic one – and measurable.

Plan, plan, plan

Yes, put a plan in place.

Here, break down your goals and develop specific actions around them. From my experience, this is one of the key things to successfully realising your goals, particularly financial-driven ones.

Ask for advice

I love researching and doing all the necessary research and due diligence around stuff.

That said, if you’re not the type of person who enjoys doing that, getting the right financial advice will make your decision a lot less stressful.

What’s more, with professional guidance, you’re also much more likely to set yourself for success in the long term.

Get some coaching

Staying fit and keeping your finances in check typically have one thing in common: the need for discipline.

If you can’t maintain that yourself, it’s worth working with someone to help you consistently stay on track.

Forgive the metaphor, but much like an elite athlete and a sports coach, sometimes you just need to have someone regularly checking in to see if you’re on track, as and when required, helping you change your approach as and when your situation changes.

Get back on the horse

With the aforementioned stats in mind, don’t beat yourself up too much if a particular resolution starts to fall apart.

The best thing you can do is dust yourself off, get back up and start again. Whatever you do, don’t fall into the trap of resetting your goals once again come December 31.

As always, feel free to give me a shout if you’d like to talk through any of these, or just need a soundboard around any financial-related goals. Just don’t ask for any fitness tips – I’ll leave that one to the professionals 🙂

Disclaimer: all information contained within this article is of a general nature. It does not take into consideration your personal financial circumstances. Please consult a professional financial adviser (just like us 🙂 ) when making a financial decision.
Jason Chew
jason@orangewealth.com.au

I've been in the financial services industry for 10+ years and love coaching people to make the most of what they have.

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