Flip Thinking Your New Year Resolutions

Written by Kate McCallum, Multiforte

 

 

Most people - whether it’s a resolution to spend less, save more, lose kilos, exercise more or have a better work/life balance - find it challenging to create resolutions that they will be able to achieve. 

So, we suggest you don’t make a new year’s resolution about money.

Instead, why not try a completely different approach? Thanks to a well-known US productivity coach, here is a “flip-thinking” suggestion.

 

A few years ago, I gave up on standard New Year’s resolutions. Instead I decided to aim for something positive, something I was absolutely certain I could achieve - I was going to a live music event with my partner at least four times a year.  As you can imagine, I looked forward to keeping my resolution. It was so much fun, and became something we have kept up. 

Our subsequent resolutions have included learning a new musical instrument, practising yoga every day, having a weekend away once a quarter and racing a yacht. 

As a result of these positive resolutions, we now have future goals that include travelling overseas for a yoga retreat and participating in racing a yacht at the Etchells Mooloolabah winter race.

And here's the important point – as you can see, none of these resolutions is specifically about money, they are about improving the quality of our life experience. That is what motivates us to put in the effort, to seek information, to get expert help and advice where we need it – because we need that motivation to ensure that we achieve these goals.

Of course, while these are not explicitly stated as money-oriented goals, they do require a level of planning and financial resources to make them real. 

Articulating your life experience goals, particularly with a partner involved, is not something most of us do on our own, without being prompted.  Working in partnership with us, a senior HR director and her engineer husband have decided to kick-start 2011 by booking a lifestyle planning meeting with us (and then dinner afterwards without us), to clarify their goals and define the financial resources they will need to achieve them.  We will be working alongside them to develop strategies to give them the greatest chance of getting financially well organised and achieving their lifestyle plans.

The possibilities are unlimited and the payoff is amazing.

Would you like to have a better chance of achieving your goals? Perhaps it’s time to book your complimentary first lifestyle planning meeting. Simply call 02 8209 1607 or email to arrange a time.