Welcome to the new year! Are you ready to achieve something amazing this year? Maybe it’s getting into shape, spending more time doing that one thing that makes you happy… Whatever it is, let’s start the new year off right with our finances.
Yes, this is a New Year’s post so we will be talking about goals. But first I want to talk about your year.
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A YEAR DOES NOT HAVE TO BE A YEAR
Have you ever started your goal in January only to find you stopped by March or realized on December 31st you didn’t meet that goal because you set too high of a goal?
I recently read the book “The 12 Week Year” and inside this book, it shared that when you create a goal in January to finish in December you normally set the goal too high. This is because you feel you have all the time in the world to complete the goal (12 months, 52 weeks, or 365 days).
This book suggested having your year be 12 weeks (3 months). By doing this, your goal would be more attainable. The system is breaking your year into four because you only have 3 months to achieve it.
I am not going to go into complete detail of this system but I would suggest you read the book. What I want you to do is think of your year as 3 months.
SET YOUR GOAL
Goals are so very very important and we all should have financial goals. Remember your year is now ONLY 3 months, so in 3 months what do you want to achieve?
First, let’s decide what your dream is, what do you want financially? For me it’s being debt free, what’s yours?
Next, think of the steps you need to take to make this dream possible. Which one can you achieve in the next three months? This is your goal! But try to break this goal down even more. What tasks do you need to do to complete the goal?
My goal is to pay off half of one student loan. But to achieve this I will have to:
- use a budget
- meal plan
- and maybe even use the cash envelope system
So what’s your ONE financial goal for the next 3 months and what do you need to do to achieve it?
SIDE NOTE: You can do this in different parts of your life but only have ONE goal for each (financial, physical, spiritual, etc…).
After the 3 months, do this again until you have completed 4 goals in the year!
I hope this will help you start your year off right but also continue the year on the right foot.
Ella says
Hey Megan,
Thanks for sharing these tips to make New Year’s goals more attainable! I’ve used the 12 week method for business and it’s much easier to achieve goals that way. It forces us to focus and prioritize our action soon to make that goal a reality.
My one financial goal for the next 3 months is to open investment accounts to grow my wealth for the future.
Here’s to starting 2018 off right!
Megan says
I think that is an amazing goal!!!