A New Year Resolution or Plan for Life?
It’s the beginning of a new year, an ideal time to make New Year’s resolutions. Or is it?
I must admit, I often fail my New Year’s resolutions by the beginning of February – especially the “lose weight” one! I know the reason why. My New Year’s resolutions are usually weak, neither cemented in my core values nor my big-picture plans. I don’t even write them down! I realised that one BIG reason why New Year’s resolutions don't stick is our way of thinking:
“IT'S BEEN THIS WAY FOR SO LONG, I CAN'T IMAGINE IT WILL BE ANY DIFFERENT IN THE FUTURE.”
The status quo is entrenched in the mind. Any significant change we want to achieve needs a 360-degree mind shift. And this mind shift begins with three steps:
Declare your wildest dreams as a BHAG – Big Hairy Audacious Goal.
Once you declare your BHAG, you need to create a plan to achieve it. This plan must be divided into sub-goals with tasks/actions to be done every week.
Set up a system of accountability to fulfill those tasks/actions. This should include a coach who will hold you accountable.
WHAT ARE YOUR BHAGS FOR 2018?
Think about what you want to achieve in 2018 and beyond. You can change the status quo despite it being "the way it is for a while". Do you want to earn the money you deserve? Make more profit in your business? Manage your finances better? Get married? Buy an investment property? Invest in shares? Buy your dream home? Have a baby? Travel? Lose weight (let's do this together. I am aiming for 10 kilos drop this year!)?
Make 2018 count and take charge of your money. The tragedy I see daily is people in their late 40s and early 50s seeking financial advice because they don’t have enough money to show for 30 years of hard work. The biggest challenge facing most Australians is that we will outlive our money.
Buying your own home is all good but it won’t earn you an income when you retire, unless you share it with room renters or put it on Airbnb. Would you want to do that in your retirement years?