It can be easy on New Year’s Eve to think about all the big changes you will make in January, but it’s another thing when that time rolls around, and we have to take the difficult or tedious actions to make it happen to reach our 2023 financial goals.
Most people yearn for professional and personal success, but as with all things in life, you have to plan for success in both areas. One of the best ways to stay committed and reach your goals is to break them. An ideal way to do this is into quarterly, monthly, weekly and then daily actions. You won’t meet all of them, but writing your goals and regularly reminding yourself of your overall major goal will keep you inspired.
Chief Behavioural Scientist Will Mailer from Commonwealth Bank Australia said that, unfortunately, new year resolutions rarely last.
“It’s that time of year when millions of Aussies will make New Year’s resolutions to get on top of their money, get in shape, or to live a greener lifestyle. Sadly, we also know that a huge number of these resolutions won’t make it to February, as statistics historically show that many of us fall back into old habits in the first weeks of the year.”
One strategy that behavioural scientists consider is the use of commitment devices or putting incentives in place to help your future self to follow through. For example, set a movement goal on your smartwatch and regularly increase the movement goal each month as your fitness increases. Numerous banks now offer spending notifications, cap spending and saving goals through their apps. Set time aside, investigate what is on offer through the bank app you already have, and utilise the services to achieve your financial goals.
Common Mistakes Made
“Another common mistake is that we rely too much on willpower when setting goals for the New Year. Willpower can be great to help us get started, but often we can get overwhelmed when we’re exposed to temptations or when our internal autopilot takes over.
“It’s important to capitalise on the strong willpower up front to set up systems around us that will help us to sustain good behaviours.
Like setting up auto-transfers on our savings, subscribing to a health food delivery service or disabling alerts on our social media accounts – CBA Chief Behavioural Scientist will Mailer
Remember to set short-term financial goals and long-term financial goals for your business and personal life too.
New Year’s resolutions: 5 practical tips
- Write you your 2023 goal and display them
- Avoid big and vague, and focus on specific.
- Mark in your calendar a date to review your progress
- Don’t be too hard on yourself
- Willpower is not enough, and you will need to push through the temptations
