Don’t “new year, new me” yourself to death

Learn how to set yourself up for success when it comes to New Year's resolutions. 

While the end of the year is a great time to reflect and start thinking about what changes you want to make in the new year, it’s important not to “new year, new me” yourself to death.

What does that mean, exactly? Well, it can be tempting to just declare goals, ambitions, or resolutions for the new year. But make sure you’re setting yourself up for success and not just making promises to yourself that you can’t deliver on. Setting goals you don’t have the resources to accomplish can leave you feeling unmotivated, unfulfilled, and ultimately uninterested in completing them.

Set actionable goals – make sure to set goals you can measure, follow up with, and have the resources to attain. Be specific as possible to help make sure you have a clear goal in mind that you can visualize. 

For example, if you want to save money, drill down and be specific. Don’t just say, “save money,” say, “I want to save $1,000 by July 1, 2023.” This gives you an action item, a timeline, and a specific goal to reach.

Give yourself time to adjust – Completing goals, especially habitual ones, takes time. Give yourself enough time to adapt and make lasting changes. While every person is different, and people develop differently, psychologically speaking, it’s understood it takes anywhere from 2-8 weeks for most people to form a true habit. That means you could be well into February before a new habit or goal starts to stick. 

For example, if you want to make a new goal to read every night before bed, and the first few nights (or weeks) you forget occasionally, that’s okay – and normal. Don’t be discouraged if you miss a few nights. Be as consistent as you can, and the habit will eventually stick.

Reward yourself – Celebrate your milestones and reward yourself for accomplishing your goals! Rewarding yourself for hitting milestones or sticking with new habits is a great way to keep yourself motivated and train your brain to associate accomplishing goals with a reward.

For example, let’s say your goal is to spend less money on eating out. And three months into 2023, you haven’t eaten out once! Great job! Now reward yourself by going out one night, either alone or with friends or family, and celebrate your success! Now moving forward, you’ll be much more motivated to stick with your goal and learn that you can still do things you enjoy while simultaneously limiting them.

Set your goals for you.

New Year’s resolutions, or goals, are a great way to plan and implement changes you want to make in your life. However, don’t overwhelm yourself with too many goals or goals you aren’t prepared to take on. Set yourself up for success, and above all else – remember to be kind to yourself. If you want to help keep yourself accountable, try downloading our goal-setting sheet (available in black and white or color). Print it out and make a plan to keep your goals top of mind!

And one more thing – if you want to increase your savings in 2023, consider using Plinqit, the automated savings app! You can download it on your phone’s app store or sign up at plinqit.com.

Happy New Year, and good luck with those goals!