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How Do You Create Reasonable Resolutions?

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reasonable resolutions

It’s that time of year again when people vow to be better than they were throughout the previous year. I, for one, am a fan of New Year’s resolutions for a number of reasons. The main reason I love the idea of resolving to do better is it gives everyone a fresh, positive outlook. As I’ve mentioned in the past, remaining positive has brought me a long way.

However, many people set goals and make resolutions that are simply not reasonable. For instance, if you have a lot of debt and little-to-no savings, it is unlikely that you will (or should) own a house by the end of the year. So, how do you go about creating reasonable resolutions?

My New Year’s Resolutions

Reasonable Resolutions

As you can see above, most of my resolutions have nothing to do with our finances (and that’s okay). Cutting our debt in half this year would be a HUGE deal for us and it is totally obtainable.

The other resolutions I’ve listed here are small but extremely important for me to maintain balance. First, my goal of “hustling more” will help us achieve our debt payoff goals. The more money we bring in this year, the more debts we can pay off. Next, self-care and health goals are always on my list. If you don’t invest in yourself (time or money), you won’t have anything to offer anyone else. This includes writing and reading more (for fun). Lastly, my husband and I have been slowly but surely learning German. I’d like to be fluent by the end of the year.

Unfortunately, most people stop trying to obtain their goals by the end of February (if they last that long). That’s usually because they’ve established these huge goals that are overwhelming, instead of breaking it down into smaller, easier tasks.

How to Create Reasonable Resolutions

So, how do you go about creating reasonable resolutions and goals for yourself? Well, first you should read up about SMART goal setting. This method of writing down and setting goals for yourself helps you create smaller tasks and organized your path to success. Here’s a quick breakdown of the process…

  • Specific: Have a specific goal in mind. Instead of saying, “I’d like to be thinner by the end of the year,” say, “I’d like to reach 165 pounds by the end of the year.”
  • Measurable: Be sure all of your goals are measurable in some way. As I mentioned above, we want to pay off half of our debt. This is measurable and specific.
  • Achievable: This goes back to choosing goals that make sense for you to reach within a year (or whatever period of time you’ve set). Consider what is keeping you from that goal now and plan for changes you may need to make. Then assess whether or not it is actually achievable, making those changes as needed.
  • Relevant: You always need to be sure the smaller goals you’re looking to reach make sense in the long-run. If you have a five-year plan, for instance, you should be sure you have goals this year to help you get there.
  • Time-based: Once you decide on your goals, be sure you outline a timeframe in which you’d like to have it done. For example, to reach my end-of-year weight goal, I’ll need to lose X amount of pounds per month. Then check-in and see if you’re on track every three months, month, week, whatever works for you.

You should also realize that, sometimes, life gets in the way of things. Don’t be too hard on yourself! If you run into problems when you’re attempting to reach your goals, take a step back and assess whether or not you have been specific enough in naming what you want to achieve.

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Use This SMART Goal-Setting Worksheet to Reach Your Financial Goals

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Goal Setting Worksheet
Goal-setting can be difficult, especially if you don’t have a go-to process of making sure your goals are on track and met. The best possible thing to do for most people is sit down and write it out. Whether your goal is to save $1,000 or buy a new rental property, having a setting goals worksheet can be a great help.

So, how should you go about starting a setting goals worksheet?

The S.M.A.R.T. Method of Goal-Setting

As with anything, there is a smart way to go about setting goals. The SMART method of goal-setting simply spells out all of the things you should decide before setting a goal and attempting to reach it. As a senior in college, I learned about SMART goal setting in a resume writing course I took. The class was a great course for preparing me for the “real world” and it also provided me with some information about setting SMART goals.

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Based. If your goal cannot answer each of these questions, you should reconsider what goal you are trying to reach.

  • Specific – You have to make sure your goal is specific. Most people have the goal of wanting to save more money. You’re more likely to reach that goal if you have a specific number in mind though. For instance, I would like to save $1,000 for an emergency fund.
  • Measurable – Next, make sure that your goal is measurable. If you are preparing a setting goals worksheet you always need to be able to SEE, or measure, results. Sticking with the saving money theme, you can measure your progress by tallying up how much you’ve saved in total.
  • Attainable – You should feel challenged by your goals but remember to also keep them realistic. Many people have the problem of setting unattainable goals and becoming discouraged. If you are trying to save money, for instance, set a goal that makes sense for you. If saving $1,000 seems like too much, start at $500.
  • Relevant – Does your goal even make sense? If your goal isn’t helping you further other parts of your life why are you doing it? If you are saving money, why? What is the end game? You shouldn’t be trying to save for a yacht if you have $0 in an emergency savings fund.
  • Time Based – Lastly, set a timeframe in which you would like to reach your goal. For instance, “I want to save $1,000 for an emergency fund by December 31.” By setting a date for your goal to be reached you are holding yourself accountable.

Tracking Your SMART Goal

You can use this SMART Goal Worksheet to answer each of the SMART questions above. Once you’ve begun to set out on reaching your goal you can journal your progress or use a goal tracker (I use Lifetick). Writing down the progress, hardships and eventual success will help you reach your goals even faster.

This is only one of thousands of ways to organize your goals and plans to reach them. Do you have another way of goal-setting you’d like to share? Let us know. 

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Photo: LinkedIn