I am not much of a supporter of new year resolutions, mainly because I don’t like waiting around for a specific date to make positive life changes.
That said, I guess some people don’t really think about making positive life changes until the new year rolls around.
Out of curiosity, I did a little digging to see what seemed to be the most common new year resolutions that people strive for.
It probably isn’t much of a surprise that more than a few of the most common resolutions are financial goals…
Get in shape
It isn’t much of a surprise that this is the most common new year’s resolution. It seems to be the most typically set and failed resolution that people make.
I don’t know about you, but I have found from failing to keep resolutions many times that I need to make very small changes. Rather than setting a goal to start working out every day, I set a goal to work out once a week. Once I successfully reach that milestone, then I work up to two days a week and so on.
For me, this seems to be the only way that works to help me make life changes.
Eat healthier
A few years ago, I read a book that changed my life. It was called, “What the Bible says about Healthy Living.” I quickly realized that I had been falsely thinking that I was “healthy”.
Just like I mentioned above, I didn’t try to change all of my habits at once, but rather focused on making one small change at a time. The result- I am still keeping up with lots of principles I learned in that book.
Get out of debt
Debt affects many areas of our lives – marriages, physical and mental health, sleep, joy, etc.
Money fights are one of the biggest stressors on marriages and a recent study found people with high levels of debt were more than 13 times as likely than low or no-debt people to lose sleep at night.
Taking the steps today to get out of debt will help you in almost all areas of your life!
Stop smoking
This is a tough one, but probably one of the best things you can do for your physical health.
Start budgeting
I am always in awe of how much people hate the word “budget.” It really is not a form of modern day torture like some would believe. I can’t tell you how much freedom came after we started budgeting.
The key is all about how you set up your budget, but for us, instead of feeling restricted on what to do with our money, it actually provided a lot more freedom and allowed us to spend money on things that we never would have without a budget.
I have written quite a bit about budgeting (and created a budgeting course here), but if you are just starting I suggest you download a free budget spreadsheet and read How to Make a Budget.
Get a new job / Start a business
Boy, do I know the feeling. I had wanted to get a new job and start a business for a while, and I finally found a way to turn my hobby into a full-time income. For inspiration check out the what to do when you hate your job and How I escaped the Rat Race.
Spend more time with family
This is just another one of the many reasons why I wanted to improve my financial situation.
Save or make more money
Saving money is another topic that I have written a lot about – check out these ways to save money!
Get your life organized
I feel like I have a lot of areas in my life organized. But my area of difficulty is my time.
Time management has always been a struggle for me. I have made steps forward over the years after reading books like The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People or Getting Things Done, but I still have a ways to go.
If this is your resolution, check out my Morning Checklist for some inspiration!
Give more
If you are anything like me, you always want to give more, but often overlook opportunities because of the busy-ness of life. For inspiration, I leave you with a bunch of great giving scriptures and quotes.
My personal New Year’s resolutions
As I mentioned earlier, I don’t typically set any resolutions for the new year, but like everyone else I do have a few areas I am looking to improve in. Here are a few things I am looking to improve in 2020….
- I want to give more – financially as well other areas of my life
- I want to continue to learn how to become a better communicator
- Take my prayer life to the next level
How about you – Do you have any resolutions or goal setting for the new year?
One of my 2009 goals is 2 of yours combined: wake earlier in order to spend more time with God. And of course, drastically reduce our debt load 🙂
I really don’t care for the term “New Years resolutions”.
I do, however, like Nicki’s terminology…goal. A goal,at least in my mind, is more positve than…a new year’s resolution.
Don’t mean to sound “picky”….but the world so often views “resolutions” as something to be broken.
Your goals…almost mirror my own!
yea, I assume there are lots of us with similar goals – they are good and common ones!
People don’t need to wait for new years to make resolutions, if you want to do something, just start doing it. I don’t by into the whole resolutions deal. Set a goal and start, regardless of what it is.
What time would you like to wake up at and what time do you wake up now?
+1 to Craig’s statement.
Earlier in the series there is a discussion on changing your thinking. Quit thinking with a secular world view and think with a Christian world view. Get off your blessed assurance and get it done TODAY!
@Joe Thanks for agreeing. But I am not speaking from a religious angle. I am not a Christian, but enjoy the blog posts for the financial advice, and leave religious views out of it. Regardless of one’s own religious views I still think if you want to achieve something, plan it out, put it into action, work hard, and reach your goals.
I will visit this page again
Bob, thanks for the list – seems like some pretty common resolutions on there.
What I noticed was a lot of “self control” type resolutions – smoking, finances, health, time etc – they all come down to the fact of having control over these things rather than those things controlling us.
Bob, Just curious how you plan to take your prayer life to the next level?
Thanks!
@Jason,
basically by devoting more time to it! Pretty simple, but I have found that praying the the absolute best investment of my time – even when I have a million things that I “have to” do – spending time with God is usually the best thing I could do at that moment – this doesn’t make it any easier, but at least I am finally learning what the best use of my time is…
Very cool Bob – you’re absolutely right, it is the best use of our time and yet it is so hard to do. What a paradox and something we have to fight for on a regular basis.
I’m learning to appreciate the time spent with God and view it as communion with Him rather than the time spent rambling on about my “needs” and things I hope to see happen.
Instead of making New Year’s Resolutions I decided to make Firm Determinations that focus on my Finances, my Health, my Faith, and my Blog…and it looks like I have variations of #’s 1, 2, 8, and 10 on my list.
I love your blog and I look forward to reading it every day!
Mrs. DFx40
I don’t believe in New Years resolutions. The term goal has been mentioned and that is what I like as well. Why wait until the new year to make a “resolution” when you can do it at any time. There is a new day each morning, a new week every seven days and a new month 12 times a year. What makes having a “resolution” at the end or beginning of the year better than doing one each day/week/month?
I already broke what I considered my main financial new year’s resolution:
not to buy individual stocks and only ETFs. I could not help it and bought Apple (I succumbed to the hype surrounding the imminent launch of the tablet).
http://www.BibleChecklist.com has a free bookmark with a list of all the books of the Bible on it. You can print off & stick in your Bible & check off each chapter/book as you finish it. I hope you get through the Bible again this coming year!
I do not make resolutions or set goals at the turn of the year but rather at the beginning of MY personal new year. The day of my birthday counts for me. My birthday has past for 2011 and my goals are already well on the way to being met… I may even add new ones at my half year birthday mark. I have done that before. M