January Newsletter
From our family to yours, Happy New Year!
We hope you've had a joyful holiday season filled with friends, family, and lots of good food. We count it a blessing to be ringing in the New Year with you.
As we embrace the possibilities of 2025, there is no better time to turn your aspirations into reality. Setting meaningful - and attainable - goals can help you focus your energy, stay motivated, and make the progress you'd like to see in the year ahead.
That's why January's Tip of the Month is all about how to set and achieve your New Year's goals - a simple guide to help you turn those lofty resolutions into actionable steps towards success.
Set Your Goals
One of the best ways to set yourself up for success in the New Year is to make your goals three things: realistic, measurable, and specific.
Be realistic about what’s attainable for yourself and your family. Saying you want to save 50% of your paycheck is a great goal to strive for, but for many of us, it is simply not realistic. Take the time to sit down and consider what is realistically doable in 2025.
Well-known engineer and economist William Edwards Deming famously said, “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” This holds true for your goals for 2025 and goes hand-in-hand with setting specific goals. It’s far easier to stick to goals that you can look back on and measure. Rather than saying “we’re going to save more this year,” say “we’re going to save $10,000 for an emergency fund by the end of the year.” Give yourself a finish line.
This is especially true for goals that are inherently qualitative. Instead of saying “I’m going to get into better shape in 2025,” say “I want to be able to run 2 miles without stopping by the end of 2025.” It’s easy to let vague goals fall to the wayside.
Make a Plan
Having a plan for your personal goals is just as important as having a plan for your finances. Make a plan for how you’re going to achieve your goals this year. Goals like “spend more time together as a family” fall off the wagon much more easily than saying “we’re going to have family dinner and game night every Tuesday.” If your goal for 2025 is to begin saving for your kids’ college, make a plan for how much and how often you’re going to save and where the money is going to go.
Give it Time
If you’ve taken into consideration all of the things previously mentioned, you should find yourself with goals that are more realistically achievable than in years past. All that’s left to do is execute. Be patient with yourself here – a study performed in 2009 found that it takes about 65 days to form a new habit. Keep this in mind when the going gets tough. It’s biological that it will be hard getting started, but the longer you stick to your plan, the easier it will become.
Change Your Mindset
James Clear’s book Atomic Habits is an excellent read if 2025 is your year of change. Clear writes about the power of changing your identity, writing that your current behaviors are simply a reflection of your current identity. If your goal is to be more active in 2025, rather than saying “I am going to start spending smarter,” say “I am someone who is wise with money.” By changing what you believe about yourself, you can create a ripple effect that manifests itself into the outcomes you desire.
