What are your New Year's Resolutions? Setting your goals for 2012
Christmas seems to go very quickly, doesn’t it! It’s only a couple of days of festivities after weeks of preparations. However, even a short break does give you time to reflect and prepare yourself for the new year.
One of the most common new year’s resolutions is to sort out finances, but many people say this without devising a plan that sets out exactly what they want to achieve. As Brian Tracy says: “People with clear written goals accomplish far more than people without them can ever imagine.”
My own new year’s resolutions are never about planning to give something up but are about what we plan to achieve. As a family, we find this approach much more exciting. To me, discussing and planning our goals together means that we are more likely to achieve them. As Winston Churchill sums up: “He who fails to plan, plans to fail”. Financial planning is making sure we have the funds to be able to fulfil our dreams and aspirations, and the starting point has to be defining what these are.
If you haven’t set goals before, you may not know where and how to start. So let me give you some tips. Goals fall into three categories: short-term, medium-term and long-term. I would consider short-term being during the next year, medium between three to five years and long-term any time after this. Your view on each timeframe might be different.
Most people find their short-term goals are relatively easy to decide but rarely think beyond that. The best way to decide your medium-term goals is to sit and visualise yourself in three to five years and imagine what you would like to happen for you to feel happy with your work, finances and personal life by then.
For your long-term goals, it might help to visualise yourself in a nursing home writing a book about your life. Think what you would like to have achieved and everything that’s included within that dream.
Once you have an idea about where you want to go, the next step is to plan your finances to make sure that it can happen. This is where a financial adviser can come in to help you put a plan together. And, just as importantly, they can make sure you have the insurances to help you cope financially if things don’t go to plan.
At Monetary Solutions, we offer a free without obligation consultation. This year, why not make sure your resolutions count and let us help you achieve your goals?
