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Just three weeks from today, we will be well into the first week of 2024.<\/p>\n
The new year\u2019s resolutions will still be fresh. People will be starting a new gym, a new diet, a new budget, or maybe all of them at once, with the hope that this time, it will stick.<\/p>\n
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People tend to make a raft of resolutions each New Year\u2019s, often including some money-related ones.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Simon Letch<\/cite><\/p>\n Today I\u2019m sharing three things that will help increase your likelihood of hitting your goals in the new year.<\/p>\n 1. Ditch the \u2018overnight success\u2019 mindset. <\/b>So many of us fall prey to the idea that we can wake up tomorrow and be a whole new person.<\/p>\n You are bad at saving money, but somehow you think writing up a budget will inspire you to finally become a fantastic saver overnight.<\/p>\n You\u2019re sick of being in debt, so you think starting on the 1st of the new month, you\u2019re just going to force yourself to not spend as much anymore. You\u2019re finally going to be disciplined.<\/p>\n What if the real key to achieving your goals was not how hard you try, but how simple you make it?<\/p>\n That\u2019s not how the brain works. There isn\u2019t a switch that you can just flick. Your current behaviours are supported by years of repetition, and likely an entire lifestyle, thought-process and environment as well.<\/p>\n Maybe you overspend because you have a social circle that engages in that behaviour, or your lifestyle makes it harder to cook at home, or you use spending to satisfy emotional needs.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t take the time to review how and why you have arrived at your current position, simply hoping you will be able to brute force a dramatic change overnight is a recipe for failure.<\/p>\n 2. Stop trying to do more of what isn\u2019t working. <\/b>One of my earliest money mistakes was not setting up a separate savings account. I had one transaction account. I just thought that whatever I didn\u2019t spend would sit in my account as savings.<\/p>\n I let this go on for quite a long time. I didn\u2019t think there was anything wrong with my system. I just thought there was something wrong with me: I wasn\u2019t trying hard enough or wasn\u2019t disciplined enough.<\/p>\n This is a mistake that keeps people stuck the longest. They keep trying what isn\u2019t working, thinking that they just need to try harder. Here are some common examples:<\/p>\n The problem is that you\u2019re likely trying the wrong system or strategy, and there\u2019s probably a much simpler and more effective approach than forcing yourself to try harder.<\/p>\n 3. Focus on what will make the biggest difference. <\/b>Often, financial goals fail because you\u2019re focusing on too many small things all at once, instead of focusing on a few big things one at a time.<\/p>\n For example, people who are trying to save money may start: chasing savings hacks, hunting for bargains, trying to bulk buy items, buying second-hand on Facebook marketplace, tracking every expense in an elaborate colour-coded spreadsheet.<\/p>\n Does this stuff work? Sure. Is this stuff sustainable? Usually not.<\/p>\n It lasts the month of January, and then once the year starts ramping up and work gets busy, kids are back at school, your mum gets sick, then you struggle to maintain your focus on 65 different saving strategies.<\/p>\n Instead, focus on the 20 per cent of things that make 80 per cent of the difference (the Pareto Principle). If you could only take one<\/i> action to move your finances forward, what would make the most significant difference?<\/p>\n For example, things like consolidating your superannuation funds, or making sure your superannuation is invested in the right portfolio are actions that are relatively simple but will have a much bigger impact on your long-term financial health than spending 15 minutes searching for the cheapest pasta-sauce.<\/p>\n You might have noticed that a common thread in this article is that people often mistakenly believe that the road to achieving goals has to be really hard, effortful, painful and complicated.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why it is so hard to achieve the goal. That\u2019s why they struggle to maintain the enormous effort that they think is required to achieve their goal.<\/p>\n What if the real key to achieving your goals was not how hard you try, but how simple you make it? What if trying hard was hiding simpler, more effective, more sustainable paths to the same destination?<\/p>\n So, next year, don\u2019t try harder, try simpler.<\/p>\n Paridhi Jain is the founder of SkilledSmart, which helps adults learn to manage, save and invest their money through financial education courses and classes.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n