Your New Year's Resolution

88% of people give up on their New Year’s Resolutions by the second Friday in January.

So that means if you even make it to the end of the month, you’re in the top 12%.

I’m not sure how you feel about that, but that isn't very encouraging.

For most of my life, I gave people crap for even having a New Year’s Resolution. It felt so corny. Why are you basing what you’re going to do on the time of the year?

Why not just start it right now? Or a month ago? Or in February?

But, if you’re someone who goes to the gym, you know what those first couple of weeks in January are like. It’s H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks.

I wanted to write an email to share with you why I came around to New Year’s Resolutions. I want that for you. You can change your life in a year. Yes, you!

But, I also did some research on why people fail, and I wanted to share those with you in hopes that your resolutions are not just a statistic, but something you can reflect on at the end of the year that completely changed your trajectory.

Time To Reflect

One of the things that I’ve come to love about the process of New Year’s Resolutions is that it gives us a chance to reflect.

To appreciate and be grateful for all of the ways that God has impacted our lives in the last year.

Maybe you’re a perfect Christian, but I’m certainly not.

So the end of the year is a great reminder for me to sit, be present with God, and admire what we’ve gone through together.

One of my resolutions this year was to become a father.

My wife was pregnant coming into 2024, but unfortunately, that pregnancy wasn’t meant to be.

Turning to God, and trusting that he has a good plan for us, really helped us during that time.

Another one of my resolutions was to help other people with their finances.

When I said that in January, I was just thinking about the group I was leading through Financial Peace University, I never had thought about posting on social media.

And when I did start posting, I just asked God, please don’t let me embarrass myself and please let at least someone get value from this.

My specific goal was to get to 2k followers by the end of 2024.

God has really blessed me here, and anytime I feel frustrated by how well a post does or that I’m growing slower than I was other weeks, I remind myself what a slap in the face that is for God.

I share these with you because I know that you’ve had some challenges this year, but you’ve also had some blessings from God.

It’s important to remember that he’s there at both times, whether we think he is and whether we want him to be.

Spend some time with him this week, reflecting on the year.

“Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” James 4:8

Time To Focus

You probably signed up for this newsletter because you’re someone who’s trying to improve their life.

The key step that most people miss when they set down a path of financial stability is understanding why they are doing this in the first place.

Your Vision, your Why, your Purpose - this is what will get you to make the sacrifices. This is what will get you to make the hard decision that is required to change your life.

(You can’t change your life unless you change your life :)

New Year’s resolutions are a chance to set your focus for the year.

For me, I’m working toward setting my life up in a way that frees up more of my time to focus on my purpose.

So my resolutions and my goals, are all aligned with that. I know what I’m changing for which makes it easier to change.

I’ve signed up to volunteer with an organization I feel passionate about.

I’m spending more time working on Budgeter’s Anonymous, trying to help others with their finances.

If you want to improve in all areas of your life, come up with a very specific goal in each of these 7 areas:

• Physical

• Spiritual

• Intellectual

• Family

• Financial

• Social

• Career

Time To Prepare

Ok, maybe you’re feeling fired up to reflect and focus - but maybe you were already feeling fired up.

How can you avoid being another statistic who doesn’t follow through with your resolutions?

For starters, having a “Why” is already going to put you ahead of others. But here are some other things you can do to set yourself up for success:

1. Accountability: Your odds of actually following through on something go up significantly when you are doing that with someone else. If you’re trying to get in shape, find someone reliable who will go to the gym with you on a set schedule. If you’re trying to get closer to God, get involved with the church. If you’re hoping to get better with finances, find a friend who will do free activities with you. You might need to get creative with the goal, just don’t do it alone.

   
   

2. Pray About It: What if you just talked to God about your goal every day? Spent some time with your phone down, no screen, maybe went for a walk outside and just talked to God about your why and what you’re doing to get there. Couples that pray together have a divorce rate of less than 1%. Don’t you think that would apply to your goals too?

   
   

3. Create a Strategy: Don’t just say you want to lose weight. Make your goal something specific that you can follow which would result in losing weight. Like going to the gym 3 times a week. And don’t try to be a hero, pick one thing at a time. For example, in 2024 I wanted to get closer to God, so I decided to truly do a full tithe the whole year. I could have also decided to read the entire bible in a year, sign up to lead a group, etc. The more you layer on the harder it will be to stick to it. Be realistic with your goal, get some momentum.

   
   

4. Expect Challenges: Despite what you may think, we all face a unique set of challenges. The only commonality is that we all face challenges. If you’re trying to save for an emergency, expect at some point emergencies are going to come up during the year that are going to set you back. And some of the challenges you face might be out of your control, some might be you making a mistake, like blowing money on a trip. Don’t focus on perfection, we’re all imperfect. Focus on overcoming obstacles. One of my mentors always tells me, if you stand next to the hoop long enough, you’re bound to score.

   
   

I’m here for you and hope at the end of 2025 you are writing me because it was the best year of your life.