Financial New Year’s Resolutions
Most people set New Year’s Resolutions in January and with a sense of renewal think about what they hope the year will hold for them.
I have been a resolutions girl ever since I can remember and I set goals each year around my career, finances, health and wellbeing, friendships, family life and my intimate relationship. As Lewis Carroll said, “If you don’t know where you are going any road will take you there…”
In recent years, rather than writing New Year’s resolutions, putting the diary away and not thinking about them until the next year I have developed a habit of monthly goal setting and actions.
Adopting Goal Setting Habits in Business
When I started my own business I adopted this habit and established a goal setting structure including:
- High level annual business goals
- Monthly goals focusing on revenue, newsletter subscriptions and social media growth, and other goals such as lifestyle and family-time (to remind me not to work constantly)
- Weekly Goals – on a Sunday night I grab my notebook and write down all the actions I need to achieve this week to take me closer to my monthly and annual business goals
I firmly believe that by setting these intentions I am putting out into the universe a request for assistance and that providing I work passionately towards my goals my dreams will be fulfilled.
Goal setting requires visioning and action expressed beautifully in the following quote
“ To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.”
-Anatole France
The Importance of Regular Goal Review
The other night I pulled out my Kikki-K Goal Book. It was amazing to see how much my goals for both my life and my business have changed from those I initially wrote in January this year.
To me, the point of goal setting is not to tie you down or make you feel like a failure if you don’t achieve them.
Life brings along many changes and challenges and it is important to be flexible and open to great opportunities that are different to what you had initially planned for yourself.
Reviewing my goal book really brought home how important my monthly goal setting habit is to remain focused yet flexible to the achievement of my goals.
Let’s Take Some Action
As we approach the end of the first month of the financial year, take the sense of possibility that we all feel on January 1st and apply it to your life or your business goals. It’s never too late.
Take out your diaries or notebooks and find the New Year’s resolutions you wrote back in January.
Ask yourself:
- What has changed?
- What new goals do I need to set?
- Where do I want to be in my business or life in the next 6 (or 12) months?
- How am I going to get there?
If you didn’t write goals in January then hop to it and grab a notebook and write out your goals for the next five months, or if running a business, the next financial year.
Now set some time aside in your diary to set lower level monthly goals that will help you achieve your high level goals.
Finally pick a day of the week and allocate a regular time to set weekly goals for your life or business.
Then each week going forward review your achievements and set new goals for the week ahead.
These new goal setting habits will provide focus to your life and your business and put your intentions out into the universe. And remember goal setting is not just for January 1st– it’s for anytime.
Kathryn Hocking is a Mumpreneur Coach and uses her passion and creativity to inspire, guide and motivate mums to pursue their dream business aspirations. Kathryn has been featured in major television and magazine media, is an expert contributor to many online publications and has a range of Mumpreneur workbooks and coaching packages available for sale on her website.
Contact Kathryn today at www.reveriecoaching.com or facebook https://www.facebook.com/ReverieCoaching.
