New Year Resolution Guide

You unwrapped the presents and stored the decorations. The holiday season may be behind us, but it’s not too late to put thought into your New Year’s Resolutions.

Don’t roll your eyes. New Year’s Resolutions can actually be great things. In the past, they received a bad rap for being outlandish goals. Too often, a person creates unattainable aspirations that leave the goal-setter feeling like a failure.

However, if done right, you can set New Year’s Resolutions that are both achievable and inspiring!

For Resolutions to be successful, they must be actionable. Generally, people tend to set vague goals such as “be a better person” or “improve my relationships.” While the heart of the goal is admirable, it’s difficult to know if they’ve ever been achieved. Those are well-meaning ideas, but they aren’t measurable.

With this in mind, here are ways you can make New Year’s Resolutions evolve from clever concepts to refreshing realities in your life.

Improve Health

Improving your health is a great idea but not a wonderful goal. It falls into a very undefined area. Work to be specific. How many pounds do you want to lose? Do you want to run a certain distance within a set time? What is your target weight to bench press?

Here are ways to make a healthy Resolution work for you.

Join a gym
Of course, being healthy in 2021 means something different than it did in past years. You’ll want to ensure the gym you join has proper Covid safety protocols in place. Once you see and feel safe with those, the sweating can begin!

The financial commitment you make with your membership provides a stronger motivation to go regularly. If you feel really inspired, hire a trainer. Most gyms have this service as a part of their offerings. Trainers have the experience and knowledge to guide you towards your specific and measurable health-related goals. It might be just the added push you need.

Get a workout partner
If a trainer is out of your budget, talk with friends who might have similar health-related Resolutions. Sync your schedules so you can work out (safely and preferably outside) together. When you know you’ll disappoint a friend by canceling, the accountability makes you less likely to skip the workout.

Put it on the calendar
Remind yourself of your workout times by setting notifications on your phone and marking them on every calendar you use. When these activities are new to your day, the reminders help. Link them to a visual reminder of why you’re working on your health. Add a picture of your grandkids or a swimsuit you want to show off. These make your workout times harder to ignore.

Make a list
While your workout sessions claim most of the attention, the road to good health often starts at the grocery store. Look up substitutions for ingredients that you commonly use that may not be the best for you. Find lower calorie snack options. So that you don’t eat the whole sleeve of cookies, see if your favorite snacks come in preset serving sizes. The answers you’re looking for to achieve this healthy goal may just be on a different aisle of your grocery store.

Save Money

It’s never a bad idea to be more financially responsible. However, just saying “I want to save money” is a bad goal. How much money do you want to save? Which account do you want it in? Clearly define how you want the money saved and what amount is considered enough.

Here are some methods to get started towards a financial Resolution.

Look at your current spending
Keep receipts. Look at statements. Take notes on your current spending habits. What do you see? Eating out or ordering in a little too often? Paying for services you don’t use frequently enough to justify the cost? There may be adjustments you can make now to services that you won’t miss. A few minor cuts still make a big difference to your wallet.

Use direct deposit
Most companies pay their team members using electronic deposits to their bank accounts. In the transfer, payroll can divide the paycheck between different accounts. How are your funds submitted? Consider having an increased percentage go towards a savings account. The amount that builds will come in handy for home repairs, your children’s education expenses or rainy days (remember 2020?).

Better Relationships

The true value of life is in our relationships with others. But, as with anything of value, relationships require work.

Here are ways you can meet your Resolutions about relationships.

Name who
Which relationships need your focus? Know which ones need your attention so that you don’t feel overwhelmed or spread yourself thin.

Name how
Think of that person individually. What are ways you can spend time with that person that will better that specific relationship? We all have different ways we feel valued. How can you make that person feel valued by you? If you need help figuring this out, consider defining their Love Language.

Name when
As with the health-related Resolutions, mark your calendar for time with the relationships you want to improve. You can’t get in better shape without time at the gym. In the same way, you can’t improve relationships without spending time with that person.

Resolutions Recap

The above are Resolutions you could have. They aren’t necessarily Resolutions you should have. Don’t set so many that you overwhelm yourself in 2021. Keep your load light enough for you to accomplish what you aim to achieve and also enjoy the year ahead.

When you make notable improvements, celebrate your victories along the way. You’re brave to set Resolutions going into 2021 and deserve pats on the back along the way.

Whatever you want out of 2021, we at BluPrint Home Loans wish you the best in the coming year. Even with all the challenges we see around us, this year offers incredible opportunities for wonderful things. BluPrint Home Loans wants to help you experience them all!