Council Post: The Secret To Accomplish Your New Year Resolutions

Andres Garcia-Amaya is the CEO & Founder of Zoe Financial, a wealth platform that accelerates wealth creation.

Every January, we get a chance to redefine what we want our life to look like in the upcoming year. Most of us even set ambitious resolutions to achieve these goals. Yet, 64% of people abandon their resolutions in just a month. It might be comforting to know you’re not alone in wanting to ditch your resolutions, but there is great value in staying resolute. After all, you set those goals for a reason.

Some common resolutions are saving money, having a healthier lifestyle and enjoying more time with friends and family. As it turns out, I’ve learned that working with a financial advisor can help you accomplish all three of these. Here’s how you can remain true to your resolutions by involving an expert.

More Financial Health, Less Financial Stress

Money is a common source of stress. In fact, according to the American Psychological Association (APA), 72% of adults feel stressed about money. The worst thing is that stress usually leads to an unbalanced lifestyle and deteriorated health (far from ideal if your New Year’s resolution is to be healthier).

Money decisions should not be stressful. The proper guidance can contribute to your financial (and mental) health.

Mitigate Your Limitations

Steve Jobs said, “The most precious thing we all have is time.”

I couldn’t agree more. Time is valuable because it is limited. Unfortunately, time constraints are one of the main excuses for not accomplishing resolutions.

That said, removing the lack of time variable from the equation could increase your chances of accomplishing your goals. To do so, you can either cut off some of your activities to increase your time to spare or borrow someone else’s time. That way, you can continue spending your time as you currently do but still know that someone is keeping your plans on track.

Remain Accountable

If you keep your resolutions to yourself and accomplish them alone, you face a higher risk of a lack of accountability. While that is a harsh statement, let’s face it—deceiving yourself is not as bad as deceiving someone else.

The same thing happens with exercise. For example, if you go to the gym and fail to complete the 50 pushups you set for yourself initially, it’s more likely that you cut yourself some slack, but if someone else is watching, you will push harder and complete the entire round. It is basic human nature. So if someone is aware of the goals you’re working toward, this might be just the encouragement you need to get the work done. This can also be applied to financial goals as well.

Pick Their Brain

You must consider numerous variables for saving, investing, tax management or retirement planning. That is why your financial life might initially seem messy, blurring the chances of accomplishing goals in that department.

However, just like you are an expert in business management, law, medicine or engineering (or whichever profession you have), wealth advisors are experts in improving their client’s financial life. Therefore, it’s only fair that you find their help to accomplish your financial resolutions this year. Doing so will help you create a budget, save more, invest your money and optimize your returns. Ultimately, if one of your New Year’s resolutions is improving your finances, the proper guidance will be the key to checking it off your list.

Track And Document Your Progress

Knowing where you stand and seeing how you get closer to your objective will naturally increase your motivation. Moreover, if you closely keep track of progress, you will be able to identify the need for tweaks to the plan.

Nevertheless, planning and tracking progress is easier said than done for most people. After all, you don’t want New Year’s resolutions to become a full-time job. That, however, doesn’t mean you should let it become a road blocker—especially if someone can cover for you on that front.

Check Off Your Resolutions

No one said accomplishing your New Year’s resolutions would be easy. By definition, these goals should be challenging. Living a healthy, happy life doesn’t just happen overnight.

I encourage you to be part of the 36% of individuals who remain faithful to their goals. Think about it. The secret ingredient to checking off your resolutions in 2023 could be letting someone else help you get there.

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Forbes Finance Council is an invitation-only organization for executives in successful accounting, financial planning and wealth management firms. Do I qualify?

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