Here we are, on the first day of 2024, full of hope and excitement for the opportunities that lie ahead. Whether 2023 was a year of incredible achievements or a challenging journey, January 1st arrives as a chance to embrace new beginnings and set our sights on positive outcomes. The experiences of the past year have undoubtedly equipped us with valuable lessons and resilience, empowering us to welcome the new year with renewed optimism. As we embark on this fresh chapter, let’s approach our goals with enthusiasm and determination, but let’s also make sure those goals are achievable.

New Year’s resolutions have been around since the Babylonians started celebrating the end of their calendar about 4000 years ago. Each passing year was marked by celebration, and a commitment to doing things differently in the new year. We’ve had a few thousand years to perfect this practice, but for many of us we still struggle with the idea of selecting a New Year’s resolution, and sticking to it. How many of us have raced to the nearest gym on January 2nd to purchase a membership, full of enthusiasm and expectations of how great we are going to look and feel? How many of those memberships were put to good use for the first few weeks, and cancelled shortly after? How many decided to quit smoking or drinking, not only for the health benefits, but because the cost of discretionary indulgences has become so expensive, only to find ourselves falling back into old habits a few days later? How many of us have vowed to cut back on screen time, only to find ourselves hours deep into the next binge-worthy series we hear about when we return to work? Save more money – in today’s economy, forget about it….or is there a way?

Small Steps to Big Goals

The problem with the classic resolutions is not that they are impossible to achieve (they are all totally achievable, and good for us), it’s that we expect them to be as easy to begin as turning the page on our calendars. What we need to remember is that, if we didn’t have the time or will power to do these things last year, nothing will change overnight to make them any more achievable. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we can start setting realistic goals, ones that will snowball into larger ones down the road.

For many people around the world, holiday feasts and overindulgence make one of the most common New Year’s resolutions a no brainer. Getting in shape, whether for the health benefits or to carve out a six-pack, sees people flocking to their nearest gym or department store fitness section to set them up for success. It’s easy – buy a treadmill, walk or run for an hour each day, and see results. There is not doubt that you will see results (over time) if you add one hour of physical activity each day, but if you’re hoping this alone will help you drop 50 pounds in time for summer, you might as well put the “for sale” ad up now. What many people don’t realize is that losing weight quickly takes a balanced approach of reducing calories and increasing activity. Doing one and not the other often fails, unless you’re trying to build muscle mass. Many people also set themselves up for failure – if you drink a 400 calorie energy shake before a brisk one hour walk on the treadmill you will find that you actually gain weight! Instead, set a realistic goal of gradually losing a few pounds here and there and don’t look in the mirror each day. Try replacing your 270 calorie double cream/sugar coffee each day with black and you’ll drop 12 pounds in a year. Replace a regular soft drink for sparkling water and lose another five or six pounds this year. Couple these easy changes with taking the stairs instead of the elevator each day and you’re on track to meet your 50 pound goal in just a couple of years. Will you see changes in the mirror? Probably not, but over time those around you will, and their feedback should help motivate you forward. Black coffee and sparkling water may not be for everyone, and are just a couple examples of small, achievable changes you can make that will have a big impact over time. If you can’t make one or two small changes like these I’m surprised you’ve been able to stay engaged with this post for this long – give it a try!

Is it this easy for other resolutions?

Smoking and drinking are a different animal. A non-smoker or non-drinker may look at these behaviours as discretionary indulgences, not necessary to survive, and they’d be right, but these behaviours (especially smoking) come with the unrelenting grip of addiction, and are not nearly as easy to change. There are people out there who quit “cold turkey” and good for them, but for the vast majority of people, the side effects and distractions that come along with a sudden life altering change are too much to bear. If your New Year’s resolution is to quit smoking or drinking the easiest way to get started is to NOT quit. You read that right. The best way to achieve success when quitting some addictive behaviours is to gradually make small, achievable changes that will one day lead to your goal. Smoke inside your house or car? Try only smoking outside instead, and over time you’ll find you smoke less. Like a drink or two after a long day? Try going for a walk, write in a journal, or pick up another hobby. You can still have a drink when you’re done, but you may find that you don’t have the time or don’t feel like it at all. You can still drink, but over time you will start putting other priorities first, ultimately drinking less in the end.

Is it possible to save money in this world, and is this a realistic resolution?

Yes and yes! Saving money is another very common New Year’s resolution, one that can be treated the same as other tough-to-achieve resolutions. Is your goal to save several thousand dollars for a family trip on March break? Excellent, but unless you make far more than you spend, or you started saving last January 1st, you are unlikely to reach this goal. Things cost more these days, and saving has become harder. Many advisors will recommend cutting things like eating out, buying coffee on the way to work or school, and monthly subscriptions – all great recommendations. The thing is, these actions alone will not help us reach our goals of saving more money. First, if any of these things truly bring you joy, keep doing them, just be ready to cut expenses in other areas that don’t bring you joy. I’ll say that again – spending money on discretionary things like a streaming subscription or eating out each Friday are fantastic expenses, IF they bring you joy.

So we’ve found a few areas where we can cut expenses, and identified others that bring enough benefit to our lives to keep fighting for, yet we continue to find the bottom of the bank account before reaching the end of the month. If your resolution is to save more money there is one simple tweak that everyone can make – save first, then spend the rest. Most people do the opposite, spending their hard earned money on bills, food, entertainment, and things that bring them joy, and hoping at the end of the month they have a little left over to save. They key to making this work is to SAVE FIRST, and make sure it’s a realistic amount. $10 per week invested in the markets over 5 years could become over $3,000! That is about a coffee a day – totally achievable. Make it $100 per week and think longer term, like 15 years, and you’ll be left with an astonishing $137,000! Everyone’s number and reason for saving will be different, but pick an amount (you can always add later, so start with something realistic) and make the saving automatic – your bank can help with this part. Consider automatically transferring this money to an account you don’t see, and before you know it you won’t even notice the change. Save first – who cares what you do with the rest – but whatever you do, save first!

Take just one of these examples and use it to inspire your 2024 New Year’s resolution. You don’t have to change the world overnight. You don’t have to change yourself overnight. You don’t have to become rich overnight. What you must do, however, is choose small, meaningful, and most importantly, achievable goals and stick with them. Go to the gym each day if you have carved out the time in your already busy life, or if it truly brings you joy, but if you haven’t found a way to unwaveringly commit to this resolution, get back to the drawing board and try again. Want your New Year’s resolution to stick this time? Make sure you’re taking small steps….towards big things.

Happy New Year!