You Need To Know Your Why

I constantly see friends of mine making New Year's resolutions for finances or business. They will post about it on social media or tell me how great they feel because they do "ABC".

I see them two months later and ask how it is going. And the conversation typically goes like this:

Me: "Are you still "ABC" every day? How's that going?"
Friend: "What?"
Me: "The new year's resolution that you made, the one you were posting about all the time?"
Friend: "Oh... Yeah. I stopped.

And that seems to be the big issue with New Year's resolutions. Something does not "click". Or rather, it does not STICK. They are not helping us to change in the long run. They are just a short-term fix with no lasting results.

The stats on New Year's resolutions, according to a University of Scranton study in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, show:

• 45% of Americans usually make New Year's Resolutions
• 75% of people keep their resolutions through the first week (but only 46% keep them past six months)
• 24% of people NEVER succeed and fail on their resolution every year
• 8% of people are successful in achieving their resolution

So, 92% of resolutions fail, and we keep making them year after year? Talk about insanity.

I want to share something that DID change me profoundly. As we all prepare for the first quarter of 2022, I thought we should discuss financial goal setting. If you are ready to set new year's resolutions, I hope you will first consider your WHY.

Your WHY is like the north star for your life. All your goals may not be directly related to your WHY, but they should at least indirectly help you move in the direction you want to go.

Are you unclear on your WHY? Understand your WHY, and you will follow through more often. Knowing your WHY increases the quality of your decisions. It will also keep you going when you hit an obstacle. You will be less likely to give up if you live according to your WHY.

So here is an exercise to get started considering your WHY: I want to [insert what getting ahead with your money means to you] to [insert the desired outcome].

If I do not reach this goal, [insert undesired consequence] will happen.

My husband and I choose relationship with God and obeying His commands as our WHY. We build our financial, mental, and physical wellness goals to prioritize personal and professional relationships on that basis of spiritual strength.

A few goal examples:

• Daily: A 30 minute Bible study together every morning. Prioritizing our relationship with God and each other sets the tone for the rest of our day. And everything seems to fall into place.
• Weekly: Saturday evening business meeting to schedule work hours and other tasks for the next week. A weekly meeting to discuss our work and task schedule helps us keep things in balance. And it helps us be able to truly relax and enjoy time with family and friends when we take off.
• Monthly: Invest 10% of our income for tithing and 10% for future wealth building (bonds, real estate, etc.). We want to use our business to support our faith and family while giving us freedom of time and finances to do the other things God calls us to do. 

These goals are bound to each other, even though they seem unrelated. Our WHY guides all of them. Our lives are less chaotic and overwhelming when we have that north star guiding our daily goals.

When you integrate WHY into your goal planning or resolution setting, you can expect:

✔️ additional connections and conversations (and new friends)

✔️ great new opportunities (opportunities can lead to increased income)

✔️ peace of mind

✔️ see the world from a different perspective

✔️ And that is just the beginning....

Happy New Year! 🥳

It has been quite the year, has it not!?

As we say a final goodbye to 2020, I wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU.

I get more and more grateful for this community every year that passes! You inspire me to live bolder, reach higher, and love deeper every day.

I am raising a glass to you in the final moments of 2020.

Here is to 2021 being a year of fulfillment and abundance ❤️

Wishing you a next level life,

Happy New Year's WHY setting, ladies!