Playing Catch Up With Your New Year’s Resolutions? You’re not alone

If you are like most people, being able to stay on track with your new year's resolutions has been quite the challenge in the past few months. We all start the year with great motivation and enthusiasm but end up burning out a few weeks in and find ourselves back on the couch. Sticking to your New Year’s resolutions requires focus, specificity, and realism. It’s no surprise why 90% of all resolutions fall through halfway into the year.

We must be doing something wrong to give up so fast. This week’s blog is focused on changing the narrative around new year's resolutions. What if, instead of setting impossible-to-achieve goals and watching them fail each year, we tried to better understand the psychology behind our goals? More importantly, what if we started to appreciate the progress we have made in other areas of our lives.

Below are a few points to consider when reflecting on the progress you’ve made with your new year’s resolutions thus far;

All-or-nothing mentality

Having an all-or-nothing mentality can be extremely discouraging when it comes to tracking your progress. As a species, we tend to measure success as either a complete win or a complete failure. In reality, success is a journey filled with unforeseen pitfalls and roadblocks. Having a set timeline on when you plan to complete your goals is important and holds you accountable for your day-to-day actions. In reality, we tend to overestimate what we are able to do within a year but underestimate what we are able to do in 10 years. Oftentimes, personal deadlines aren’t as strict as we make them out to be. Whether we reach our goals in 6 months or 12 months is irrelevant (inmost cases). What actually matters is that we don’t fall off the bandwagon and easily get discouraged and give up entirely.

To be successful is to be able to walk over your mistakes and go beyond every stage where your efforts were wasted. The journey to success is a rocky one and having an ‘all-or-nothing’ mentality should be taken as a belief in your abilities to move on to the next challenge.

Having a chip on your shoulder mindset

As humans, it comes naturally for all our goals to be self-serving. Over the years, I have found that most of my motivation comes from me having a chip on my shoulder and wanting to prove someone else wrong. Even to this day, it still counts as one of the biggest motivational factors for where I want to be.  Having this mindset can be a great asset to have when it comes to channeling your energy towards accomplishing your new years’ resolutions. However, having a chip on your shoulder can sometimes feel like the goal at hand is too far out of reach. If the sole reason for you chasing after your goals is to prove someone else wrong, then chances are you are not likely to meet your goals.

As opposed to using this as motivation to reach certain milestones, Simon Sinek in his book ‘Start With Why’ recommends finding your WHY and using that as rocket fuel to keep going when the journey gets tough. Your WHY stands for a sense of purpose, personal fulfillment, clarity and meaning. Without understanding your WHY, your goals can be too vague and can seem more like an aspiration rather than a practical target.

Self-imposed limitations

We are all guilty of having limiting beliefs about what our capabilities are. These beliefs can stem from not having the right goals or strategies in place. In most cases, the reason why a lot of us feel like we are undeserving of success, is because we keep waiting until the last minute to focus on time-bound goals (i.e. procrastinating).  Freeing yourself from these self-imposed limitations is empowering. When reflecting on your new years’ resolutions, look back and see what’s been limiting your growth. I personally know there are a few areas that I could work on.

Self-imposed limitations are apart of the human experience. The are meant to be overcome rather than stunt our growth. Rising above one challenge only gets you ready for the next obstacle.

Making the most of the time left

With the year coming to an end soon, what is left to do?

Firstly, it is important to reflect and be grateful for all the other milestones you reached in the past few months. Maybe you, picked up a new hobby, volunteered for your community, lost weight or got out of a bad relationship, you did a lot more than you were expecting.

With the few weeks left in the year, try and pick up from where you left off. Your resolutions are important to you. A closing thought would be to remember that success is a journey of moving from 10% to 11% to 12%...

-Kondwelani Kalinda, Licensed Assistant

Kondwelani Kalinda is a Licensed Assistant at Endeavour Wealth Management with iA Private Wealth, an award-winning office as recognized by the Carson Group. Together with his partners he provides comprehensive wealth management planning for business owners, professionals and individual families.

This information has been prepared by Kondwelani Kalinda who is a Financial Planning Assistant for iA Private Wealth and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of iA Private Wealth. The information contained in this newsletter comes from sources we believe reliable, but we cannot guarantee its accuracy or reliability. The opinions expressed are based on an analysis and interpretation dating from the date of publication and are subject to change without notice. Furthermore, they do not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any of the securities mentioned. The information contained herein may not apply to all types of investors. The Investment Advisor can open accounts only in the provinces in which they are registered.

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