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What is Your New Years Resolution?

Action to success my road to financial freedom

what is your new years resolutions

So what is your new years resolution?

Well it is that time of year again when many of us will bring in the new year and set some new years resolutions.

So what is your new years resolution?

To lose weight?

Give up smoking?

Cut down on alcohol?

Pay off the credit card?

The trouble with these typical new years resolutions is that by February they are usually long forgotten.

Well my advice is to forget the resolutions!

You may as well forget these weak goals because in the vast majority of cases they just don’t work.

You may have the best of intentions but as my Mother used to say “You may as well rub your bum up against the moon”.

It just isn’t going to happen!

So if you want a quick tip for keeping your new years resolutions… give them the flick forever!

But I really want to change… What do I do?

New years resolutions are really just a very weak form of goal setting.

So if you really want to change things in your life for the better, you need to make goal setting a priority.

Goal setting has helped me enormously in my life.. not only in achieving success, but also in general happiness and fulfilment.

I have personally found that growth is one of the basic human needs of life, and having something to strive for gives me a great sense of fulfilment.

I believe that a lot of people generally just drift through life and then wonder why they are really not as happy as they think that they SHOULD be.

But if you don’t know where you want to go, then HOW are you going to get there?

This is where goal setting comes in.

How do I set powerful goals?

I believe that in the end it all comes down to three main areas of life.

Our health, wealth and relationships.

So what I like to do is find a nice quiet spot where I am not going to be disturbed, grab three pieces of paper and write health at the top of one piece of paper, wealth on the next and relationships on the third.

Next draw three columns down the page and at top of each column write the words “be”,”do” and “have” (see diagram below)

BE, DO, HAVE my road to financial freedom

 

Starting with “wealth”, (as this is My Road to Financial Freedom) think of all the things you want to “be” with your wealth and money.

Think of the things you want to “do” with your wealth and money, and think of the things you want to “have” with your wealth and money.

Just brainstorm for 10 minutes or so.

Think of your income goals, what net worth do you want, your business goals, investments, debt elimination, cash in the bank?

Anything related to your wealth and money.

Set your long-term goal

It is important to have a long-term vision of where you want to go, so set goals in timeframes of 5 years, 3 years and 1 year.

I once heard a multi-millionaire who has achieved financial freedom say that financial freedom is definitely achievable in a 3-5 year time frame and I totally agree… as long as you have the right mindset and determination!

So what I do is to set a long-term goal that I want to achieve in 3-5 years, then scale that back to what I want to achieve in the next 12 months.

So now go back to your list and put a little number next to each goal representing the time-frame. Either a (1), (3) or (5).

Now set your long-term goal, for example “By January 1 2019, I will have a passive income of $20,000 per Month and a net worth of 1 Million dollars”

Your goal needs to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic (from where you are at this point: Always DREAM BIG!) and timely. (S.M.A.R.T)

What is your why?

Wanting a million dollars, 10 investment properties, a multi-million dollar share portfolio or a thriving online business is one thing.

But what is more important is knowing the reason WHY you want it!

So underneath your long-term goal write a paragraph as to why you want this goal.

For myself a big “why” for wanting to achieve financial freedom, is to have the freedom from a job, to pursue my passion of being an entrepreneur, to provide for my family, and have the time freedom to travel and have amazing experiences with them.

Also to contribute to causes that I believe in and to help other people achieve these same things and do whatever it is that inspires them by gaining financial freedom as well!

The bigger the why, the easier the how!

So what is your why?

What do you want to achieve this year?

Now go back to your list and pick out 3 or 4 things that you are absolutely committed to achieving in the next 12 months.

Next you need to chunk it down even further to 90 day goals, 60 day goals and thirty day goals.

Now for the “how”!

Now I really focus on achieving these 30 day goals by coming up with the tasks of what I have to do weekly and daily to achieve this first set of thirty day targets.

What are the daily and weekly actions that will lead you to hit your targets and achieve your goals?

Once you have this worked out then you can run through the same process for your goals for your health and for your relationships.

Action to success my road to financial freedom

Now take some action!

Now you have some really powerful goals that put together is actually a really powerful target statement.

I like to think of my goals as a target because it gives you something to aim at. You might miss, but then it is important to look at what has worked and what has not, readjust and fire again.

I go through this longer goal setting process yearly, but I reset my 90 day target every 30 days.

This way it is easier to track your progress.

Always measure, monitor and adjust!

You only ever fail if you give up!

Remember if you shoot for the stars you may miss, but hit the moon instead!(bum first!)

So once again, forget the new years resolution and start setting some powerful goals… then go out there and get it done!

And as Tony Robbins says “the purpose of a goal is not to get the goal, but what it makes of us as a person in the process”

If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below.

To your success,

John W. Newman

Dream It… Believe It… Then Achieve It!

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John newman

My name is John W. Newman. Property investor, Internet entrepreneur, husband and father of four beautiful daughters. Join me on my road to financial freedom! Dream It...Believe It...Then Achieve It!

16 Comments

  1. Way to take on new years resolutions with a touch of reality and really nice post and advice for those that want real change. I like the fact that you bring attention to why we want the things we want to achieve for 2016.

    Getting in shape to help your heart, mind and body is a great thing to focus on. So is creating financial goals, but really focusing on why we want these goals is the key to long term success.

    At least that what worked for me when I quite smoking 8 years ago. Constant reminders as to why I was quitting really helped me stick to my plan.

    Great post!

    • Thanks for the feedback Todd and congratulations on giving up smoking, I know that it is very difficult for a lot of people!

      You are so right about the “why” behind our goals, that is a VERY important step in goal setting.

      I always say the bigger the “why” the easier the “how” 🙂

  2. Helpful information. Lucky me I found your web site unintentionally,and I’m surprised why this accident didn’t take place in advance!I bookmarked it.

  3. Hi John. You’ve probably experienced how the lessons you need show up when you most need them? I almost passed up on this post because it looked like yet another New Years Resolution post that everyone writes. I’m glad I didn’t. I’ve read about setting goals before and played with it a little over the years but never put too much into it. You’ve laid out the process very nicely and I think it’s time I gave goal setting a more serious effort. Thanks for the great advice.

    Ben

    • I am glad you took a second look Ben and glad that you liked my post!

      Goal setting is definitely a major key to success!

      Thanks for your comment!

  4. Hi John,
    No wishy washy resolutions for me this year; just set of goals which I am planning to allocate for daily, weekly and monthly. I just got myself a nice diary – clean and bold – where I can plan all my stuff ahead of time. Already I am filling up to February 2015.

    Writing my plan down in papers – just like you suggest – makes me see my goals clearer and every step that I make, I know I am getting nearer.

    Have a blessed New Year, John.

  5. Hello, John

    Awesome post on our new year’s resolutions 🙂 I agree with what you say to because a lot of people set specific goals for themselves and 1, 2 or 3 months down the line they give up and throw in the towel. I’ve never heard that saying about the moon before either, lol!

    Thanks very much for the advice on setting long term goals and also for finding my why as well as taking action. 2015 will certainly be my most succesful year yet!

    I wish you and your family a Happy and successful 2015 too!

    Neil

    • Awesome Neil!
      I can’t wait to see what you come up with, I am sure you will be ticking off your goals consistently!
      All the best for the New Year!

    • Sometimes simple is best Caezar!
      By writing down our goals it increases the chances of achieving them by a long way.
      I always read them daily as well.
      Thanks for your feedback.

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