Scott and I are really working on our goal setting for this year. So many people consider making New Year’s Resolutions and we totally applaud that! Any way you can spark positive change in your life is worth the thought and effort.
We find this is a great time to reflect back and look ahead with some specific goals in mind.
One of our goals for this year is to improve our health. Last year was full of transition and a stressful year so we kind of put our health on the back burner. We didn’t eat well, ate out a lot, etc. So when January rolled around we made a change. We started the year off great, eating at home and eating really healthy.
But then BOOM.
Monday we took our youngest son, Cade, to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. Talk about scary! And not the easiest start to the year!
So last night as Cade was lying in his bed feeling rotten, but better, I was about to set the table and I thought, “Oh, are you kidding me? We deserve to go out to eat it has been so stressful!” Then I said to myself, “No, Bethany, we need to have self-control here”. So we made dinner at home which turned out to be a lovely time together.
Then this morning I telling Scott what I was thinking and he said, “It is so much easier to slip than climb”. I thought, “That is sooooo true.”
One of the reasons people don’t like New Year’s Resolutions is because statistically they don’t work. People usually fail by the middle of January which I can totally see why. But it doesn’t have to be that way this year. Your goal setting can stick this year.
They say if you really want to change a habit it takes as long to get out of a habit as it took to get into that habit in the first place. So Scott and I had about 15 months of eating poorly, etc. and it may take us that long to get out of that habit. It is going to take a lot of determination. I mean the first week is an easy climb, but it is so easy to slip into our old habits. It’s definitely easier to slip than to climb.
What are your goals this year?
What about your money goals?
Last year did you promise yourself you wouldn’t lie about money but you find yourself slipping into old patterns? Did you promise yourself you would lighten up about money but you yelled at your spouse because he or she spent too much?
How about this year? Did you promise yourself you would take a vacation this year, but you are already talking yourself out of it? Did you promise yourself this would be the year to get out of credit card debt and you just charged a new sweater yesterday?
We get it. Goal setting is not easy. But it’s worth the climb. The daily effort. YOU can do this – you CAN stick to your goals! Come on, let’s all do this together. Stop slipping and continue your climb, one step at a time!
Here is an article that might be helpful to you:
A New Way To Make Money Resolutions Pay Off
Let us know how you are doing – comment below – we would love to hear (and feel free to keep us accountable on our goal to eat healthier this year)!
Make it Happen,
Scott and Bethany
The Money Couple