Making (and Keeping) Your New Year Resolutions

This originally aired on the Catholic Faith Network’s show CFN Live: https://youtu.be/S242mqnSPUE

While some might say that they do not need New Year’s Eve to finally turn their life around, making resolutions on December 31^st is a common, well-liked tradition, especially in the Western world. They are usually meant to contain improvement or betterment of one’s conduct or life choices.

When it comes to New Year Resolutions, goal setting is key. So, let’s look at several different categories:

Goal Setting

Goal setting can be broken into several different groups:

• Personal
• Financial
• Career/ business
• Spiritual and Emotional
• Mindset

But what if you haven’t come up with New Year Resolutions?

Resolution Ideas

Here is a list of ideas if you are looking for some help:

• Drink and eat healthy
• Keep fit
• Read books
• Stay positive
• Spend more time outdoors
• Go to bed early and wake up early
• Perform digital detox
• Travel
• Keep a Journal
• Adopt a shelter pet

A Secure the Future List

I also have another list created by my partner, Marie Elena Puma, Esq.:

• This year, I am going to update my Last Will and Testament to provide more security for my family.
• This year, I plan to create my family tree to learn more about my history and legacy.
• This year, I’ll start a conversation with my family about my estate plan, so they understand what I want to happen to my assets and what to do in emergencies.
• This year, I am going to create a list of assets to determine the size of my estate and who can legally access my property and accounts.
• This year, I will create a trust to avoid probate, so my family isn’t burdened by court procedures and fees to settle my estate.
• This year, I’ll transfer assets to fund my trust and preserve them for my family should I require long-term care or Medicaid benefits.
• This year, I plan to close my bank safe deposit box and find ways to protect assets that allow named individuals to access them easily.
• This year, I’ll have peace of mind knowing that my estate plan is complete.

Tips & Tricks

 How do we keep these Resolutions? Give it time; Rome was not built in a day:

• Make sure your resolutions are realistic and therefore are doable.
• Break down your resolutions into smaller chunks and focus on one chunk at a time. Move to the next chunk only when you finish the one you are working on.
• Select your resolutions from your list of priorities in which case you will feel compelled to accomplish them.
• Broad resolutions are just that: broad. Make specific resolutions.
• Embrace failure and know that that we do not fail, we only learn.

Special List of Resolutions

 My special list is from Pope Francis:

• Don’t Gossip
• Finish your meals
• Make time for others
• Choose the humbler purchase
• Meet the poor “in the flesh”
• Stop judging others
• Befriend those who disagree
• Make commitments, such as marriage
• Make it a habit to “ask the Lord”
• Be happy

May we all have a Happy and Healthy New Year! We hope you found this article helpful. Contact our office today at 1 (800) 680-1717 and schedule an appointment to discuss what makes sense for you and your loved ones.