This New Year Change You

Here we are again at the end of another year in our lives. All of us will get up on New Year’s Day and make a vow to change certain things in our lives. A great majority of us will target the same areas, money and health. Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but most of you reading this article have made the same commitment for the last ten New Years. What will be different this year from last year?
I already know it will be virtually impossible to find a parking spot at the fitness center starting in January. I already know everyone will get their credit card statement and say “next year I’m not buying all this Christmas stuff.” I know all these things because they are a repeat of last year and the year before that. It’s like the movie ground hog day where every day, Bill Murray woke up to the same reality.
Well now that we have addressed our lack of follow through, let’s talk about changing our old way of doing business. The word change is the key to our discussion, because in order to change our reality, we need to change. We have heard this word all through the election and we are still hearing it, but what does it mean to you.
One of my favorite phrases is “if you can’t change the people around you, change the people around you.” It’s a well studied principle that if you add up the annual income of your five closest friends and find the average income, it will equal your annual income. The reason for this is people generally associate with people they are financially comfortable around.
Whether it’s money or health, you are who you associate with, if your friends eat poorly, on average you will do the same. I want to conclude this article by creating a desire within yourself to really make a commitment to your goals for the coming Year.
First put your goals in writing, and post them somewhere that you will be able to see them every day. Next if possible find other people who have similar goals and form an integrity team. The people on the integrity team will be committed to calling each other and making sure each person is staying on track. Last but not least, make your goals obtainable. If you set unrealistic goals, you will quit on them, because you will know they can’t be accomplished.