Two days left until the year ends and the new year begins.
This is always a good time to reflect on what happened in the past year and what to do better in the new one.
No one is perfect and we all make mistakes. Life happens and things don’t always go perfectly. This should not discourage us but rather motivate us to keep going.
Our mindset often holds us back from achieving our financial goals when it comes to money.
So as you do your analysis of the past year and plan for the new year, here are three ways you can change your mindset to hit your new year’s list.
3 Things to Do to Change your Money Mindset in the New Year
#1. From “This is too difficult” to “I can do this”
When we set goals, we want to be ambitious. We reach for the stars, as the saying goes. And that’s great – our objectives should inspire us.
But when they’re at first sight difficult, our mind can play us a trick and make them feel impossible.
So when you set a big goal that seems tough to get to, instead of giving up because of the difficulty level, focus on breaking the goal into small, achievable chunks.
For example, instead of saying that you’re going to save €12,000 next year, say that you will save €1,000 a month or better yet €250 a week. Just visually, your brain processes the smaller amount with a bigger acceptance, helping you put specific actions to achieve your goal.
#2. From “I will start tomorrow” to “I am starting today”
Procrastinating is your biggest enemy. When it comes to money, there’s no better time than now. You don’t know what tomorrow will bring so taking action today gets you one step closer to where you want to go.
For example, we have friends who say that they really need to start budgeting but they just haven’t focused on it yet. So instead of having it all in your head as something you should do, find a technique to make you do it. It could be as simple as a budgeting printable that you put on your fridge and see multiple times daily as you pass by it. This way, budgeting becomes top of mind and it’ll bug you if you don’t do it every time you see that printable on the fridge.
#3. From “I am not as good as them” to “I am good enough and my situation is unique”
One of the most discouraging things you can do is to compare yourself with others. We all do it in different aspects of life. And with the financial community on Instagram, it can be heartbreaking to see someone else’s much higher salary than yours. However, never forget that your situation is unique – that other person might be living in a country where the prices and living standards are much higher than where you live which could easily be the reason for the higher salary.
So moving forward, compare yourself only to your past self. How are you getting better and moving the needle forward? How are you improving and growing this year compared to last year? You’re doing great, you’re enough and you’re unique.
How has your mindset held you back and what have you done about it?
Money Mastering 